Not Alone: IFC Finals - Third Round

“The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space.”
― Carl Sagan, Contact

The Information Finding Championship does not kid around when it comes to contests. Not only did they bring out a competitive spirit I didn't know I had, they once again challenge me to discuss a subject I would usually avoid, fearing I could have nothing intelligent to say.

Aliens

The idea that we could be alone in the universe is one that I find quite terrifying. Fortunately, it also seems ludicrous. Given the vastness of the cosmos and the fact that we evolved on this little planet of ours, the idea that life only happened once just isn't logical. The fact that we don't have evidence of life beyond Earth makes no difference at all to this logic. Our ability to observe or make contact beyond our own solar system is practically non-existent.

In my sadder or more hopeless moments, I entertain the notion that faster than light travel or communication could be physically impossible, in which case we may never be able to meet our extra-terrestrial brethren. This is the closest I ever get to believing we are alone. Even so, life on other planets seems inevitable:

What If We Are the First?

_{This guy ponders his existence.}

In a Star Trek: TNG episode called "The Chase", a common ancestor to all of the humanoid species on the show is discovered. This Progenitor species was saddened to discover, on exploring the cosmos, that there were no other creatures like themselves. They developed a plan to seed their own DNA into emerging life on other planets, knowing they would never meet these alien offspring but, if they developed the technology and intelligence, their offspring would one day be able to discover their progenitors' story. A fascinating storyline, but a bit too simplistic for me. What about all the strains that would never make the journey from initial DNA seeding to space-faring species? On Earth alone, several intelligent species of humans once existed. Given our planet's track record alone, a humanoid species has no more than a 1 in 4 chance of making it to space. That's not a big sample size, but it does demonstrate that not everyone makes it this far.

Colonizing the Stars

Destiny and Eve Online each cover a distant future where humanity has expanded beyond the reaches of our solar system. Over vast distances and time, we develop into distinct cultures and even distinct species. We become alien to one another. I love these storylines for two reasons. First, they offer hope that humanity will survive. Being a single-planet species while being fully aware that even planets are vulnerable is very unsettling. Second, they offer a path to alien interaction that is totally plausible, even if faster than light travel never pans out.

What If We Are Not the First?

The Voyager Missions fascinate me. Launched shortly before I was born, they beamed images of our solar system back to Earth throughout my childhood, and now they head into interstellar space. Tiny little messages in a bottle, in interstellar terms. The profoundness of the Golden Record fascinates me most of all. How do you create a message for a completely alien species? What do you put in it? How can you help them understand? What are the risks of reaching out, and is it worth it?

Imagine finding such a message. Two stories I love addressing this idea are Contact by Carl Sagan and Arrival. In both stories, the aliens have technology we can hardly begin to understand, and they are there to help - though it is incumbent on us to decipher the message and act in our own best interests. But what if we found the alien equivalent of Voyager? Just a shot in the dark, out floating in space, produced by some hopeful creatures who may or may not still be out there? What if we develop better space telescopes and can "see" evidence of civilizations that we can't actually reach or contact?

I hope we do. I hope any and all of the above. I think humans deserve to live in an interstellar society like that of Mass Effect or Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. If you haven't seen the opening sequence of that movie yet, you must go watch it now. That is exactly how I hope our interactions with extraterrestrial beings begins to unfold.

Let's just stay the hell away from those insane xenomorphs.

P.S.

Photo Credits:
Marat Gilyadzinov on Unsplash
Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash
Awiens on Imgur
The Destiny toy is mine. I can't remember where I got the shooting star image.

This one is mine, too, only I couldn't fit her into the post. She's running from the hospital where shadow government agents were trying to take her baby. There were others like her, who helped her go into to hiding. But she never figured out whether the babies like hers were alien DNA or some next evolution of humanity, because I never actually made the comic.

I drew this one around 2000-2001, and dug it up during our first photo scavenger hunt for round 1.

P.P.S.

This is a late entry; the contest is closed. I am well aware of that and quite willing to forfeit - we all have busy lives and my delay was no extraordinary circumstance (unless you count that alien abduction - JK!)
I didn't want to leave my fellow ifc contestants hanging, however, and some even encouraged an extension of the deadline. It's been a fun ride regardless. Thank you, friends!