Advancing Space Technology and Preparing for Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence through Multilateralism
Is it possible that we can account for the Fermi paradox by looking to our own behavior as a species? Some science fiction of the 1950s pointed in that direction, as witness The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Dr Kelvin F Long addresses the question in terms of the ‘zoo hypothesis’ in the essay below, asking what our culture could do to make itself less threatening to any outsider. Long is an aerospace engineer, astrophysicist and author. He leads the Interstellar Research Centre, a division of Stellar Engines, which conducts research on the science and technology associated with deep space exploration. He is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Physics and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society. He tells me he wrote this article as a means of fundamental protest at the current conflicts engulfing humanity and as a plea to any observing ETI not to judge our species by the immorality of those who hold power over the potential of humankind. Also available on his site are two other documents pertaining to this topic: The Second Sun and Open Letter to the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council.
As humanity reaches further out into the Cosmos through our long-range astronomical instruments and also robotic probes, our presence is sure to be noticed by any hypothetical extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) that may also exist. Yet the development of our technology is not without complications given the potential dual use. Since it involves large powers and energies, this especially includes that any space propulsion machine can also be turned into a weapon. If ETI does exist then they will surely be mindful of how we use this technology and attempt to gauge whether we will bring peace and prosperity to any life in the Universe, or modes of destruction. Given this scenario, it is reasonable to consider that any civilisation that reaches a certain level will reach a point where they will be either permitted to continue in their advance outwards, or potentially face stagnation by clandestine means. It is argued that since within decades we are likely nearing this point of paradigm shift in space technology, the monitoring of our civilisation should be expected currently. In the near future we should prepare for the eventuality that we will either be greeted by intelligence from another world or forced to be restricted within a permanent zoo that constrains us to the Solar System. Preparing for this, such as through reforms of institutions like the United Nations, should be a key component of our nation state relationships through a moral and legitimate multilateral approach to problem solving, but also our exploration roadmaps.
