Today I gave a lecture in Delphi, Greece about “The Benefits of Discovering Alien Intelligence Over Artificial Intelligence” at a conference on “The Future of Humanity,” under the auspices of the President of Greece, Mr. Constantine An. Tassoulas.
The opening talk by the conference organizer, Professor Panagiotis Roilos from Harvard University, focused on “Space Politics and the Future of Humanity”. Panagiotis argued that the exploration and colonization of outer space should not happen at the expense of the quality of the life of humans on Earth. In addition, this engagement should not reflect the conflicts associated with geopolitical relations on our planet. He admitted that this is a romantic vision. Reality is quite different. Space politics often mirrors real geopolitics. But the most important question remains: who should own space? Answers to this question depend mainly on political, ideological, and ethical principles. Panagiotis suggested that we should do away with the very notion of space owners and that space exploration should serve humanity as a whole. His own naive and romantic wish is that the reality of outer space will be different from terrestrial geopolitics although this might be, in his words, “yet another dream of a midsummer afternoon.” Human history shows that conflict and division characterized our past, dominate our present, and may also define the future of our species.
Professor Martin Rees from the University of Cambridge in England spoke eloquently about the future and wisely noted: “We are perhaps near the end of natural Darwinian evolution and selection. But the evolution of intelligence is just beginning. Even if life originated only on Earth, it need not remain a trivial feature as a consequence. Indeed, humans may be closer to the beginning than to the end of a process whereby intelligence spreads through the galaxy. The leap to neighboring stars is just an early step in this process. Interstellar voyages hold a promise to the immortals. So, perhaps, the galaxy is teeming with advanced life. On the other hand, our tiny planet as a pale blue dot could still be the most important place in the entire Universe. What we need by the end of the 21st century is technology, guided by values — which are not provided by science alone.”
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