Wednesday, May 18, 2005

The future of the space-alien meme

Throughout history, the UFO phenomenon has been one step ahead of human capability. Our definition of the "other" has been quietly revised and reinvented in a parade of forms ranging from faerie folk to phantom airships to ghost rockets to NASA-esque flying saucers complete with alien "crew."

If we are in fact observing an unknown intelligence, it has proven remarkably adept at insinuating itself into the belief-structure of any given era, comfortably skating the razor's edge of plausibility. It implants itself in our collective unconscious, an abiding trickster that entices us with the possibility of catching up at the same time that it morphs into more fashionable disguises. The phenomenon is a constantly moving goal-post -- and we're largely amnesiac of any duplicity.

Whether we think we see an indigenous nonhuman species in our midst, as in the case of the Celtic faerie faith, or the comings and goings of eccentric aeronauts (the "impossible" airship sightings of the 1800s), we always think what we're viewing is genuine. Then, in a now-recognizable pattern, the performance changes. Since we invariably change alongside it, we fail to note that our visitors have merely upgraded their image to match prevailing notions. Thus, the most widely accepted exotic explanation for apparent alien craft in our skies -- the extraterrestrial hypothesis, with its Westernized nuts-and-bolts trappings -- is likely a facade.





If the UFO intelligence has been with the human species since prehistory, perhaps it's naive to assume the "aliens" will stick around in their present form once we've achieved their evident level of sophistication. If we can refrain from destroying ourselves, it's probable we will develop into a star-faring civilization. What then? The enigma and mythological luster of visiting space-aliens will have lost its appeal. If the UFO intelligence wants to continue interacting with us (for whatever reasons), it will be forced to adopt a new appearance; it will have to find a new mythical substrate in which to sow its memes.

That's assuming, of course, that humans a thousand years from now will still be blinkered by the capacity for belief. If we evolve into a "posthuman" state, as argued by a growing faction of thinkers in fields such as artificial intelligence and genetic engineering, there's no telling for certain how our perceptions will mutate to accommodate our new abilities. We may shed the dubious luxury of belief altogether . . . leaving the "ufonauts" stranded in the realm from which they originate, unable to continue their theatrical dialogue.

Or we may, finally, be able to discern the face behind the veil. As our technological prowess exponentiates, accompanied by a corresponding "physics of consciousness," today's perceived saucer-pilots may be rendered suddenly vulnerable. Equally disconcerting, we might find ourselves surrounded by newfound peers . . . if, of course, the phenomenon allows matters to progress that far.

Pioneering anomalist Charles Fort claimed that "we are property," a notion that seems disquietingly "Matrix"-like. But if Fort was right, we're not necessarily celestial chattel, doomed to an eternity of solipsistic antics. Our "visitors" may be our not-so-distant relatives, or even ancestors from some unimaginable future intent on nurturing their own historical time-line. (A time-travel hypothesis could help account for a variety of bizarre behavior associated with UFOs and paranormal visitation. Ultimately, it may make more sense to view the enigma as a concerted effort from the depths of time rather than an anthropological mission from deep-space; this may, in fact, be the ufonauts' most portentous secret, concealed by millennia of distraction and misinformation.)

Transhumanists speak in awed, increasingly confident tones of an imminent Singularity, beyond which forecasting the future becomes an exercise in futility. Elliptically enough, perhaps we're just now beginning to fashion the conceptual and technological tools that enable our visitors to operate in such consummate stealth.

11 comments:

W.M. Bear said...

The Singularity sounds like a techie version of the Rapture!

Mac said...

I've noticed that. I've even got a bumper-sticker for it: "IN CASE OF SINGULARITY, THIS CAR WILL BE MANNED BY A CYBORG."

JohnFen said...

The evolution of flying saucers has long reminded me of the evolution of "intelligence" in the context of AI.

Numerous times, we have defined AI in terms of "tasks that require intelligence to do", and each time so far, as soon as we develop a machine that can do such a task, we redefine intelligence so that performing the task doesn't indicate intelligence anymore.

Mac said...

Neat parallel!

RJU said...

Sorry to be a total skeptic here, but the scenario you just outlined could be explained by some outside group as you seem to believe, but it really seems better explained as being internally generated. In other words the entire phenomona is most likely the product of human individual or group conciousness.

Human perception is a very strange thing. The picture we develop in our minds is determined more by what we expect to see than what is actually there. There may be some natural phenomona that are at the root of UFO and similar experiences and we have simply interpreted it differently through time. This natural phenomona is most likely some kind of rather rare occurence that cannot be fit into our normal world view. It seems highly unlikely any intelligence or alien life forms of any kind are involved. If they were involved, it would mean first that they want to remain hidden and second that they have some stake in human history and evolution. I think that both of these necessary assumptions are highly implausible. There is a whole nearly infinite universe out there to play with. Why would any intelligence chose to play in our backyard with a brutal and primitive species such as homo sapiens? To make the assumption some intelligence is involved, it is necessary to give humankind a special place and importance that is identical to that given by the world's major religions. For this very reason UFO enthusiasts appear to be almost religious in their beliefs and I tend to be very skeptical of everything that has been claimed about these phenomona.

KennyJC said...

rju - There is a probably almost limitless universe out there, but in this galaxy how often would advanced aliens get the chance to observe an intelligent race as they only just aquire technology at a reasonably advanced level.

I assume they would have capabilities to spot any planet habitable for life from some distance away. Maybe we just caught their attention. Or maybe they knew all along but have only taken much interest within the last hundred years as we reach a big turning point.

I'm skeptical too but I do enjoy speculating about this stuff as I do think the possibilities are endless .

Mac said...

Who's talking alien "life forms"? We could be dealing with an entirely automated system, perhaps even a projection of some sort. I use the term "visitors" for narrative purposes; maybe we're interacting with a singular intelligence that uses events and evident individuals like humans use words or gestures.

RJU said...

I think speculation is a wonderful thing which is why I enjoy reading Mac's blog. The problem that I see is when something is said enough times by enough people, it takes on the appearance of reality. The concept of God is probably the best example of this. UFO's seem to have gained reality in the same way. In both cases, there may be a God and there may some real phenomonen behind UFO's, but they both should remain strictly in the category of speculation. If I were betting which is more likely to be real God or UFO's, I would bet on the UFO's, but right now I don't believe in either one.

Mac said...

"I think speculation is a wonderful thing which is why I enjoy reading Mac's blog."

Speculation? On *my* blog?

W.M. Bear said...

And speaking of speculation -- Are the aliens on that cover like really, really lousy shots (death rays at twenty yards or so and they're MISSING?) Or, as seems much more likely, are they just messing with those two guys? (Let's see how fast earthlings can run! Run, earthlings, run!)

Mac said...

That's one of the main reasons I like that cover so much! Evidently they've conquered interstellar travel, yet they can't aim worth a damn.

I also like how the guy in the foreground is literally *holding his hat*. I think protecting my hat would be the last thing on my mind if being pursued by a fleet of hostile alien warships...