The most dangerous form of arrogance is the arrogance we take for granted, the arrogance that colors our understanding so completely that we do not even see it as arrogance.<\/p>\n
In our culture, such all-pervasive, self-evident arrogance often involves the unthinking way in which we privilege science as the highest form of knowledge. A case in point is the ongoing interest in SETI, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The idea behind SETI projects is that there may be other intelligent forms of life in the universe, possibly more advanced than we are, reaching out to contact us through electromagnetic transmissions. On the face of it, this suggests a certain humility about our own accomplishments. But look a little closer and a different picture emerges.<\/p>\n
How are SETI projects supposed to make contact with other intelligent life forms? By initiating a conversation in the language we accept as universal\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe language of science. The SETI project assumes that more advanced extraterrestrial civilizations will use electromagnetic transmissions (radio, etc.) to communicate. In other words, they will develop the same scientific knowledge that characterizes the modern world, and then take it further. Not only that, but they will have the same drive to reach out to other civilizations in other parts of the physical universe that inspires efforts like SETI.<\/p>\n
Does any of this make sense? In the history of the human race, ours is the only civilization to have made science into the highest form of knowledge. Why assume that other life forms will have developed in precisely that one direction? What about the other dimensions of human experience? Couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t there be civilizations out there that are more advanced in their social interaction, or in their relation to the world they inhabit? What about life forms that are spiritually more advanced? Why suppose that a more advanced civilization will be advanced along precisely the scale that we consider the most important? Just here is the kind of arrogance I am thinking of.<\/p>\n
The counter to this argument is that if we want to contact extraterrestrial life, we have no choice but to use the means we have available. But this begs the question. There may be ways to communicate with other intelligences that have nothing to do with exchanging \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcinformation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 about the physical structures of the universe. A mid-twentieth century science-fiction writer named Clifford D. Simak once wrote a novel called City<\/em> in which a central premise is that dogs naturally possess the ability to move easily from one universe to the next (which explains why they are constantly howling at things we cannot see or sense). In our search for life among distant galaxies, have we have been barking up the wrong tree? Perhaps we should be looking for more advanced forms of life in hidden dimensions of this world we inhabit here and now.<\/p>\n Modern history is sometimes described as the progressive dethroning of human beings from their place at the center of the universe: first with Copernicus, then with Darwin, then Freud, etc.\u00c2\u00a0 But human beings are more stubborn in their arrogance than this picture suggests. We reconfigure the stories we tell, constructing dramas in which we are the central actors. Somehow, in the end, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all still about us.<\/p>\n If we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re satisfied with the status quo, this hidden arrogance needn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bother us. But if we suspect that in this day and age things are not necessarily headed in a good direction, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have get a lot more radical about what counts as valuable knowledge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The most dangerous form of arrogance is the arrogance we take for granted, the arrogance that colors our understanding so completely that we do not even see it as arrogance. In our culture, such all-pervasive, self-evident arrogance often involves the … Continue reading