OutreachEthics and aliens
Published: 25 May 2018
When we meet aliens – and a lot of researchers think it is when and not if – how will we treat them? And how might they treat us?
Ethics and aliens
Error message
Deprecated function: strtotime(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($datetime) of type string is deprecated in extra_body_classes_preprocess_html() (line 105 of modules/extra_body_classes/extra_body_classes.module).
extra_body_classes_preprocess_html(Array, 'html', Array)
call_user_func_array('extra_body_classes_preprocess_html', Array) (Line: 261)
Drupal\Core\Theme\ThemeManager->render('html', Array) (Line: 480)
Drupal\Core\Render\Renderer->doRender(Array, ) (Line: 240)
Drupal\Core\Render\Renderer->render(Array) (Line: 158)
Drupal\Core\Render\MainContent\HtmlRenderer->Drupal\Core\Render\MainContent\{closure}() (Line: 627)
Drupal\Core\Render\Renderer->executeInRenderContext(Object, Object) (Line: 159)
Drupal\Core\Render\MainContent\HtmlRenderer->renderResponse(Array, Object, Object) (Line: 90)
Drupal\Core\EventSubscriber\MainContentViewSubscriber->onViewRenderArray(Object, 'kernel.view', Object)
call_user_func(Array, Object, 'kernel.view', Object) (Line: 111)
Drupal\Component\EventDispatcher\ContainerAwareEventDispatcher->dispatch(Object, 'kernel.view') (Line: 186)
Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\HttpKernel->handleRaw(Object, 1) (Line: 76)
Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\HttpKernel->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 58)
Drupal\Core\StackMiddleware\Session->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 48)
Drupal\Core\StackMiddleware\KernelPreHandle->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 28)
Drupal\Core\StackMiddleware\ContentLength->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 32)
Drupal\big_pipe\StackMiddleware\ContentLength->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 191)
Drupal\page_cache\StackMiddleware\PageCache->fetch(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 128)
Drupal\page_cache\StackMiddleware\PageCache->lookup(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 82)
Drupal\page_cache\StackMiddleware\PageCache->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 48)
Drupal\Core\StackMiddleware\ReverseProxyMiddleware->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 51)
Drupal\Core\StackMiddleware\NegotiationMiddleware->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 36)
Drupal\Core\StackMiddleware\AjaxPageState->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 51)
Drupal\Core\StackMiddleware\StackedHttpKernel->handle(Object, 1, 1) (Line: 704)
Drupal\Core\DrupalKernel->handle(Object) (Line: 19)
Outreach
The Panel at work
Image Credit: Ben Sachs
Ethics and aliens
Please note: This article appears in full on A&G Online. Please go here to view.Article Main Body
When we meet aliens – and a lot of researchers think it is when and not if – how will we treat them? And how might they treat us?
Philosopher Ben Sachs brought together a panel for discussion at the Edinburgh Science Festival, combining viewpoints from astrobiology, theology and philosophy, to consider potential human–alien interactions and what they tell us about how we live on Earth now. There were thought-provoking ideas and opinions raised – not least in the changes of opinion shown by the audience after the debate, compared to ideas held beforehand. Whether or not humans would come off well in their interactions with aliens, this audience showed that we can still hear ideas and evaluate them, changing our minds in repsonse to new infomration. There's hope for the human race yet.
If you would like to submit an article to A&G Forum then please go here.