Date: Sunday, July 3, 2016

Participants (from 10 countries):

Host: Rick
Co-Host: Johny

Teams

Panel PRO (Team A): Ayisha, Amin, George, Andrew

Panel CON (Ream B): Johny, Djamila, Rojhano, Jack

Audience (Team C): Mario, Behnam, Amina

Team A summary:

Ayisha: Yes we are able to make contact with aliens. The technology and science have evolved. Due to their success, mankind is able and ready for this contact. We need to take steps to move forward, and we have had examples from the past with the different explorations, so making contact with aliens would be another step. It’s a process of evolution.

Amin: We need to think about the more advanced one. Are humans or aliens more advanced? Who’s going to take the control is we make contact. Humans need to accept and be ready to make the contact because if they reach us, that means they are more advanced and we need to be ready to learn from them.

George: Many explorations started with Marco Polo and his explorations. We can relate to the pyramids too. These are not things we can explain from a humankind point of view. There are also paintings that we can’t explain. So the presence is there. The Atlantis story is also a strange phenomenon. So, aliens are no longer a questionable phenomenon, it’s a fact. All these strange phenomena are like heads up to humanity, to prepare us for the first contact. Humans are ready for the first steps and the first contact. The humankind is already sending many messages for years, so that means we send the message that we’re ready.

Andrew: He assumes that making contact is not dangerous. Aliens might not be dangerous at all rather they can be friendly. Their technology is probably far more developed than humankind’s technology. So, a symbiotic relationship could rise and it can be a win-win situation.

Team B summary:

Johny: We are not ready yet. “Ready” means being able to either collaborate with other species despite the differences they could bring to the table from a technological standpoint or accept what their very existence would mean. Are humans ready to put aside their apprehension towards the overall big differences? Humans have already issues with cooperating and welcoming fellow humans from different cultures, religions and races and it would be very difficult to imagine all that rejection gone away overnight. As for the purpose of Aliens coming to the Earth: imagine a human going to a park and sit near an anthill; would the human tell to the ant: “hey, I bring you technology; I bring you food you’ve never seen, I bring you cellphones and radio.” Would the human do that or would the human just step on one or two and just carry on? If Aliens are coming to us, it’s because they are millions of years more advanced than us and we are the primitive species like the ants in the park scenario. If they come here it’s because they need something from our planet, not from us. They may exploit us, may be enslave us; because of our resources. So, it wouldn’t be for social purposes and it could represent the very extinction of our species. This however could be a drastic solution for human problems about differences among each other because if our entire species is threatened, we could put aside our differences and fight for our planet, for our only home. Not sure though if we would succeed in defeating them.

Djamila: Humankind and people from all over the world need to cooperate between them before trying to establish contact. Humans can’t even cooperate and collaborate with each other on planet Earth, so I’m skeptical about the results that would come from establishing any contact. Cooperation and solutions need to come from humans before asking for some kind of help. Moreover, we don’t know what kind of aliens we will face.

Rojhano: Thinking about aliens comes from our imagination. People in the past they didn’t believe in genies. If Aliens actually exist, they don’t want to make contact, that’s why they don’t show up. So, why human kind should try to make this contact? Human beings need to accept that there is no reason to look for something outside.

Jack: 19th century was the industrial revolution and it brought new changes to the global society. It will be the same thing, it will bring a big change and humans are not ready for that, not yet. If the changes are too quick and rapid, humans can’t handle it. Our technology is not at the point where it can support that kind of communication.

Team C summary:

Mario: The topic is kind of confusing. There were scientific arguments and social ones. Humans are exploring, but I don’t know what the reaction would be if we announce, “Aliens exist and we’ve made contact” we don’t know what their nature is. When Europeans discovered America, they were exploring and expanding, so it wouldn’t be surprising if scientists are looking for some kind of other lands, planets and galaxies to conquer. But at different levels, humans are not ready and don’t see any possible collaboration.

Behnam: We wish to make the contact, that’s why humankind is spending so much money into space explorations. Before having guests, are you ready? Do you have the meal, do you have space, and can you welcome them? It’s the same thing with aliens. We don’t know how they communicate and we don’t know their nature, so we would like to make this contact, but we’re not ready for that.

Amina: I believe that may be aliens exist, but we are humans and now we need to learn more to be ready to this contact.

Rick: Some people of course may not believe in aliens but the more we learn, the more we realize that our world is only one small piece of the whole universe. It’s kind of arrogant to think we are the only species. From a technological standpoint we are ready. From a social standpoint, we are not. Most people fear what they don’t know, they fear the unknown. We have a lot of work to do just with the people we already have and the issues we face. When you watch movies about aliens, it tends to gather humans together when they have a common threat and a common enemy. It will bring us as people and we will stop worrying about other things. Sometimes we need to find a common threat.

Votes:

Mario voted for team B.
Behnam didn’t vote but his comments seemed to agree with team B.
Amina voted for team B.

Team B won. Thanks everyone for participating. Below are the links to listen to this discussion.

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