Galaxy Citizenship

Many organisations, educational systems and Governments invest in promoting the concept and understanding of what it means to be a Global Citizen.

But what happens to this idea if it turns out we do have intelligent neighbours in our Galaxy and that they would like a relationship with mankind? This will have a massive effect on our comprehension of our place in the world, and the concept of ‘neighbours and community’.

The conspiracists among us would suggest that the estimated destabilisation of our culture from an alien contact event would be so severe that this is the single reason that IF contact has already been made, is to why our governments would try desperately to keep it secret from us, and spend decades planning the release of such information.

Hollywood has put forward many offerings as to how this situation might pan out, but seriously how likely is it to actually happen and what might be the implications on our long standing view of what it means to be a Global Citizen.

So first, that big question Are we alone in the Universe?

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” So said sci-fi author Arthur C Clarke. We’ve been fascinated by the idea that life may exist elsewhere, and for over 50 years the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (Seti) has been scanning the galaxy for messages from an alien civilisation to no avail.

BBC’s Horizon joined the planet hunters who discovered a new world named Gliese 581 c. To date, it is one of the most Earth-like planets ever found around another star, and it may have habitats capable of supporting life.

There are over 500 solar systems in our Galaxy so far. The Milky Way contains between 200 and 400 billion stars, maybe up to a trillion (our Sun being one) and at least 100 billion planets, the percentage of these able to support life will be argued for ever (Frank Drake Equation). Surely the argument is that statistically the chances of there being life on other planets in our Galaxy far outweighs the chances of there being none?

NASA claims that we will be able to find that life within the next 20 years, with a high chance it will be outside our solar system. One hundred million worlds in our galaxy are able to host life, according to a ‘conservative’ prediction by NASA.

‘Do we believe there is life beyond Earth?’ said former astronaut and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden during a talk in Washington. ‘I would venture to say that most of my colleagues here today say it is improbable that in the limitless vastness of the universe we humans stand alone.’

A relevant point of view is that when assessing the probability of life on Alien worlds we use assumptions that they have the same requirements as humans in order to survive. There are shrimps at the bottom of our deepest oceans feeding on sulphur dioxide in concentrations that would kill any other life form on our planet. Yet, we base all our expectations on little green men that walk and talk like humans.

Surely the basics of life are varied from life-form to life-form. It was once thought that all animals need sunlight to survive, yet we now know this isn’t true. Granted, the planet may in order to sustain a healthy eco-system, but that doesn’t mean every single planet operates in the same way. We know comparatively little about the planet we’re on in reality, before we start making assumptions or dismissing ideas about extra-terrestrial life.

In broad use the term global citizenship or world citizenship typically defines a person who places their own identity with a “global community” above their identity as a citizen of a particular nation or place. A stepping stone example of this might be the process of persuading people they are European rather than English, Welsh or even British.

The idea is that your own identity transcends geography, religious or political borders and that the planets human community is interdependent and whole; humankind is essentially one.

If we look around and see a world that we are fearful of, a world that is unkind, unloving, intolerant and displeasing in any way, then we must remind ourselves that we have all contributed to making it that way.

We are often so obsessed and focused with the actions of others, yet it is not our concern what others are doing in the world. It is our own actions, thoughts and emotions that we are personally accountable for and it is our responsibility to have them in order.

The objective for us all today is that we become aware of how intrinsically woven we all are to one another. That we awaken to the realisation that we have the power to change the world, one act of love and kindness at a time. That we can stand together as proud citizens of this planet and show tolerance, acceptance, joy, compassion, and love to all.

Possibly being a Galaxy citizen is the next step in Mankind’s cultural evolution, it feels like we are a long way off at the moment looking at the events in Syria. If it’s us that are the explorers, the cultures we may find would of course need to be interested in forming a relationship or a community with us, but to even begin to speculate what the implications are we should be sure those alien citizens have the same ethics and objectives as we do.

That said, just maybe, this discussion is really important and the intelligent life that is out there, is waiting for that moment when all of mankind has completely accepted, understood and is a practicing Global Citizen. This is the very barometer being used for deciding when we will invited to become Citizens of their Galaxy.

“I’m sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It’s just been too intelligent to come here.” Arthur C. Clarke

Reference: BBC’s Horizon: Adam Grossman, Nick Risinger, Brian Cox & Frank Drake Wikipedia: The Milky Way Galaxy NASA: Exoplanet Archive, The Milky Ways 100 billion planets & How Many Stars in the Milky Way