Introduction
An increasingly popular belief, spurred on by the
recent discovery of other planetary bodies, is that there are incalculable
numbers of sentient creatures throughout the universe. I agree that if there is
the slightest chance that such creatures exist, we must use every means to
discover the evidence. Actual contact with extraterrestrial beings would be a
momentous event in human history; all other matters that now occupy human
attention would shrink to insignificance. But based on the history of the
evolution of intelligent life on this planet, I believe it is very unlikely
that there are creatures out there either listening for us or signaling their
own presence. For decades we have been sending episodes of “Dragnet” and “I
Love Lucy” (not to mention “Third Rock from the Sun”) across the galaxy and
beyond. So far, there is no evidence that extraterrestrial fans are about to
influence Nielson ratings.
As an aside, in the spirit of this volume, it
gives me no pleasure at all to propose that we are unique and alone in the
universe. The hubris of our species certainly needs no augmentation; we seem
intent on destroying our own planet for ephemeral creature comforts, while at
the same time murdering each other on an increasingly relentless scale. The
history of the twentieth century, when wars expanded from contests between male
warriors to include attacks on civilian populations, has resulted in a
slaughter on a scale that exceeds any other in the blood-spattered history of
our species.
Centuries of progress in moral philosophy seem
irrelevant in the face of attacking armies. If, as believed by some, Homo sapiens is the ultimate goal and
crown jewel of evolution, one might wistfully ask why the process of evolution
could not have produced a kinder, gentler, less rapacious, less murderous
species. Unfortunately, the answer to such a question is deeply rooted in the
same processes of natural selection - processes driven by amoral, ruthless
competition - that produced all species, including ourselves. Very few today believe that the “meek will inherit the earth.” If there truly
are experiments in intelligence in progress on other planets, one hopes that at
least some of these experiments will produce more benign and less rapacious
creatures than ourselves. Sadly, even this thin reed of hope seems quite
unlikely; the overwhelming evidence from the history of this planet is that the
blind, uncaring, amoral processes of natural selection pit organisms against
each other in a struggle for survival. Although this process has been
documented in every species that has been carefully studied, the process could
not be more manifest than in the history and prehistory of our own lineage.Furthermore, no scientist has proposed a credible model for evolution other
than by natural selection.
Contributed by: Dr. Irven DeVore
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