Gonzaga Debate Institute 2011 Mercury Scholars seti aff

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(Source for world news, top news, science news, health news and current events, August 16, United Press International, “Scientist: SETi success within 25 years?,” Leixs) KA

The search for extraterrestrial intelligence could yield proof of its existence with 25 years, a U.S. scientist involved in the quest says. Speaking at the SETI Con convention in Santa Clara, Calif., Seth Shostak -- senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute in Mountain View, Calif. -- said, "I actually think the chances that we'll find ET are pretty good," SPACE.COM reported Monday. "Young people in the audience, I think there's a really good chance you're going to see this happen," he said. The SETI search will take a giant step forward when the Allen Telescope Array, a network of radio dishes under construction in northern California, is fully operational, Shostak said. By 2015, the array should be able to scan hundreds of thousands of stars for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence, he said. Detecting an alien signal within 25 years is one thing, but figuring out the message could take much longer, Shostak said. An alien civilization would likely be as technologically advanced compared to us as Homo sapiens are to our hominid relatives Neanderthals, he said. "We could give our digital television signals to the Neanderthals, and they'll never figure it out. And they're not stupid," he said.

Contact with advanced extra –terrestrial intelligence solves all negative impacts

Tough PhD Professor at the University of Toronto 2000

(Allen,: “An Extraordinary Event” 7, http://ieti.org/tough/articles/intro.htmMLF 6-21-11)

This report examines five sorts of long-term consequences that could result from contact. To give you an overview before you read the next chapter, here is the core of each of the five. 1. Practical Information We might well receive practical information and advice that helps our human civilization to survive and flourish. Possible examples include technology, transportation, a new form of energy, a new way of producing food or nourishing ourselves, a feasible solution to population growth, more effective governance and social organization, fresh views on values and ethics, and inspiration to shift direction dramatically in order to achieve a reasonably positive future. The message might also bring home to people the importance of eliminating warfare or at least eliminating weapons of extraordinary destruction. Viewing ourselves from an extraterrestrial perspective might be very useful in reducing our emphasis on differences and divisions among humans, and instead seeing ourselves as one human family. 2. Answers to Major Questions We might gain new insights and knowledge about deep major questions that go far beyond ordinary practical day-to day matters. Topics in an encyclopedia-like message or closeup dialogue could include astrophysics, the origin and evolution of the universe, religious questions, the meaning and purpose of life, and answers to philosophical questions. We might receive detailed information about the other civilization (which might be deeply alien to us) and about its philosophies and beliefs. Similar information could be provided about several other civilizations throughout our galaxy, too. We might even receive a body of knowledge accumulated over the past billion years through contributions by dozens of alien civilizations throughout the galaxy. What sorts of consequences will contact have for our religious ideas and institutions? Some religions may be deeply shaken by contact, or at least need to re-examine their set of beliefs. It seems clear, however, that humanity's religions have already flourished over many centuries despite a variety of scientific discoveries that conflict with religious views. And several religions have already incorporated the idea of extraterrestrial life. Although some religious leaders may denounce an extraterrestrial dialogue, most will surely embrace it as further evidence of God's infinite greatness.

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(Allen, Positive consequences of SETI before detection, Acta Astronautica Volume 42, Issues 10-12, May-June 1998, Pages 745-748)

Cosmic evolution over billions of years has led to our present period, which is characterized by diverse life on Earth and probably throughout the universe. Eric Chaisson calls this period “the Life Era”[2]and Steven Dick calls this view “the biological universe”[3]. The SETI enterprise makes the likelihood of intelligent life throughout the galaxy feel more tangible and real. Instead of just talking or writing about the possibility, someone is actually doing something about it. As a result, humanity is gradually shifting toward a fresh image of who we are as a species. Increasingly we see ourselves as one of the abundantly diverse intelligent species that have arisen in the universe. That is how we fit into the universe. We feel part of the cosmic family; we feel a bond or kinship with others. We are one of the species that have developed a civilization marked by curiosity, inquiry, knowledge, meaning and purpose. We are not alone in the universe. Although we are unique, we may be one of billions of civilizations in the universe (just as each person and each snowflake is unique, but is also one of billions). As they learn about cosmic evolution and SETI activities, more and more people are developing a deeper sense of themselves as citizens of the universe—as part of intelligent life and evolving culture throughout the cosmos. We begin to move from forlorn isolation to a “feeling of genuine biological and spiritual unity with the universe” and that universe feels “friendlier”[4]. We begin to see ourselves within a galactic frame of reference. To use Michael Michaud’s words, we are about to “leave the era of Earth history, and enter an era of cosmic history”[5]. More recently he noted that “many of us are involved in SETI because we hope that detection, and even the search itself, will introduce a new and positive factor in human affairs. We are involved because SETI defines us as a species with shared interests. We are involved because SETI forces humanity to think big”[6]. According to Frank White, SETI may be, at its deepest levels, an effort to achieve a new kind of connection with the universe—to regain an integration or connectedness that has been shattered by standing apart from the cosmos and examining it as something that is not alive, not intelligent, and separate from ourselves[7].