|
|
|
Search for Extra-terrestrial Life In 1982, we were captivated by the movie ET. Millions of people flocked to the movie theatre to watch this touching story about a young boy and his newfound friend. The amount of money the movie grossed earns it a spot among the most successful movies of all time. The movie has also earned the list in the top 100 movies of the century. Yes, this movie truly shows us our fascination with objects that have anything to do with something extraterrestrial. Our fascination with this topic only grows. We are spending millions upon millions on dollars in our Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Any movie set in the future depicts mankind living with some alien form of life. TV shows such as Sightings, and the X-Files are completely dedicated to paranormal activity. Our ancestors and their ancestors have all looked to the stars for some sign of life. Yet, the question arises, why? Why do we obsess with something that is so far away? We are by nature very insecure. We never really grow up and learn to be completely independent. When we are born, we spend a long time with our mothers, just learning right from wrong. We have never wanted to feel alone. We do not like to live with the idea that we are all alone in this universe. We need to have constant companionship, in order to feel complete. That is why we naturally band together in family. It is our need for company that makes it second instinct for us to band together. As a society, we are unique on this planet, and as a society, we wish to behave much like a single human would do. Our entire society yearns for a family. We believe that the only place to find this family would be somewhere other than on this planet. That is why we crave to find another advanced group so we can come together and form a "family" between two societies. We are naturally curious. We have longed to unlock any secrets we can. We have struggled to explain the inexplicable. Ghosts, paranormal behavior and UFO’s. We struggle to put into logic things that can only be explained with the word, "Because." We must know why something works, what it is, and how it can be used. The question of life’s existence beyond Earth fits perfectly into this category. There have been hundreds of thousands of documented sightings, and we feel as if it is our job to find out if there is any truth behind them. We feel that if we do not discover what lies out there we have failed. We are afraid. Movies like Independence Day have truly made us afraid of what might happen to us if aliens ever decided to make contact. Humans generally always suspect the worse. Ever since we were babies, we have done this. At night, we shiver because of monsters that might lurk under our bed. The instant we hear the word Boogey Man, we get afraid of how he is going to snatch us away. Our entire existence is defined by suspecting everything. People even partially admit to that. We have sayings like, "If something can go wrong, it will." and "Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket." that show us our general attitude toward things. We love to see what lies beyond our reach. Like when we were young, we kept reaching for the cookie jar, but fell just short. Our inability to reach it only ignited our efforts to get to it. The same is true here. The only difference is we cannot see what we are aiming for. However, we know that it is there. Our efforts only continue to intensify, and will continue to do so until we find ET.
P.S. - I apologize for the delay in uploading this article. Due to an extremely busy schedule, I had very little time to write. I shall try my best to post an article with regularities from now onward. Date posted: November 28, 1999. What do you think
about this? |