First Contact

The present explorative study investigates the ways in which the ambiguous reality of extra-terrestrial first contact is socially constructed. It is considered ambiguous, due to our lack of knowledge about life in the Universe, and the resulting lack of real-life experiences with extra-terrestrials. Consequently, the current study suggests that the reality of first contact is constructed only by symbolic and subjective resources of knowledge. In order to test this hypothesis, focus groups were conducted with young university students in the UK and thematically analysed with the purpose of identifying key themes which contribute to the construction of reality. Participant accounts revealed that the notion of first contact is indeed ambiguous in spite of its techno-scientific plausibility, due to the lack of objective knowledge. Scepticism and critical thinking were echoed in all accounts, regarding both the validity of a potential announcement of contact and its representations in contemporary resources of knowledge. Media was emphasised as a key resource about the topic, reinforcing the academically alleged importance of the science fiction genre in the construction of knowledge. However, this mediated construction was received with similar cynicism, revealing the increasing importance of scientific reasoning and rationality concerning the subject. Consequently, the study concludes that further investigation into the social construction of the extra-terrestrial first contact reality would be beneficial for the field of astrosociology in their exploration of public attitudes and anticipation of potential reactions.

Philosophy and Theology , 2024

This paper revisits close encounters with a perceived non-human intelligence through the Strieber letters that are available in the Rice University Woodson Archives. In 1997, Michael E. Zimmerman first published on the 'alien abduction' phenomenon in hopes of generating philosophical conversation about these extraordinary and unexplained experiences. I begin by comparing the contents of the Strieber letters to other research that has been done on abduction and close encounters. I then explain how the experiences violate the existing social ontology, that is to say, the boundaries for defining 'truth' and 'reality' in mainstream society, drawing on existing work by Zimmerman. I proceed to show that the phenomenology of close encounters reveals them as subversive experiences that initiate a process of transformation in the individual experiencer. I show that the experience is meant to leave the experiencer questioning their current understanding of reality and thus make them open to the possibility of a new metaphysical and ethical paradigm. Many who have extraordinary encounters report a profound shift in worldview following their close encounter experience. Last, I draw parallels between the close encounter experience and the clown or trickster figure in the Native American worldview.

Space Policy, 2007

We present a review of the book by Michael Michaud "Contact with Alien Civilizations: Our Hopes and Fears about Encountering Extraterrestrials"

Chapter 6 in William Anderson’s "Film, Philosophy and Religion" (Vernon Press), 2021

The movie Contact, inspired by Carl Sagan's novel, is (surprisingly?) a move that argues that science and religion are compatible. The main character, Dr. Arroway, "justifiably" believes that she has contacted aliens for the same reason that Rev. Joss thinks he has contacted God: a personal experience. But is it ever scientific to let personal experience override what one knows is the better explanation? This chapter explores the movie Contact to explain why the answer to this question is "no"; and more generally how and why religion and science can and do conflict. While a person can be fully scientifically and religiously minded if they treat religious belief as non-literal, and only about ethics and meaning, the majority of religious beliefs, central to many religions--such as belief in the soul, the resurrection, miracles and even God--are fundamentally unscientific. (This is the MS word version of the chapter, submitted to the editor, for typesetting and proofing.)

Aigne, 2020

Despite being a hallmark of science fiction since the inception of the genre, narratives that feature first contact scenarios between humans and alien civilizations became particularly popular in the middle of the twentieth century. Critical analyses have long neglected the uniqueness of first contact narratives in this period, especially their clear 'mentorship-like' rather than 'invasion-like' nature and the invariable transformation of humanity that follows the event. This article attempts to fill this gap in the research by comparing how the aftermath of first contact is treated in novels by the 'Big Three' of science fiction: Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, 1953), Robert A. Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land, 1961), and Isaac Asimov (The Gods Themselves, 1972). The article argues that the structure of first contact in these narratives is deliberately crafted to appeal to both contemporary cultural (mainly Cold War related) anxieties, and to hard-wired biological biases. In each of the novels discussed, this transformation sees humanity, through various means, become more like the aliens. This change results in a type of hyper-sociality, which can be viewed in a positive or negative light depending on the narrative context, the conflicting attitudes towards communality and individualism, and the contemporary zeitgeist of the Cold War. In addition to a close reading of the three texts, the article also employs a sentiment analysis, with the help of Matthew Jockers' 'syuzhet' package, in order to uncover the emotional valence of the transformation underlying the trope.

Beyond UFOs: The Science of Consciousness and Contact with Non Human Intelligence, Vol 1, 2018

It would appear that individuals who report experiencing kinds of extraterrestrial and otherworldly encounters with nonhuman intelligent beings (NHIBs) have, in the process, undergone some kind of unavoidable destabilizing consciousness-altering or consciousness-raising event that leaves them thereafter changed. Due to the exceptionally anomalous nature of what they experienced, they seem to have been irrevocably moved beyond their earlier normative baseline state of consciousness that, conjoined with so many millions of similar others, co-constituting our consensus reality of what is understood as objectively real and shared as such. We find them experientially transformed into entering what Bucke called 'a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by ordinary man,' which he called cosmic consciousness."

Comparative and Continental Philosophy, 2018

Husserl's phenomenology of intersubjectivity is often thought to fall into solipsism and thus be a failed project. One of the typical symptoms is the so-called "paradox of incorporation". The key to avoiding the paradox lies in finding the motives that lead to alien experiences. An important effort in this direction is to extend the so-called phenomenon of "double sensation" limited to the tactile realm to all perceptual realms. However, the legitimacy of the extension is based on the recognition of a pre-subjective, anonymous, and impersonal dimension, which exorcizes, but not answer the question. This article attempts to make a new interpretation of Husserl's fifth Cartesian Meditation. It focuses on the concept of "replacing" and argues that the motivational basis of alien experience is the desire for total naturalization.

International Studies in Philosophy, 2005

In this paper my aim is to shed light on the common behaviour of human beings by looking at 'first contacts': the situation where people with unshared histories first meet (who don't speak one an others' language, don't have access to interpreters, etc.). The limits of the human life form are given by what is similar in the common behaviour(s) of human beings. But what is similar should not be understood as something that is biologically or psychologically or transcendentally shared by all human beings. What is similar is what human beings would recognise as similar in first or other contacts-a similarity that is, in a way, transcendentally grounded, but the content of this grounding remains tied to the local situation of actual encounters. To be a human person, it is both an empirical and a transcendental precondition that one knows the certainties of particular form(s) of life and that one is capable of recognising and dealing with an indefinite variety of human behaviours. Because I participate in form(s) of life, I can interact with other form(s) of life. By considering first contacts and by interacting with other communities, one can learn to understand better what the common behaviour(s) of human beings is/are.

Should our planet be visited by an extraterrestrial civilization, the prevailing assumption would undoubtedly be that the extraterrestrial civilization is Type I i.e. its capacity for interstellar travel results from its technological development. This assumption is dangerous for it unnecessarily leads to the Extraterrestrial Tandem Hypothesis (ETH): the belief than an extraterrestrial civilization technologically capable of interstellar travel must also be technologically compatible with the inexorably rapid annihilation of life on Earth. Such a state of things would compromise the planet’s capacity to stage a confident defense should the extraterrestrials prove belligerent. The presumption of Type I extraterrestrials (on the premise of the capacity for interstellar travel alone) is unfounded as extraterrestrials may be Type II i.e. capable of interstellar travel by virtue of natural intrinsic or extrinsic factors. This paper advances, most importantly, that the fundamental policy ...

Acta Astronautica, 2014

This study presents a new approach to the concept of cosmic consciousness integrated in current neuroscience knowledge and discusses implications for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. It also examines different aspects related to consciousness and how it may play a key role in the understanding of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and life in the Universe and its implications. Subjects (n ¼ 116) were college students from Spain, the United States, and Italy. Subjects responded to a questionnaire comprising five different sections: (A) religious beliefs, (B) environment and general opinion, (C) astronomy, (D) contact, and (E) attention and perception. The results showed the importance of several modular aspects that affect Space awareness in humans. Preliminary results are discussed with regard to current neuroscience, factor analysis, and possible implications for the understanding of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. The roles of education, new search strategies, and possible contact scenarios are also discussed.