Potential cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact

This article is about the scientific study of the result of extraterrestrial contact for humanity. For the fictional treatment of the subject, see First contact (science fiction). For the search for intelligent life beyond Earth, see Search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

The cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact covers the potential future implications of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations for culture, science, technology, politics, religion, law, and other aspects of society. The ultimate results of such contact could vary greatly based on the benevolence or malevolence of the extraterrestrial civilization, the technological advancement of the extraterrestrial culture, and the mutual level of understanding between the two cultures which are contacting each other. The medium of communication with extraterrestrial intelligent species, whether electromagnetic waves, direct face-to-face communication, or perhaps an extraterrestrial artifact, could also change the results of extraterrestrial contact. Based on these factors, there are various contact scenarios which each cover different types of civilizations and contact, and the specific implications of contact with each type. These implications come in various areas of the human experience, such as religion, politics, the law, science and technology, and the ecology of the Earth.

The implications of extraterrestrial contact have often been likened to the societal impact resulting from the meeting of two vastly different human cultures on Earth. Results of such contact have included the destruction of the civilization being contacted (as opposed to the "contactor" civilization which initiates contact), and this has been suggested as one of the possible results of extraterrestrial contact. However, as the nature of extraterrestrial civilizations is not known, and contact with any such species has not yet taken place, it is impossible to state with absolute certainty what the result of extraterrestrial contact will be for humanity. Nevertheless, various systems of assessment of the implications of extraterrestrial contact have been created.

Background

Search for extraterrestrial intelligence

See also: Search for extraterrestrial intelligence and Extrasolar planet

The Arecibo message, sent to the globular cluster M13 after Project Cyclops's recommendations were not implemented.

To detect extraterrestrial civilizations with radio telescopes, one must identify an artificial coherent signal against a background of various natural astrophysical phenomena which also produce radio waves. Such telescopes include the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, and the newer Allen Telescope Array, located in Hat Creek, California. Historically, various programs to detect extraterrestrial intelligence have had government funding. In the 1970s, Project Cyclops was commissioned by NASA in order to investigate the most effective way to search for signals from extraterrestrial intelligence. However, following the report's recommendations being not implemented in favor of a much more modest plan of messaging extraterrestrial intelligence, NASA drastically reduced funding for SETI programs, which have since turned to private donations to continue their search.

With the discovery of numerous extrasolar planets in the late twentieth to early twenty-first centuries, some of which may be habitable, governments have renewed their interest in funding new programs. In 2006, the European Space Agency launched COROT to search for exoplanets, the first craft dedicated to that purpose. and in 2009, NASA launched the Kepler spacecraft in 2009 to search for extrasolar planets, As of March 2012, Kepler has detected 61 of the 7,026 confirmed exoplanets. One of these planets, Kepler-22b, is a potentially habitable planet. Following the discovery of the planet, the SETI Institute resumed a search for an intelligent extraterrestrial civilization targeted to Kepler planet candidates with funding from the United States Air Force.

The new discoveries of planets, in particular potentially habitable planets, have enabled SETI and METI programs to refocus projects related to communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. In 2009, A Message From Earth was sent to the Gliese 581 system, which contains two potentially habitable planets, the confirmed Gliese 581 d and the more habitable but unconfirmed Gliese 581 g. Subsequently, the SETILive effort, which began in 2012, aims to use human volunteers to analyze data from the Allen Telescope Array and search for potential alien signals which computers might miss due to terrestrial radio interference. The data used for the study is obtained from observing Kepler target stars with the radio telescope.

In addition to radio-based methods, some projects, such as SEVENDIP, are attempting to utilize other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum in order to search for extraterrestrial signals. Various other projects are searching not for electromagnetic signals per se, but want to use electromagnetic radiation in order to find other evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, such as megascale astroengineering projects.

While there have been several false positive signals detected throughout the history of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, such as the Wow! signal, to date, no evidence has been found that these signals are indeed of intelligent origin.

Systems for the assessment of the potential impact of extraterrestrial contact

The Rio Scale has been devised in order to better gauge the types of contact with an extraterrestrial civilization and the consequentiality of each type. The ultimate impact of extraterrestrial impact can be said to depend on the nature of the discovery, the nature of the extraterrestrial beings, and where they are located with respect to the Earth. Specific factors include whether communication was conducted through radio, the information content contained in a message, whether such a message was discovered as part of a specialized SETI effort or through general astronomical observations, or whether the civilization is detected through mechanisms like radiation leakage from astroengineering installations as opposed to a deliberately sent message, among other factors. In addition to all of these factors, whether or not the authenticity of a supposed extraterrestrial signal has been confirmed, and to what level of confidence this confirmation is, will play a role in the ultimate impact of extraterrestrial contact. Subsequent modifications to the scale have included a consideration of whether contact was achieved through an interstellar message or through a physical extraterrestrial artifact. Almár (2011) has suggested that the artifact category be expanded to include "technosignatures," defined as all indications of intelligent extraterrestrial life which are not conventional interstellar messages as commonly searched for by SETI programs.

Another study conducted by Steven Dick at the United States Naval Observatory has attempted to view the cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact through a historical lens. By analyzing events of similar gravity to extraterrestrial contact in the history of science, the study shows that the impact of extraterrestrial contact would be most influenced by the information content of an extraterrestrial message, and the nature of the information received if there is any. The study recognizes that there would be two classes of impacts of extraterrestrial contact, short-term impact and long-term impact. Seeing radio-based contact as a more plausible contact scenario than physical contact through actual extraterrestrial spacecraft, the study does not see commonly given scenarios of the Europeans colonizing the Americas as an accurate representation of information-only contact, but rather sees events of profound scientific significance, such as the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions as being more representative of how humanity will be impacted by extraterrestrial contact.

The separation between humanity and the contacting civilization in terms of spatial distance has also been used to assess the cultural impact of extraterrestrial contact. Historical examples show that, the greater the distance between two different cultures which have come into contact, the less of a threat the contacted civilization sees to itself and its culture. Therefore, contact which takes place within the Solar System, and especially that which takes place in the immediate vicinity of Earth, is likely to cause the greatest immediate disruption of humanity. Furthermore, these effects will be more negative the closer extraterrestrial contact occurs to the Earth. On a smaller scale, people located near the exact epicenter of extraterrestrial contact would feel more of an effect than those living in more remote parts of the world. However, if this contact has multiple epicenters, the shock would be greater and would be more global in nature than a single-epicenter instance of contact.

Dominik and Zarnecki (2011) state that, in the absence of any unambiguous data on the nature of extraterrestrial intelligence, one must predict the cultural impact of extraterrestrial impact on the basis of general predictions encompassing all life or based on analogies with history. However, they argue that examples from history do not necessarily provide a strong indication of how humanity will react to extraterrestrial intelligence unless they are thoroughly analyzed, as misinterpretations of history are possible.

In addition to expert discourse on assessment of contact events, studies have been conducted on the general public to track its beliefs regarding the general result of extraterrestrial contact. A study, involving polling of United States and Chinese university students conducted by Vakoch and Lee and published in the journal Acta Astronautica in 2000, provides factor analysis on data collected from participants, testing, among other factors, the participants' belief that extraterrestrial life exists in the Universe, that such life may be intelligent, and that humans will make contact with it eventually. The studies also show smaller, but still large, weighted correlations between participants believing that extraterrestrial contact may either conflict with or enrich their personal religious beliefs, and how conservative such religious beliefs may be, with more conservative individuals holding extraterrestrial contact to be more harmful. Other significant correlation patterns indicate that participants took the view that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence may be futile or even harmful.

Post-detection protocols

Main article: Post-detection protocol

Various protocols have been drawn up detailing a course of action for scientists and governments in the wake of extraterrestrial contact. Post-detection protocols must address three areas of importance relating to the results of extraterrestrial contact. The protocols must first make plans for the initial phases after humanity receives a message from extraterrestrial intelligence, and then decide whether or not a reply to the extraterrestrial species should be sent from the Earth. A post-detection protocol must also provide for the analysis of how humanity will be impacted culturally by the receipt of the message. No current post-detection protocol, however, is binding as national or international law, and for this reason Dominik and Zarnecki (2011) reason that the protocols will most likely be ignored in the event of extraterrestrial contact.

One of the first post-detection protocols, entitled the "Declaration of Principles for Activities Following the Detection of Extraterrestrial Intelligence", was created by the SETI Permanent Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics. The document was later approved by both the Board of Trustees of the IAA and the International Institute of Space Law,and later saw endorsement by various international scientific bodies, such as the International Astronomical Union, the Committee on Space Research, and the Union Radio Scientifique Internationale. The Declaration of Principles was subseqently endorsed by most researchers in the field of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, including the SETI Institute.

The Declaration of Principles contains the following broad provisions:

1. All parties to the Declaration of Principles shall seek to verify that a given astronomical signal is most likely intelligent in origin before announcing that it was created by an extraterrestrial civilization.
2. The discoverer of a signal should, for the purposes of independent verification, communicate with other signatories of the Declaration of Principles before making a public announcement, and should also communicate with the government of the state they are situated in.
3. Once a given astronomical observation has been determined to be a credible extraterrestrial signal, the astronomical community should be informed through the International Astronomical Union Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. The Secretary-General of the United Nations and various other global scientific unions should also be informed of the discovery.
4. Following confirmation of an observation's extraterrestrial origin, the news of the discovery shall be made publicly known, with the discoverer being permitted to make the first public announcement.
5. All data relating to the discovery shall be made public and stored permanently and completely to the greatest extent possible.
6. Should evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence be found in the form of electromagnetic signals, the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union should be contacted, who may request in the next ITU Weekly Circular to minimize terrestrial use of the electromagnetic frequency bands in which the signal was detected.
7. The Declaration of Principles does not itself authorize the discoverer or anyone to send a message in reply to an observation of extraterrestrial intelligence; an international agreement, functioning under separate procedures, is required for a reply to be sent.
8. The IAA SETI Permanent Committee and Commission 51 of the International Astronomical Union shall continually review procedures regarding detection of extraterrestrial intelligence and management of data related to such discoveries. A committee comprising members from various international scientific unions and other bodies as the committee members see fit shall serve as the regulator of continued SETI research.

Paul Davies, a member of the SETI Post-Detection Taskgroup, has stated that post-detection protocols, calling for international consultation before taking any major steps regarding the detection, are likely to not be followed by astronomers who would .

Contact scenarios

Various models exist in scientific literature as well as science fiction which attempt to predict how extraterrestrial civilizations will interact with humanity. Predictions of these models range widely, from sophisticated civilizations which could advance human civilization tremendously in many areas, to imperial powers which are willing and able to draw upon vast reserves of force to subjugate humanity. Some theories predict that an extraterrestrial civilization may be advanced enough to no longer use biology, instead living inside advanced computers.

The implications of discovery are highly variable, depending on what level of aggressiveness the civilization interacting with humanity has, the type of ethics the civilization possesses, and on how much humans and the extraterrestrial species have in common biologically. This will govern the type and the amount of dialogue which can take place between the two species. Additionally, whether contact takes place physically or through electromagnetic waves will govern the magnitude of the long-term implications of contact. In the case of electromagnetic-wave contact, the long silences between the reception of one message and another would mean that the content of any message would particularly affect the consequentiality of contact. The level of understanding of an extraterrestrial culture and language will also be a key factor in the ultimate result of contact.

Benevolent civilizations

Various predictions have been made with regard to how a benevolent civilization would interact with the human species. Knowing the technological state of humanity, a benevolent species with advancements far beyond that of humanity may teach humanity knowledge such as a physical theory of everything, usage of zero-point energy, and how to travel faster than light, as speculated by Harrison and Dick (2000). Collaboration with such a civilization could initially be in the arts and humanities before moving to the hard sciences, and conversely, artists may spearhead collaboration.

An advanced, benevolent extraterrestrial civilization may force humanity to eliminate risks which may destroy its fledgling civilization.

Knowing its own past of war and plunder, and that it possesses superweapons which may destroy its civilization, Tough (1986) proposes that an extremely advanced extraterrestrial civilization would be likely to try and help the human species, rather than attempting to destroy it. On a larger scale, due to the greater longevity of cooperative civilizations versus uncooperative and aggressive ones, extraterrestrial civilizations as a whole would be more likely to aid humanity. In order to do so, various methods may be used, including intervention only to avert catastrophe, intervention by advice and consent of world leaders, and forcible corrective action.

The first of these methods would involve only limited intervention over time in the affairs of humanity in order to stop events which may destroy human civilization completely, such as nuclear war or asteroid impact. Intervention by advice or consent of world leaders would more closely involve the extraterrestrials in the affairs of humanity, preventing human dangers from ever happening at humanity's own discretion. Forcible corrective action would require humanity to reduce enormous dangers against its will, but will nevertheless be a good-faith attempt to help humanity advance to the next stage of civilization.

Cultural instruction of humanity is another method through which an advanced extraterrestrial society may interact with humanity. It is likely that this information will be of an informed-consent nature, with much advice being offered but nothing being implemented unless world leaders are willing to accept what is given by the extraterrestrial species. While coercive aid may be possible, and the advanced extraterrestrials would likely see their own cultural practices as far superior to those of humanity, it may be unlikely that this method of aid is used in cultural cooperation. Instruction of a civilization in its "technological adolescence," such as humanity, would likely not involve discourse in the sciences and technology, but would rather focus on morality and ethics in order to ensure that the civilization does not destroy itself with technology it is not yet ready to use.

It is unlikely that the prevention of immediate dangers and preventing future catastrophes from occurring will be conducted through radio, as these methods would demand constant surveillance and quick action. However, cultural cooperation may take place through radio or a space probe in the Solar System, as radio waves can communicate information about advanced technologies and cultures to humanity.

Even if an ancient and advanced extraterrestrial civilization wishes to help humanity, the human species could suffer from a loss of identity and confidence due to the technological and cultural prowess of the extraterrestrial civilization. However, a benevolent civilization may calibrate its contact with humanity in such a way that the unintended consequences are minimized.

Malevolent civilizations

There is much speculation as to how humanity would react to an extraterrestrial invasion of Earth. Science fiction films often depict humans successfully repelling an alien invasion, but this is disputed by scientists on the grounds that an extraterrestrial civilization with sufficient power to reach the Earth would be able to destroy human civilization with minimal effort. Due to the relative ease of conducting interstellar war for a powerful extraterrestrial civilization, operations which are enormous on a human scale, such as destroying all major population centers on a planet, bombarding a planet with deadly neutrons, or even traveling to another planetary system in order to accomplish the task, may be important foreign-policy tools for a malevolent and totalitarian civilization.

A paper written by James W. Deardorff in 1986 speculates that a small fraction of the intelligent life-forms in the galaxy may be aggressive, but the actual aggressiveness or benevolence of the civilizations actually covers a wide spectrum, with some civilizations "policing" others. Malevolent extraterrestrial life may indeed be rare in the Universe, as, drawing parallels to what has happened on Earth, belligerent and autocratic nations are the ones which have lasted for the shortest periods of time, and humanity is seeing a shift away from these characteristics in its own sociopolitical systems. In addition, the causes of war may be diminished greatly for a civilization with access to the galaxy, as there are prodigious quantities of natural resources in space which may be used without resort to violence.

Carl Sagan inferred that due to the enormous technological prowess that a civilization would have to attain to reach the stars and come to Earth, it must have transcended war in order to avoid self-destruction. Upon their arrival on Earth, representatives of this civilization would treat humanity with dignity and respect; humanity, due to its technological backwardness with respect to that civilization, would have no choice but to do the same. Seth Shostak, an astronomer at the SETI Institute, dissented from this view, stating that the finite quantity of resources in the galaxy would cultivate aggression in any intelligent species, and in a later interview, stated that an explorer civilization which would want to contact humanity would be aggressive. Taking a similar view, Ragbir Bhathal has stated that, with the laws of evolution being the same on Earth as they are on another habitable planet, an extremely advanced extraterrestrial civilization could have a colonizer relationship with humanity, much as the Aboriginal peoples of Australia were destroyed by the British colonizers.

An advanced extraterrestrial civilization may not be coming to Earth in order to expand an already-burgeoning empire, as with their level of advancement they may have achieved an equilibrium, as proposed by Ćirković (2008). In such an equilibrium, a civilization would only colonize a small number of stars and attempt to maximize efficiency rather than expand massive and unsustainable imperial structures. This is in contrast to the classic Type III Kardashev civilization, which has access to the energy output of an entire galaxy and does not impose any limits on its future expansion. Hence, advanced civilizations in the galaxy may not resemble classic examples in science fiction, but would more closely reflect the small, independent Greek city-states, with an emphasis on cultural rather than territorial expansion.

Baum et al. (2011) speculate that highly advanced civilizations are unlikely to come to Earth in order to enslave humans, as in order to achieve their level of advancement, they would have had to solve the problems of labor and resources through other means, such as creating a sustainable environment and using mechanized labor. Additionally, terrestrial life may be so different from extraterrestrial life that extraterrestrial civilizations may not use humans as a food source, because, among other marked differences in biochemistry, the chirality, or "handedness", of molecules used by terrestrial biota may differ from those used by extraterrestrial beings.

Political leaders have also considered the prospect of the human reaction to alien contact. At his 1987 speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Ronald Reagan stated, "I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world."

Equally advanced and more advanced civilizations

An advanced extraterrestrial civilization would likely not attempt projects with severe ecological implications, like the construction of a Dyson sphere.

Robert Freitas (1978) has speculated that technological advancement and energy usage of a civilization, as measured by its rating on the Kardashev scale, both in absolute terms and relative to another civilization, may play an important role in the result of extraterrestrial contact. In the specific case of humanity, interactions with an extraterrestrial civilization of similar technological prowess would likely take place through radio, given the infeasibility of interstellar spaceflight for species at a similar technological level to that of the human race. Such an interaction would, by its very nature and the long transit times of radio waves between stars, not lead to serious diplomatic relations, or indeed any significant future interaction at all, between the two civilizations.

Contact with civilizations which are significantly more advanced than humanity would most likely take place within the Solar System, as only the more advanced society would have the resources and technology to cross interstellar space. Consequently, such contact would most likely take place with civilizations rated as Type II or higher on the Kardashev scale, below which regular interstellar travel would be impossible. Interactions of this type would most likely be carefully planned by the more advanced civilization in order to avoid mass societal shock for humanity.

However, in spite of the level of planning which may have gone into an interaction with humanity, the human species may be driven to great shock and terror by the arrival of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, driven by grave cultural misunderstanding of a contacting extraterrestrial civilization. Finney (2003) takes the example of the tribespeople of Papua New Guinea, an island which was settled fifty thousand years ago during the last glacial period, but saw little contact with the outside world until the arrival of European colonial powers in the late 19th to early 20th centuries AD. The huge rift between the stone-age society of the indigenous population and the technical civilization of the Europeans caused unexpected behaviors among the indigenous populations, such as the creation of wooden "radio stations" and "airstrips" designed to coax the gods into bringing them the technology which the Europeans possessed. Bearing this in mind, Finney argues that humanity may misunderstand the true meaning of an extraterrestrial transmission to Earth, in much the same way as the indigenous peoples of Papua New Guinea could not understand the source of modern goods and technologies. Therefore, Finney argues, the results of extraterrestrial contact will be made known over the long term with rigorous study, rather than as fast, sharp events making newspaper headlines for a short period of time.

Billingham (2000) has proposed that a civilization which is far more technologically advanced than humanity is also likely to be culturally and ethically advanced as well, and would therefore be unlikely to conduct astroengineering projects which would cause harm to civilization. Such projects may include Dyson spheres which completely enclose stars and capture all energy coming from them, which while well within the capability of an advanced civilization and providing an enormous amount of energy, would nevertheless not be attempted. Consequently, such civilizations would not readily give humanity the knowledge required to build such devices. Nevertheless, the existence of such advanced civilizations would, if nothing else, show that civilizations have survived "technological adolescence". Despite the caution that such an advanced civilization would have in dealing with the nascent civilization of humanity, the late SETI researcher Carl Sagan had imagined that an advanced civilization may send those on Earth an Encyclopædia Galactica with the sciences and cultures of many extraterrestrial cultures.

Whether an advanced extraterrestrial civilization would send humanity a decipherable message is also a matter of debate. Carl Sagan argued that a highly advanced extraterrestrial civilization would be mindful of the fact that they were messaging a relatively primitive civilization, and would hence make every attempt to ensure that the receiving civilization would be able to understand the message. Arguing against this view, astronomer Guillermo Lemarchand stated that an advanced civilization would likely encrypt a message with high information content, such as an Encyclop æ dia Galactica, in order to ensure that only other ethically advanced civilizations would be able to access the message.

Extraterrestrial artifacts

Robotic probes may be preferable to radio waves or microwaves as a means of interstellar communication.

An extraterrestrial civilization may choose to communicate with humanity by means of artifacts or probes rather than radio waves for a variety of reasons. While probes themselves may take long to arrive at the Solar System, once there, they will be able to begin a sustained dialogue which cannot occur with radio waves from hundreds or perhaps thousands of light-years away from another civilization. For the purposes of surveillance and continued monitoring of a civilization, the use of radio waves would be utterly pointless, and should an extraterrestrial civilization wish to perform these activities on humanity, artifacts may be the only option apart from sending large, crewed spacecraft to the Solar System. Despite the fact that faster-than-light travel is being seriously considered by scientists, Tough (1998) speculates that the enormous amount of energy required to achieve superluminal speeds under currently proposed mechanisms means that sublight robotic probes will still have an advantage for various applications.

There are various types of information that an extraterrestrial civilization may want to send to humanity by means of artifacts. Such information may include an Encyclopædia Galactica, containing the wisdom of countless extraterrestrial cultures, or perhaps an invitation to engage the extraterrestrial civilization diplomatically. A civilization which sees itself on the brink of decline may use the abilities it still possesses to send probes throughout the galaxy, with its cultures, values, religions, sciences, technologies, and laws, so that they may not die along with the civilization creating the message.

Numerous reasons exist as to why interstellar probes may be a preferred method of communication among extraterrestrial civilizations wishing to make contact with Earth. As speculated by Freitas (1983), a civilization aiming to learn more about the distribution of life within the galaxy may send probes to a large number of star systems, rather than radio waves, as one cannot ensure a response by radio but can ensure that probes will return to their sender with data on the solar systems they survey. Furthermore, probes permit surveying of pre-technical intelligent (e.g. Homo sapiens before the 20th century) or non-intelligent populations, as well as intelligent populations who do not wish to provide information to extraterrestrial civilizations on their whereabouts and characteristics of their planets.

Civilizations aiming to ensure the success of other populations of verifying the presence of extraterrestrial species may also use probes for various reasons. Unlike the interstellar radio waves commonly targeted by SETI searches, probes can store information for long, perhaps geological, timescales. Probes can also create strong radio signals within a stellar system and allow these signals to be identified unambiguously as being intelligent, rather than being dismissed as a UFO or a natural phenomenon. Probes can also modify any signal which they send based on environmental factors of the system they are in, which is impossible for a radio transmission originating from outside the target star system. In addition, the use of small robotic probes with widely distributed, decentralized beacons in individual systems, rather than a small number of powerful, centralized beacons, provides a security advantage to the contactor civilization. Rather than reveal the location of a radio beacon powerful enough to signal the whole galaxy and risk such a powerful device being compromised, decentralized robotic-probe beacons need not give any information which an extraterrestrial civilization does not wish to be given to others.

Further implications of contact

Theological

The confirmation of extraterrestrial intelligence may have a profound impact on religious doctrines as well, potentially causing theologians to reinterpret scriptures to accommodate the new discoveries. However, a survey of various individuals spanning many religious beliefs indicated that their faith would not be affected by the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence, and another study conducted by Ted Peters of the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary shows that the vast majority of individuals would not see their religion's beliefs undercut by the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Surveys of religious leaders also indicate that only a small percentage are concerned about the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence fundamentally contradicting the views of the adherents of their religion. In fact, the chief astronomer of the Vatican Observatory and an adviser to the pope on science has stated that the Roman Catholic Church would likely treat extraterrestrial intelligence warmly.

Contact with extraterrestrial intelligence would not be completely inconsequential for religion, though. The same study conducted by Ted Peters showed that the majority of non-religious individuals and a significant majority of religious individuals believe that the world could face a religious crisis even if their own beliefs were unaffected. Contact with extraterrestrial intelligence is most likely to cause a problem for Western religions, in particular traditionalist Christianity, than for Eastern ones, due to the geocentric nature of such religions. However, the discovery of extraterrestrial life does not contradict basic conceptions of God, and in light of previous events and individuals in the history of science, such as the theory of evolution and the teachings of Giordano Bruno, which have challenged established dogma, it is likely that existing religions will adapt similarly to the new circumstances.

Although highly speculative, a message from extraterrestrial intelligence that could be decoded may initiate an interstellar exchange of knowledge in various disciplines, including whatever religions an extraterrestrial civilization may host. An extremely advanced but benevolent extraterrestrial civilization may also put an end to the religious conflicts which plague present-day humanity and lead to greater religious toleration worldwide. At the other extreme, contact with extraterrestrial intelligence may eliminate religion as we know it and introduce humanity to an all-encompassing faith.

Political

Immediately upon contact with an extraterrestrial civilization by radio, Folger (2011) speculates that censorship will be likely impossible and news of the discovery will travel rapidly, though scientific literature on the subject published during the Cold War disputes this. Media coverage of the discovery will likely die down quickly, though, as scientists begin to attempt to decipher the message and learn what the true impact of contact will ultimately be. Different branches of global governments may pursue their own policies on extraterrestrial contact, potentially causing power struggles within these governments. Even in the event of contact without any ongoing conversation between extraterrestrial civilizations and humanity, contact via radio may prompt fierce disagreements over which bodies are authorized to represent the human species as a whole.

Contact could create other problems with regard to global diplomacy in addition to the issue of which parties represent the Earth as a whole. The involvement of governments foreign to that whose radio astronomers receive a signal is one such issue. Various other foreign-relations issues were discussed in the United Nations immediately prior to the launch of the Voyager probes, which are currently leaving the Solar System and contain a golden record in case they are found by extraterrestrial intelligence. Such issues include which messages are representative of humanity, what format such messages should take, how to convey the cultural history of the Earth, and what groups should be formed on an international scale in order to study extraterrestrial intelligence in greater detail.

If humanity can open dialogue with an extraterrestrial civilization, Harrison (2000) the communications may ultimately lead to the creation of a "Galactic Club", which would initially begin as a loose confederation but eventually grow to become a powerful union of civilizations. As more extraterrestrial civilizations, or unions thereof, are found, these could also be ultimately assimilated into such a club. Given the age of the galaxy, it is likely that there are already several such clubs in existence, and they are likely to be stable and long-lived due to their large size. However, due to humanity's low technological advancement, it is not likely that it would meet the basic requirements for membership with present-day technology.

Contact with a powerful extraterrestrial civilization has often been likened to occasions where one powerful civilization destroyed another, such as the arrival of Christopher Columbus and Hernán Cortés into the Americas and the subsequent destruction of the indigenous civilization and way of life. However, the applicability of such a model to contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, and that specific interpretation of the arrival of the European colonists to the Americas, has been disputed. Even so, the sheer rift between the power of an extraterrestrial civilization and our own could serve as a demoralizing force with the potential to cause or accelerate societal collapse. The fact that one has been "discovered" by an extraterrestrial civilization, coupled with continued contact with a "superior" civilization, could cause psychological effects which could destroy a civilization, as has happened in the past on Earth.

Legal

Contact with extraterrestrial civilizations would raise legal questions, including what rights an extraterrestrial species would have. Not being a member of Homo sapiens, a representative from an extraterrestrial civilization arriving on Earth would only have the protection of animal-cruelty statutes. Much as various classes of human beings, such as women, children, and indigenous people, were initially denied human rights, so an extraterrestrial species may be denied such rights as well. Thus, an extraterrestrial being, lacking basic human rights, could be owned and killed in accordance with applicable law. If such a species were not to be treated as a legal animal, demarcating the boundary between a legal person and a legal animal could create a problem, due to the numerous factors which constitute intelligence.

In addition to problems of legal personhood, problems of nationality and immigration will also arise. A member of an extraterrestrial species would not have a citizenship legally recognized on Earth, and drastic legal measures may be required in order to account for the technically illegal immigration of extraterrestrial individuals.

If contact takes place through electromagnetic waves, issues of legal personhood pertaining to extraterrestrial species will not arise. Rather, issues relating to patent and copyright law, regarding who has rights to the information from the extraterrestrial civilization, will be the primary legal problem related to information-only contact.

Scientific and technological

The discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence may provide us with knowledge on extraterrestrial biochemistry.

The scientific and technological impact of extraterrestrial contact would most likely be relatively minimal for contact through electromagnetic waves, especially in the initial stages after reception of an extraterrestrial message. However, as humanity deciphers more of an extraterrestrial message, and the message does indeed contain a large amount of information, humanity may gain access to a galactic heritage perhaps predating the human race itself which may advance its technology and science greatly. A possible harmful effect of this could be a demoralization of research scientists, who know that what they are researching may already be known to another civilization.

In addition to civilizations acting in good faith, extraterrestrial civilizations with malicious intent may send information to humanity which would lead to the destruction of its civilization, such as powerful computer viruses, or information on how to make extremely potent weapons which humans are not yet prepared to use responsibly. While the motives for such an action are unknown, it would require minimal energy usage on the part of the contactor and, if it had a high success rate, would be an effective weapon.

Extraterrestrial technology may have profound impacts on the nature of human culture and civilization. Just as the invention of the television provided a new outlet for the rapid dissemination of information by a wide variety of political, religious, and social groups, and how the earlier printing press spread the Bible to the common people of Europe, allowing them to interpret it for themselves, so an extraterrestrial technology may change humanity in ways not immediately apparent. In addition, knowledge of extraterrestrial technologies may further expand the already-growing gap between scientific and cultural advancement, leading to mass societal shock and an inability of a civilization to compensate for negative effects of technology, as speculated by Harrison (2002). As an example, the improvements in agricultural technology of the past century as a part of the Industrial Revolution had rendered the services of thousands of farm laborers useless, before society had the ability to retrain these workers for jobs still present in the new society. It is possible that contact with an extraterrestrial civilization thousands of times more advanced than humanity could cause a much greater shock than the Industrial Revolution, or anything which has been experienced by humanity before.

The discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence would have various impacts on biology and astrobiology. Through the discovery of extraterrestrial life in any form, intelligent or non-intelligent, humanity could gain a greater insight into the nature of life on the Earth and improve the conception of how the tree of life is organized. Human biologists may also learn about extraterrestrial biochemistry and observe how they differ from those found on Earth. This knowledge could, in turn, allow human civilization to know about which aspects of life are common throughout the Universe, and which aspects of life are common on Earth out of coincidence.

Ecological

Kudzu (Pueraria lobata), a vine native to Japan, was introduced to the U.S. in the late 1870s. Here, it has invaded a field in Mississippi, covering everything in its path. It is spreading through the southeastern U.S. at a rate of 150,000 acres (61,000 ha) annually.

An extraterrestrial civilization may inadvertently bring with it pathogens or invasive species to Earth, which the extraterrestrial biosphere is immune to being harmed by. Such pathogens could decimate the human population, which has no immunity to them. Rather than directly harming humans, a pathogen may use terrestrial livestock or plants as its hosts, causing indirect harm to the human species. Invasive species brought by extraterrestrial civilizations, while not strictly diseases, could also cause great ecological harm through their novelty and the terrestrial biosphere's lack of defenses against these species.

On the other hand, pathogens and invasive species of extraterrestrial extraction may be so different in biology to terrestrial organisms that they might not cause any adverse effects. Furthermore, pathogens and parasites on Earth are generally suited to only a small and exclusive set of environments, which extraterrestrial pathogens would not have had any experience adapting to.

If an extraterrestrial species gained sufficient knowledge of terrestrial biology and weaknesses in the immune systems of terrestrial biota, and possessed malicious intent in its interactions with humanity, it may be able to create biological weapons with the greatest possible adverse effect. Additionally, a civilization without malicious intent may, when performing unrelated actions, inadvertently cause harm to humanity by not accounting for its existence when performing said actions.

Even if contact with an extraterrestrial civilization takes place by means of electromagnetic radiation only, the civilization, acting in good or in bad faith, may send humanity biological information with which humans themselves create lethal biological weapons.

See also

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• Extrasolar planet
• Extraterrestrial life
• Astrobiology
• Fermi paradox
• Search for extraterrestrial intelligence

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• Kardashev scale
• Dyson sphere
• Columbian Exchange
• Bracewell probe
• Hypothetical types of biochemistry

Further reading

• Dominik, Martin and John C. Zarnecki. "The detection of extra-terrestrial life and the consequences for science and society". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. (audio supplement)
• Freitas Jr., Robert A. (1975-1979, 2008). Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization. Sacramento, California, United States: Xenology Research Institute. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
• Kaufman, Marc (2012). First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4391-0901-4.
• Folger, Tim (January 3, 2011). "Contact: The Day After" (PDF). Scientific American. Nature Publishing Group. pp. 40–45. Retrieved May 06, 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
• Michaud, Michael A. G. (2006). Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials. New York, New York, United States: Copernicus Books. ISBN 978-0-387-28598-6.