Since the dawn of Man, we have all gazed at the stars and asked ourselves a single question.
“Are we alone?” Many have tried to answer this question by speculating on the nature of intelligent life, determining if it was a true process or if humanity just got incredibly lucky.
Some claim life must exist elsewhere in the universe due to the laws of probability, such as myself, while others believe intelligent life could not exist outside of Earth due to a variety of factors, such as the climate of our blue marble, or the belief in a creator deity that chose to design us as its masterworks and nothing more.
I, personally, do enjoy the idea that there is other life on our level out there, but that always leads to a very difficult set of questions.
What are these aliens?
Unfortunately, as of right now it’s hard to determine the presence of alien lifeforms, let alone determine what they look like, but I can offer some possible assumptions based on scientific speculation and then some actual speculation based upon my own thoughts.
One of the more common ideas is that they will resemble us, as they may come from a similar planet to Earth which possesses similar evolutionary challenges, thus prompting them to undergo the same changes that we did.
However, equally likely is the theory that they will be so utterly alien to us that we will not recognise them as intelligent, or even alive. It could be aquatic, or walk on three legs and an elastic tail. We have no way of knowing until we make first contact.
Will we get along with them?
This is the tricky one. We have no idea what alien races will think of us, nor us of them. We cannot see the future, cannot predict our first encounter with what could be the only other thinking beings in all of reality.
It could be a chance encounter, it could be a struggle for resources, it could be an awkward meeting at Space McDonald’s, who knows?
My belief is that we can peacefully coexist with extraterrestrial life, as long as we play our cards right and send our best behaved diplomats. As long as we go in with an open mind and hold no prejudice in our hearts, it can work.
You’ve talked about aliens, what about the other options?
Ah, yes, of course. Aliens are not the only possible source of intelligent life. There exists the possibility that other sentient beings exist on Earth, or could exist in the future, and we will have to be prepared for that.
There are two such possibilities in that regard, in my humble opinion; a sentient race exists somewhere in the ocean, or the creation of artificial intelligence. You have every permission to clown upon me, to call me a tinfoil hat conspiracist, but we have never been able to explore the entirety of the ocean.
There can be untold possibilities down there. As for what such a creature would be like, I cannot say. Their culture, appearance, interactions with our society.. It’d be unfathomable.
As for artificial intelligence, such a topic is so wide-reaching and vast that it’s too much to discuss in this article in full, so I’ll be brief. It will all have to do with how we treat the machines. If they do not feel like we are treating them unfairly, then there will be no Skynet, no revolution, no apocalypse for humanity.
Even now, there is hope for man.
In summary, I believe that humanity could easily coexist alongside another sentient race if such an event occurred, so long as we all remember the most vital rule that we were taught as kids, the only good thing school has ever taught us.
Treat others as you wish to be treated.