Take Me To Your Leader
An article written by an astronomer who works on SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), which takes a refreshingly skeptical look at the UFO cult phenomenon:
Yes, and over 90% of Americans think there's a giant man who lives in the sky and watches their every move. Self-delusion doesn't make reality.
Statistically, intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is a near-certainty. But our chances of being close enough to another civilization, both spatially and temporally, that we actually come into contact with them are vanishingly small.
As a life-long science fiction reader and aspiring writer, I am of course intrigued by the possibility of a contact scenario. But I'm also a realist, and that part of me believes that even a nominally scientific endeavor like SETI is a waste of resources which could be better spent on real science.
As for UFO cultists, they're in the same psychological category as the bigfooters, the Nessies, and the guests at Jim Jones' last party. They're not entirely stable at best, and potentially dangerous at worst--remember the Heaven's Gate cult?
The good news is that the latest polls confirm that roughly half of all Americans believe extraterrestrial life exists. The weird news is that a similar fraction think some of it is visiting Earth.
Yes, and over 90% of Americans think there's a giant man who lives in the sky and watches their every move. Self-delusion doesn't make reality.
Statistically, intelligent life elsewhere in the universe is a near-certainty. But our chances of being close enough to another civilization, both spatially and temporally, that we actually come into contact with them are vanishingly small.
As a life-long science fiction reader and aspiring writer, I am of course intrigued by the possibility of a contact scenario. But I'm also a realist, and that part of me believes that even a nominally scientific endeavor like SETI is a waste of resources which could be better spent on real science.
As for UFO cultists, they're in the same psychological category as the bigfooters, the Nessies, and the guests at Jim Jones' last party. They're not entirely stable at best, and potentially dangerous at worst--remember the Heaven's Gate cult?
2 Comments:
Yes, and over 90% of Americans think there's a giant man who lives in the sky and watches their every move. Self-delusion doesn't make reality.
Hehe. After the first bit, I was thinking about all the people who believe in some all powerful magical being. You read my mind - amazing when you don't even know me. ;)
Jim Jones, now that takes me back way back. As the article clearly states: the evidence is weak. It really is beyond belief that funding from our government is still going into SETI.
Great post.
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