Space Wise

Since our relatively recent ability to irradiate the planet, it is widely believed that intelligence probably destroys itself. We could destroy ourselves any day, so intelligent life on other planets probably suffer the same ironic dynamic. Intelligence could be a flash in the pan universally. Or not.

We don’t realize what we are. Our natural inclination to trust has allowed sociopaths to discount our values and lead us back the materialism of jungle law.

Intelligence figures stuff out. Our values tell it what to figure out. Or they used to. As materialists, we now pretty much confine it to rockets and security. Mutually Assured Destruction is the frayed security blanket that we depend on to stay alive. Without values, intelligence can be pretty stupid. As we stray from our humanity, our capability warps.

Besides our own example of being close to self destruction, intelligent alien existence is discounted for the reason that we would have been contacted by a developed intelligence at this stage of universal existence, a.k.a.The Fermi Problem. Generally, the idea is that given a couple billion years or so, if intelligent aliens exist they’d have been here.

But our hubris has blinded us from an important dynamic: We have become unthinking, unsympathetic animals with weapons of mass destruction. The most powerful nation on earth doesn’t have care for its own beings while it continues to weaponize the planet. As an example of intelligence in the universe, we could be an outlier, an unusual example of a species that fails to know or appreciate what it is as it abandons its own humanity.

There’s likely intelligent life all over the universe and some of it could be interstellar. They could be sensitive and caring but need to practice social distancing from us. They could be waiting to see if we regain our humanity and whether or not they can help us join universal intelligence. That would be nice.

It’s important to be nice. The power of humanity, and maybe intelligence itself is built on it. Considering the average level of stupidity there is in being mean, this in not rocket science.

Yet.

Thank you.