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Art Bell speaks with UC Davis psychology professor Dr. Albert Harrison about his book "After Contact: The Human Response to Extraterrestrial Life." Harrison brings expertise in the psychological and sociological dimensions of space exploration and serves on the SETI Committee of the International Academy of Astronautics. The conversation examines what would actually happen to human society if contact with extraterrestrial intelligence were confirmed.
Harrison discusses the protocols SETI has developed for handling a confirmed signal, acknowledging concerns that government agencies could quickly take control of the process. He addresses the 1960 Brookings Report finding that scientists, politicians, the mentally ill, and religious fundamentalists would be the groups most disrupted by such a discovery. Art raises the issue that 20 percent of his mail comes from religious fundamentalists who would view any alien life as demonic. Harrison argues that democratic societies tend to move away from war and that advanced civilizations likely would have evolved beyond conflict.
The program also covers the psychological challenges of extended spaceflight, whether humans can conceive in space, and the dangers of technology transfer between civilizations of vastly different advancement levels. Harrison suggests that meeting on neutral ground like the moon could help manage the risks of physical contact.
Harrison discusses the protocols SETI has developed for handling a confirmed signal, acknowledging concerns that government agencies could quickly take control of the process. He addresses the 1960 Brookings Report finding that scientists, politicians, the mentally ill, and religious fundamentalists would be the groups most disrupted by such a discovery. Art raises the issue that 20 percent of his mail comes from religious fundamentalists who would view any alien life as demonic. Harrison argues that democratic societies tend to move away from war and that advanced civilizations likely would have evolved beyond conflict.
The program also covers the psychological challenges of extended spaceflight, whether humans can conceive in space, and the dangers of technology transfer between civilizations of vastly different advancement levels. Harrison suggests that meeting on neutral ground like the moon could help manage the risks of physical contact.
Key Moments
Two books frame the contact-psychology question: Bell introduces Harrison via his two co-authored books, Living Aloft: Human Requirements for Extended Space Flight and From Antarctica to Outer Space: Life in Isolation and Confinement, and his SETI Committee membership at the International Academy of Astronautics.
Sex, conception, and gestation in space: Bell pushes Harrison on the practical biology of long-duration space flight: whether humans can have sex, conceive, and gestate under weightlessness given that interstellar voyages will require multiple generations in space. Harrison says NASA has been reluctant to address it but presumes yes, with open questions about fetal development.