Are man really prepared to meet an extraterrestrial civilization in this one C ? A new study suggests we ’re psychologically badly - fain for this massive event — and that the prominence of religious beliefs has a lot to do with it .
Despite the eerie Great Silence , there ’s good reason to suspect we ’ll eventually make striking with aliens . Our coltsfoot isabsolutely littered with terrestrial planets , force us to continuallyupdate our odds of run across an extraterrestrial intelligence(ETI ) . What ’s more , we ’re amount up witha slew of new ways to find signs of alien life . Unquestioningly , first contact with an ETI would lay out one of the most massive things to ever happen to our civilization . Just the simple knowledge that they ’re out there has the potential todramatically alter the course of history . And indeed , governments have lay down protocols for such an eventuality .
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At the same time , however , and as clinical neuropsychologist Gabriel G. de la Torre now reason , we ’re not quite ready to make contact just yet . The problem , he say , is that most of us have n’t come to grips with our place in the universe .
Towards a New ‘Cosmic Consciousness’
He call this the “ cosmic consciousness ” — a full term that Canadian psychologist Richard Bucke defined as “ a fresh evolutionary step beyond self - consciousness . ” Now while this sound a morsel raw - agey , there ’s some substance to this idea . As Torre write ,
More than one hundred age ago , Bucke go further and discover a new conception of cosmic awareness as a young evolution [ sic ] stone’s throw beyond self - knowingness . accord to Bucke , by moral excellence of ego - consciousness , man is not only witting of trees , rocks , bodies of piss , and his own limb and dead body , but he also becomes witting of himself as a distinct entity apart from all the sleep of the macrocosm . Further , by mean value of ego - consciousness , adult male becomes equal to of treating his own genial State Department as objects of consciousness . The select feature of cosmic cognizance is , as its name imply , a consciousness of the cosmos , that is , of the life and order of the universe .
It could be argue that many of us , in particular those who read io9 regularly , have a well - developed cosmic knowingness , or “ space awareness , ” as Torre puts it . But after carry on a survey , he come the recognition that it ’s a persuasion or feeling that ’s for sure not portion out across the board .
Are We Ready?
Prior to this pilot study , Torre participated in such as projects as Mars 500 and an ESA initiative design to assess whether or not we should engage in Active SETI — a declare oneself travail to broadcast our comportment to any ETIs who may be listening . Looking to learn more , he sent a questionnaire to 116 American , Italian , and Spanish university students . The sight was constitute of five dissimilar sections :
spiritual belief
Environment and general public opinion
uranology
link
Attention and percept
Among other things , the bookman were asked if God created the creation , or if they believe contact with ETIs is potential .
Low Levels of Space Awareness, High Levels of Religious Beliefs
Results evince that , as a species , humanity is still not ready to make contact .
The reason , order Torre , is that people ( for the most part ) lack the required cognition and are thus psychologically poorly - prepared . More specifically , he found that many of the students — and by virtue the rest of lodge — miss awareness on many astronomical prospect . He also get wind that the bulk of multitude value these subjects according to theirreligious belief .
“ It is interesting to take down that the current global communication epoch does not seem to affect global or cosmic consciousness , ” he drop a line in the ensuing paper . “ On the basis of the results of our report , most transcendent factors for existential business continue to be interrelate to religion instead of environmental science or cosmology . It is strongly recommend that we endeavor to develop a roadmap for tangency that includes didactics as the most important factor . ” [ accent contribute ]
To fix the job , he says that Department of Education should be pitch towards increase awareness of space related matter and our human relationship to the cosmos .
say the total survey at Acta Astronautica : “ Toward a new cosmic consciousness : Psychoeducational aspects of middleman with extraterrestrial civilisation . ”
AliensAstrobiologyEducationPsychologyScienceseti
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