Extra-Terrestrial Life
Created | Updated Mar 14, 2005
If the Universe is so big, after the Big Bang which would have caused the Universe to expand at an alarming rate (and, by all accounts, still is), then the entire concept of being alone is a frightening one. We all want to know that we are safe, even from an early age, where we ask our mothers is leave the hallway light on to scare away the boogeyman in the closet. This fear does not disappear as we grow older; we just get better at suppressing it. We still fear being alone and helpless, and in a Universe this big, we need to know that we are not the only ones here, just as we need to know that our parents are in the next room as a child to go to sleep.
Many people turn to religion - some fanatically - and some turn to science. These are ways in which humans try to find the truth. But they also try to say if there is anything else that we can put our trust in. With religion, it is God. With science, it is Laws and Boundaries. Something that takes away responsibility for our everyday lives.
Of course, some people claim that aliens exist; little green men who live on Mars. Abductions, sightings, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), have increased exponentially in recent years. They could all be fakes, or hallucinations brought on by increasing numbers of films like ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The idea is that it could even be an elaborate form of rape (I won't go into that).
However, human kind seems to be fascinated with aliens and the Universe, perhaps to fill the void that screams that we are alone, if we get in trouble no one will help us. These are the fears that plague humanity as a whole.
The existence of aliens even seems to contradict many xenophobes' views, even though extra-terrestrials are the most extreme form of foreigners you can imagine. I guess it's because at least the French or the Spanish will still be there if you dislike them. You don't want too risk a chance at touching an advanced race over such a small thing as prejudice.
Of course, then there is always the idea of power. To be in touch with a race that has mastered interstellar travel would give an almost euphoric sense of power. An ability to get anywhere almost instantaneously (this is impossible, but nonetheless an appealing concept). Humans fight for power - they kill for it. The power at the disposal of someone who can move across the Milky Way in a flash must be tempting to say the least.
So when people look up to the stars and see a military aircraft or aeroplane, they often claim it to be a UFO, proof of alien existence, so that they can add some sort of meaning, some idea that they are safe and they don't have to worry. Some idea that they can become more than they are, more than any human has ever thought to become. This is why people want - no, need - to believe in aliens, God, and the like. Whether they exist or not is, in many ways, beside the point.
Many people turn to religion - some fanatically - and some turn to science. These are ways in which humans try to find the truth. But they also try to say if there is anything else that we can put our trust in. With religion, it is God. With science, it is Laws and Boundaries. Something that takes away responsibility for our everyday lives.
Of course, some people claim that aliens exist; little green men who live on Mars. Abductions, sightings, Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), have increased exponentially in recent years. They could all be fakes, or hallucinations brought on by increasing numbers of films like ET and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The idea is that it could even be an elaborate form of rape (I won't go into that).
However, human kind seems to be fascinated with aliens and the Universe, perhaps to fill the void that screams that we are alone, if we get in trouble no one will help us. These are the fears that plague humanity as a whole.
The existence of aliens even seems to contradict many xenophobes' views, even though extra-terrestrials are the most extreme form of foreigners you can imagine. I guess it's because at least the French or the Spanish will still be there if you dislike them. You don't want too risk a chance at touching an advanced race over such a small thing as prejudice.
Of course, then there is always the idea of power. To be in touch with a race that has mastered interstellar travel would give an almost euphoric sense of power. An ability to get anywhere almost instantaneously (this is impossible, but nonetheless an appealing concept). Humans fight for power - they kill for it. The power at the disposal of someone who can move across the Milky Way in a flash must be tempting to say the least.
So when people look up to the stars and see a military aircraft or aeroplane, they often claim it to be a UFO, proof of alien existence, so that they can add some sort of meaning, some idea that they are safe and they don't have to worry. Some idea that they can become more than they are, more than any human has ever thought to become. This is why people want - no, need - to believe in aliens, God, and the like. Whether they exist or not is, in many ways, beside the point.
