Imagine like in the movies Arrival, one day an unknown extraterrestrial species lands on our planet. In addition to brand new technology and looks we probably can’t even imagine, these creatures will have different communication skills than ours. How do we communicate then? How can we make sure they come in peace? Well it seems that from SETI are already preparing an alien dictionary.
The University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom has announced a new study to prepare a dictionary of humans and extraterrestrial civilizations. How do you plan to do it? As they comment assembled a team of international experts whose mission is to prepare humanity for contact with aliens.
But this is not the only work of this team of specialists. Its responsibility also extends to the development of a network of “impact assessments, protocols, procedures and contracts aimed at allow humanity to respond responsibly“.
The group responsible for taking action in the event of such a historic event will be the SETI Post-Discovery Center. On their official website, they greet us with the question “What will humanity do when they discover that we are not alone in the Cosmos?” Thus, they open up an interesting question for which we are not prepared.
SETI wants to prepare humanity for possible extraterrestrial communication
From the beginning, SETI was intended to fill a gap in the discussion about the response to a possible alien discovery. Now they are expanding a little more. In this case, They also strive to create a much more detailed and understandable contact protocol for everyone..
“Will we ever get a message about aliens? We don’t know,” says John Elliot, SETI specialist and project coordinator. To which he adds: “We don’t know when that will happen either. But we know that we can’t afford to be ill-prepared – from a scientific, social and political point of view – for an event that can become a reality already tomorrow and which we cannot afford to mismanage.”
So far, this is just the beginning of a long journey. For this reason, SETI does not yet offer recommendations to follow in case of contact with aliens. However, in a couple of years, everything can change. After all, more and more scientists are interested in what is in other star systems.
The eventual discovery of microbial life is likely to raise other concerns than those that follow the discovery of intelligent life; As a species, we are not yet ready for the latter. It is therefore time to consider humanity’s response – and responsibility – following the discovery of both life and intelligence in the Cosmos.
We must prepare for this possibility now by establishing impact assessments, protocols, procedures and treaties designed to enable humanity to respond responsibly.
SETI
Source: Hiper Textual
