Exploring the Amazing: The Search for Intelligent Life and Our Spiritual Destiny

A few years ago, I read an article in Technology Review, where Nick Bostrom, the director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, discussed the search for life elsewhere in the Universe. In the article, he speculated on whether Earth was the only planet in the Universe to harbor intelligent life, and if so, why that would be. He discussed the concept of a “Great Filter,” which in his words are “transitions that are both extremely improbable and practically necessary for the emergence of intelligent technological civilization. One criterion for any likely candidate is that it should have occurred only once.” [1] The Great Filter, he further explored, could lie behind us in evolution, two candidates being abiogenesis, the actual emergence of life; or the evolution of prokaryotic organisms into eukaryotic organisms. It could also lie ahead of us in the form of an inevitable catastrophe that dooms all intelligent life forms to extinction before they can engage in space colonization. One example of such a catastrophe is the discovery of a dooming technology. Bostron: “It is not far-fetched to imagine some possible technology such that, first, virtually all sufficiently advanced civilizations eventually discover it, and second, its discovery leads almost universally to existential disaster.” [2]

In reality, locations in our own Solar System may harbor or have harbored conditions conducive to life. On Mars, according to Space.com, the Opportunity Rover found the most convincing evidence yet of the past presence of water on the red planet. [3] There is alluring evidence that meteorites traced to be from Mars contain evidence of microbial fossils. [4] Three moons in the solar system – Europa (Jupiter), Enceladus (Saturn), and Titan (Saturn) may be candidates for harboring life. The first two have water in liquid form. Titan has methane/ethane based oceans; however, there is speculation that life may possibly emerge in such an environment. [5] Within our own galaxy, NASA found the first “Goldilocks Planet,” that is, a planet that is the right size and distance from its star to harbor liquid water. In fact the planet, Kepler 22b, is predicted to have a surface temperature of 72^oF (22^oC). [6] Therefore, it is difficult for me to believe that there is no life in the Universe outside of Earth.

Yet, no intelligent life has yet been found. The radio search for intelligent life, SETI, has been underway for about 50 years and has just recommenced after a 7 month lay-off. They still hope eventually to find radio signals from some of the newly discovered planetary systems. [7] Listening, however, is a passive activity and perhaps we would find intelligent life far quicker if we transmitted signals into promising areas of our galaxy. Yet, there are strong opinions against actively seeking out aliens, for instance physicist Stephen Hawking, who fears that expansionist minded aliens would take over the earth and exterminate our species: "If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans." [8] This view makes the assumption that other highly advanced life forms are aggressive, which is no surprise given our history and tendency to believe other life forms would be like us. However, this assumption may not be valid; even if it is, violent races may well exterminate themselves, leaving behind peaceful species. If intelligent life indeed exists out there and they have the means to travel great distances, it is inevitable that they will contact us if they so desire. So whether or not we actively try to make contact, contact would be inevitable.

It is hard to believe Bostrom’s contention that either we are alone or that we are destined for extinction. In a spiritual Universe, it doesn’t make sense that advanced forms of life would be existentially doomed. It makes far more sense that intelligent beings with a deep spiritual curiosity would advance their kind to ultimately come into a full awareness of their spiritual destiny and work toward achieving it. It is also hard to believe that we Earthlings are unique in the universe. Given the high probability that there is or has been life, albeit primitive, right in our own Solar System, this implies that life is a universal phenomenon. With 10²² stars in the observable Universe alone, the odds are that, even if there is a high improbability that intelligent life would emerge on any given earthlike planet, the great number of these types of planets would virtually guarantee that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe. Stephen Hawking: "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational.” [9] Yet, outside of the numerous stories of UFOs and alien encounters, there yet has been a verified alien visit or intelligent signal received from space.

Why would this be the case? Nick Bostrom speculates that advance races may choose to stay in communion with nature on their own planet. Or, if they are teeming in the Universe, they consciously have decided to stay hidden from us. [10] Even if they wish to transmit their presence to us and to others, it is possible that the energy requirements for sending radio signals far distances are prohibitive. The speed of light is a formidable barrier to space travel and discovery of other races; even if there were an intelligent species on the closest star to us, Alpha Centauri, it would take over 4 years to travel there, assuming travel at nearly the speed of light is possible. Do technologies exist that would permit travel at close to the speed of light, or even faster than light speed? Would an intelligent race have the patience to spend hundreds or thousands of years to travel to other systems?

I would like to explore another avenue for the absence of alien contact. Making the assumption that ancient intelligent races have evolved well beyond our imagination with respect to technology and science, one can fathom some incredible possibilities. First, speculate on our level of technical adeptness 2000 years ago vs. today. The people 2000 years ago would look at our current technology and believe that it would be magic. So, imagine a race that has advanced and evolved, say, 1,000,000 years ahead of us, a mere blip on the time scale of the Universe. Perhaps they have learned interdimensional travel and are living in a different dimension or universe, rendering them invisible to us. Perhaps they evolved past physical form into a form of energy. After all, all matter is convertible to light or energy, as per Einstein’s famous equation E = mc². They would be, in other words, in the form of a spirit. Perhaps the ultimate destiny of all living creatures that further their evolution is the spiritual realm. This vision is shared by James Redfield, the famous author of The Celestine Prophecy: “And once again, as the synchronicity continues and the inspiration soars, our bodies will be reaching even higher levels of energy until we be become spiritual beings of light.” [11]

If this speculation is true, it is incredibly uplifting. If we overcome today’s issues, many of which are major, and create sustainable technologies that protect our fragile Earth, we will continue our own evolution and humanity will ultimately meet its spiritual destiny in communion with the Universe.

References:

1. http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/20569/