Author Becky Ferreira explains in her new book why humans are obsessed with aliens and deep space
Since time immortal, humans have shared stories of beings coming down from the heavens. A new book explores our fascination with extraterrestrials.
Whether it’s the mythical gods of old or modern-day UFO’s, humans have been obsessed since time immortal with the idea that there are beings which inhabit the heavens, and sometimes come to visit us here on Earth. But what is driving this love affair with these other worldly entities and the suspicion that we are not alone?
Science reporter Becky Ferreira recently took the topic head-on with her recently published book ‘First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens’. In its pages she explores the topic “from its earliest roots in prehistory to its modern incarnations in popular culture, social movements, and as a major topic of scientific inquiry.”
Why humans are so enthralled with aliens
Ferreira explained on Science Friday that “the intuition that there is something out there, that we are not alone, must go back very deep into our prehistory, like tens of thousands of years.” She explains that this can be derived from the fact that “all cultures really personify the skies and tell stories about what might be there.”
However, it wasn’t until around 2,500 years ago that how we approached our understanding of the heavens became more scientific, with cosmic pluralism as an idea. That’s when astronomers began to realize that planets in the night sky might actually be “physical places and not divine entities,” she shared.
This realization went a step further with Anaxagoras, the first person to work out the mechanics of eclipses, who came to think that other celestial bodies could be just like Earth and might have life too. With that concept the modern definition of the term ‘alien’, “living beings inhabiting environments similar to ours,” came into usage.
The growing Copernican idea in the seventeenth century that the Earth was not the center of the universe ramped up the idea that other life was out there. Microscopy during the scientific revolution revealed life that hadn’t been known to exist, gave further evidence that there must be alien life.
Acceptance of extraterrestrial life continues to grow
Nowadays, it is becoming more accepted to belive that we might not be alone in the universe, with even Congress holding hearing into the matter to get to the bottom of what the US government knows.
The once UFO skeptic told Space.com that the government and NASA are “have extremely high standards for what counts as evidence” to explain why they may not have been more forthcoming with what has been learned from reported UFO sightings. “I don’t think they’re being secretive — they’re just careful."
However, she is happy with the fact that people are being more open about them and a greater number of people want to know more. “I think it’s great that we’re finally talking about it without stigma,” she said.
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