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Astronomers around the world are pointing their telescopes toward the heavens, searching for signs of intelligent life. If they make contact with an advanced alien civilization, how will humankind respond? In thinking about first contact, the contributors to this volume present new empirical and theoretical research on the societal dimensions of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Archaeologists and astronomers explore the likelihood that extraterrestrial intelligence exists, using scientific insights to estimate such elusive factors as the longevity of technological societies. Sociologists present the latest findings of novel surveys, tapping into the public's attitudes about life beyond Earth to show how religion and education influence beliefs about extraterrestrials. Scholars from such diverse disciplines as mathematics, chemistry, journalism, and religious studies offer innovative solutions for bridging the cultural gap between human and extraterrestrial civilizations, while recognizing the tremendous challenges of communicating at interstellar distances. At a time when new planets are being discovered around other stars at an unprecedented rate, this collection provides a much needed guide to the human impact of discovering we are not alone in the universe.
Astronomers around the world are pointing their telescopes toward the heavens, searching for signs of intelligent life. If they make contact with an advanced alien civilization, how will humankind respond? In thinking about first contact, the contributors to this volume present new empirical and theoretical research on the societal dimensions of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Archaeologists and astronomers explore the likelihood that extraterrestrial intelligence exists, using scientific insights to estimate such elusive factors as the longevity of technological societies. Sociologists present the latest findings of novel surveys, tapping into the public's attitudes about life beyond Earth to show how religion and education influence beliefs about extraterrestrials. Scholars from such diverse disciplines as mathematics, chemistry, journalism, and religious studies offer innovative solutions for bridging the cultural gap between human and extraterrestrial civilizations, while recognizing the tremendous challenges of communicating at interstellar distances. At a time when new planets are being discovered around other stars at an unprecedented rate, this collection provides a much needed guide to the human impact of discovering we are not alone in the universe.
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence as an Interdisciplinary Effort
Albert A. Harrison and Douglas A. Vakoch
PART I: DOES EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE EXIST?
Chapter 1. Are We Alone? Estimating the
Prevalence of Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Seth Shostak
Chapter 2. Encountering Alternative
Intelligences: Cognitive Archaeology and SETI
Paul K. Wason
Chapter 3. The Lifetimes of Scientific
Civilizations and the Genetic Evolution of the Brain
Alan J. Penny
Chapter 4. ‘L’ on Earth
Kathryn Denning
PART II: REACTIONS TO DISCOVERING LIFE BEYOND EARTH
Chapter 5. Can SETI Fulfill the Value Agenda of
Cultural Anthropology?
Donald E. Tarter
Chapter 6. American Attitudes about Life beyond
Earth: Beliefs, Concerns, and the Role of Education and Religion in
Shaping Public Perceptions
George Pettinico
Chapter 7. Cultural Beliefs about
Extraterrestrials: A Questionnaire Study
William Sims Bainbridge
Chapter 8. The Science and Politics of SETI:
How to Succeed in an Era of Make Believe History and
Pseudoscience
Albert A. Harrison
PART III: COMMUNICATION WITH EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE
Chapter 9. Cultural Aspects of Interstellar
Communication
Carl L. DeVito
Chapter 10. Cosmic Storytelling: Primitive
Observables as Rosetta Analogies
Harry Letaw, Jr.
Chapter 11. Direct Contact with
Extraterrestrials via Computer Emulation
William Sims Bainbridge
Chapter 12. The Inscrutable Names of God: The
Jesuit Missions of New France as a Model for SETI-Related Spiritual
Questions
Jason T. Kuznicki
Chapter 13. ET Phone Darwin: What Can an
Evolutionary Understanding of Animal Communication and Art
Contribute to Our Understanding of Methods for Interstellar
Communication?
Kathryn Coe, Craig T. Palmer, and Christina Pomianek
Chapter 14. A Journalistic Perspective on
SETI-Related Message Composition
Morris Jones
Notes on Contributors
Douglas A. Vakoch is Professor in the Department of Clinical Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies, as well as Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute. He serves as Chair of both the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Study Group on Interstellar Message Construction and the IAA Study Group on Active SETI: Scientific, Technical, Societal, and Legal Dimensions. His books include Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (CETI), Psychology of Space Exploration: Contemporary Research in Historical Perspective, and Ecofeminism and Rhetoric: Critical Perspectives on Sex, Technology, and Discourse.
“At a time when new planets are being discovered around other stars at an unprecedented rate, this collection provides a much needed guide to the human impact of discovering we are not alone in the universe.” • International Journal of Anthropology “For years sections of the SETI [Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence] community have bemoaned the fact that the social sciences are often sidelined in favour of the hard sciences when it comes to SETI discussion. Civilizations Beyond Earth starts to redress the balance, edited skillfully by Douglas Vakoch, the only sociologist on staff at the SETI Institute in California, and Albert Harrison, a psychologist from the University of California.” • Astronomy “…a fascinating collection of essays examining how humanity might react to extraterrestrials…While [the book] is academically rigorous, it’s also accessible…it remains an essential introduction for anyone interested in SETI, xenobiology and UFOs.” •ForteanTimes
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