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Our Galactic Supervisors?
October 25, 2006
Current mood: contemplative
I get email quite often from people inquiring about the prospect of humans venturing out into space. Sometimes it is a positive view and sometimes negative. I try to answer with care and usually get carried away like I did this morning, writing more of a blog than an email! So I'm going to start posting them here! -e
[fwd from Marcel Rizzo]
So, Elaine, I hang with a bunch of amazing new-age geriatrics, and information that you may find relevant, even if you have difficultly believing it, that was shared with me is as follows:
Earth is under quarantine. I cannot quote the distance but you will find that there is a limit to how far from earth our space craft have been. We have to EARN the right to join the galactic society. Humans have to GET RIGHT before we will be allowed to share the rest of space with other beings. Can you FUCKING IMAGINE HOW HORRIBLE IT WOULD BE if our present human society spread throughout the universe? Do you really have that high of an estimation of the current human intent? And to top it off, do you in any way doubt that there are other sentient beings in this universe? And that some of them are so advanced of our "civilization" that we cannot even comprend? Do you think this pathetic disease called "the human race" deserves in it's present state to ascend to space?
I believe we are evolving towards a galactic society, even though the current social situation screams "SUICIDE". But we WILL NOT BE ABLE to emigrate beyond our solar system until we are deserving of it. I am coming to believe that the way we will pull the human race together is by the development of our latent abilities ("E.S.P.").
ummm, I just felt the urge to say these things to you, and so I did. Apologies if I sound insane or stupid.
*BE FREE!* love, [deleted name for privacy]
Here is my response:
Of course I don't doubt that there are sentient beings spread throughout the universe. I can do the math and I really really wish I could meet them! However, we are not trying to get out and meet the galactic society quite yet. Seriously, at the moment, we are merely working on getting back to our own Moon! In 20 or 100 years there might be a handful of brave humans on Mars doing some science. Hopefully we will have permanent bases on the Moon and Mars and even colonies sooner than later, but we are not expecting to meet any Martians. Why are you worrying about our relationship with galactic societies in deep space at this juncture? That's WAAAAAYYYYY in the future!
I am confused by your statement, "Earth is under quarantine. I cannot quote the distance but you will find that there is a limit to how far from earth our space craft have been." The distance is easy to remember. Our farthest space probe, Voyager, has just reached 100 astronomical units, meaning it is 100 times more distant from the sun than Earth is. Of COURSE we have only gone that far. The Pioneer and Voyager space probes launched TWENTY FIVE and THIRTY YEARS ago and are still going. Nothing launched previously with a trajectory heading out of the solar system that got stopped. How could anything have gotten farther? Nothing has stopped other planetary probes from going to their destinations. The only thing that is notable at all is that Japan and we have lost so many Mars probes, but that is not surprising either. Even sending a probe to Mars, which is the next planet over (every 2 years), is like sending a needle to a haystack. But certainly many probes have gone unimaginably great distances beyond Mars.
Perhaps the bubble you think our galactic seniors are holding us in is the Heliopause? If so, PLEASE take some time to read about it. The Heliopause is just the boundary where the Sun's solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium. I just can't imagine what else you would be referring to. Are aliens literally shooting down our probes or zapping their navigation systems? WHICH PROBES? Have we lost any that I'm forgetting? I haven't had my morning coffee yet so it's possible.
I really cannot imagine living a lifetime with your attitude. Ok.. YOU are human and I'd be willing to bet that you see yourself as inherently good even if you think a lot of the rest of the world is not. Perhaps that is why you go on living each day - you see hope if you can just spread the word. And I believe you are inherently good or you wouldn't be worrying about such things!
I feel I'm inherently good, my parents are good through and through, my family, my friends, most of my acquaintances (all but about two of them!). Did you look at humanity as a whole, pinpoint the wars, and overlook the peaceful scientific community - the community where people of China and Russia work closely with us on the International Space Station? Did you watch a movie about global warming and come to the conclusion that we are inherently bad creatures? Do you believe the galactic society is not at war amongst themselves? I believe that surely some are supreme beings with some form of ESP, some might have ascended as clouds of energy and some are having BLOODY WARS. I'll bet it is all over the map. It's a big galaxy and an unimaginably big universe!
I am semi-immersed in the scientific community with my pro-space activities and read a lot of science books, many which border on philosophy at a spiritual level. Scientists immerse themselves in astronomy and space science because they are curious beings. They are certainly not acting as a "pathetic disease" as you put it, while they are immersed in their science! It is a labor of love, as if the cosmos is God (and we are part of the whole), and contrary to unmoving religions, they are learning about God to become closer to the almighty answer to everything.
You might call it intellectual greed, but it doesn't have the same feeling as material greed or ego. I have this intellectual greed with regards to the cosmos, but it is a GOOD feeling. You may think this sounds cheesy, but it is the same feeling as love. (not LUST. Love.) I feel a love of the cosmos and damnit I want to learn about it. It has the same feeling for me as looking inward because we are all parts of the same whole. If I wasn't born with the musician gene I would be some sort of space scientist. Certainly I would be. I believe the galactic community would be proud of our curiosity.
Curiosity gets us all into trouble in some contexts, but curiosity is not inherently evil. To the contrary, the last thing on space scientists' minds while they are performing science is evilness. Do you want to take that away from them - from people like me who read space science books as a religion? Do you believe we should hold back the progress of our minds and collective spirit and cease to expand intellectually into the cosmos? I say intellectually because we are so far from actually physically loading people into ships and sending them beyond the Heliosphere. I hope you can stop worrying about that. And I hope you can see that we shouldn't hold back the progress of a great deal of good natured space scientists and astronauts because we are still having inevitable wars on Earth. Better to inspire than to fester on this finite bubble!
Taking into consideration, if you will, that humans are indeed NOT a pathetic disease but that we've gotten into messes because of our cultural differences, limited resources, and closeness in proximity. Imagine living on Mars where there is anywhere from a 6.5 minute to 44 minute delay when communicating to Earth. Unlike the Moon, Mars is SO incredibly far away and difficult to get to that indeed we could start civilizations that are truly unique and not complicated by disagreeing neighbors - not leaving everything behind, but taking lessons learned with us. Now let your imagination go and create a positive thought about it.
Onward,
-Elaine
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