Where Are the Aliens?

Ok, today I am doing something different – most of the time I talk about religion but this time I want to talk about Science, Aliens. As all of us know, we seem to be all alone in this universe, this vast huge universe, teeming with so many billions of stars, planets – how come we are all alone? According to the Drake equation there should be thousands of intelligent species. An intelligent species just a 1,000 years ahead of us should be traversing the galaxy by now – and there should be a lot of them like that – lighting up our night sky and yet all we get is darkness.

I do not subscribe to some religions claiming a magic man made us in his image etc. – that somehow, we are sooo special but having said that we do seem to be a bit special, at least, when it comes to this planet. We are the ONLY species that dreams, aspires for greatness – looks at the stars and goes, “one day we will be there!”

All other life forms on earth are limited to just 4 S’s – Safety, Sleep, Sustenance and Sex – maybe not in that particular order but that is about it – they get these 4, they are satisfied. Their entire lives spent in getting these 4 S’s.

And let me tie this up with Heaven a bit here – Heaven also seems to be limited to the 4 S’s – Heaven seems to be one Vast Charity Retirement Home with billions sitting idle, an eternity spent “living” like any animal or tree on this earth.

But back to subject at hand – as a species, physically we are very weak, most animals on this earth can outrun us, kill us easily in hand-to-claw combat, are bigger and stronger than us & yet we have come to dominate this planet. Our mind, our brains have made this possible – and now in the 21^st century, there is no animal on this planet that threatens us.

The one being that CAN threaten us is US! WE are our own worst enemy. Several nations are armed to the teeth with nuclear weapons that can wipe our humanity – one crazy mad man can be the end of us all!

And now we may have a new threat – Artificial intelligence, our computers – our babies, our creations! We invented these computers, artificial intelligence, and now there is a fear that at some point AI will advance so much that they will develop intelligence of their own and zoom past us. Will they still remain our faithful servants or decide that they no longer need their masters and overthrow us? I do think that the latter is a more plausible outcome – we need them, but they do not need us. The power and energy they need they can get from the sun, the wind, and the sea & they just might decide to do away with us.

But why would they? We are not a threat, are we? Just as we perceive no threat from the many animals on this planet, they may not perceive us as a threat to them either, but can they be so sure? As for animals go, we know that unlike in those “planet of the apes” movies, no animal will ever develop the intelligence to be a threat to us. But that is not the case with us, we already have the power to destroy everything on this planet, including us. And with our thirst for resources, and a better life, we are threatening global warming, which could end life on earth as we know it. They say that Mars once was similar to earth, before run-away greenhouse effect, destroyed all life on that planet, rendering it barren as we see it now.

And so, AI, might decide that we are a threat that cannot be ignored – as we know, give an ape a gun and show it how to use it and it can cause mayhem. And so, they just might decide we are a danger to them and decide to do away with us.

And then comes the problem – as I mentioned at the beginning, we are the ONLY species that dream, that aspire. Well, AI, Computers do not dream, do not aspire – they may not even be interested in being “alive” – to continue to develop, to spread across the galaxy, may not hold much appeal to them. They just might go dormant and since they do not need light, the planet they are “living” on might just go dark!

And maybe that is why the Universe is dark – intelligent species like us developing AI and then falling victim to them and then the conquering AI going dormant!

Getting back to the concept of Heaven – we see that most people who believe in Heaven talk of being happy, content, living in some sort of Barbie land where everyone is nice and happy. No one talks of aspirations, dreams, and of course no pain & suffering, whereas in the REAL WORLD that we live in ALL aspirations, dreams come with lots of heartache, pain & suffering. What exactly would be dreaming about in this Barbie land anyway? People who are after Heaven are after a life of ease, comfort, pleasure – similar to other life forms on this earth. Trees, for example, they live a life of ease, comfort & pleasure. Most lower life forms also get that life – we see that the lesser the brain, the lesser the pain & suffering. What worries does a bug have? A fly? How about our pets – our Dog for instance. Free food, live in a mansion, cared for, protected, no work, no worries! Their lives are limited to the 4 S’s and those who seek Heaven are asking for the same – these fools think they will get to sit back and enjoy an idle, easy, lazy life. Instead, they end up as our Pets, Trees, other lower life forms!