If a verified message from aliens is ever received, would the public be told about it? SETI -- the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence -- does have an international protocol that if an alien signal is ever received, it would be disseminated among the astronomical community and made public. And of course, says Mac Tonnies at the SETI Blog, "international cooperation might be necessary in order to distinguish a legitimate alien signal from any number of phenomena capable of generating false alarms." But what if the signal is more than just extra-terrestrials saying hello? Tonnies believes SETI's plans for full disclosure only makes sense if the message is fairly benign. If the signal was a notice of impending doom from a black hole, supernova, or alien invasion -- something we on Earth had little power to do anything about -- Tonnies questions whether governments would choose to make such information public. But could something of this magnitude really be kept under wraps?
"A futurist is someone who can take a look at a strip-mall and experience instinctual fear."
Exemplifying that role is Mac Tonnies, a futurist and sci-fi author who enjoys exploring everything from post-humanity to the paranormal. Armed with zingers like the quote at top and a keen sense of wit, Mac enjoys walking the line between reality and science fiction, much like contemporary Vernor Vinge (who also happens to be featured on the site today).
One of the most original thinkers within the mystical and UFOlogical realms, Mac Tonnies gets verbally beaten up from time to time for daring to voice well constructed theories that fall outside the boundaries of accepted explanations for the unusual.
That's what you get for thinking outside the box. His first book, After the Martian Apocalypse, was an adroit and imaginative attempt to posit the existence of a previous, intelligent and now extinct civilization on Mars. The book drew attention to his writing and thinking earned him acknowledgement as an innovative and original theorist.
A committed transhumanist, like many before him he has started to look away from the heavens for an explanation for the anomalous and instead has turned his gaze inwards. In this interview, he reveals his thinking about a hidden presence among us; a parallel existence hamstrung by our dominance of this planet and wary of our actions. A presence that interacts, manipulates, and responds to what we do.
Cryptoterrestrial theorist Mac Tonnies brings the study on this episode about aliens, cryptos, Martians, alleged monuments on the moon, Rich Hoagland and so much more. How much? How about a suprise phone call from a famous talk show host? How about Mac finally spilling the beans on the state of ufology today? How about all of that and even more, huh? How about it?!
Time is running out to see Doing Time, a highly entertaining mystery based on a sci-fi short story by Kansas City author Mac Tonnies and adapted by the play's director Paul Kimball. It is staged in the tiny basement room of the Wired Monk Coffee Shop, which makes for a surprisingly effective space for this particular play. The story is classic sci-fi, but you don't have to be a fan of the genre to enjoy Doing Time.
There's something genuinely thrilling - and unsettling - about Semaphore Theatre's world premiere of the play Doing Time. First off, it's unapologetically hard-core sci-fi. Second, it's a stage piece more interested in ideas that character.
