Reflecting on Harvard Astronomer Avi Loeb’s belief that we are not alone and how that will change us

“It changes your perception on reality, just knowing that we are not alone”

Dr. Avi LOeb

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Dr. Avi Loeb poses in the observatory near his office in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Washington Post article .

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You have probably heard of Avi Loeb and the controversy he stirred up in the scientific community in 2017 when he proposed that the asteroid “Oumuamua” , the first known object from outside our solar system, was likely an alien spaceship. His paper outlined his theory in scientific terms that seemed reasonable to me ( admittedly a non scientist ) but provoked indignation and criticism from his peers in science academia. Sensationalism and wild speculation, they crowed! Well, here is my theory and although the precision of scientific research and data are not in my wheelhouse- words and communication are. And I figure that Dr. Loeb’s fate was sealed when the media began using the word “alien” – ( although I don’t believe that word was used in Dr. Loeb’s original paper ) -which is what I call a “trigger” word which marginalizes its user and immediately calls to mind conspiracy theorists and cranks.

Avi Loeb is no crank: He is a theoretical physicist and expert in astrophysics and cosmology , as well as Chairman of Harvard’s renowned Astronomy Department. He is known as an impeccable researcher and , the alien spaceship theory notwithstanding, is well respected by his peers. In a world where credentials really do matter, he has them and then some.

And in the true fashion of visionaries who have challenged the norm and endured ridicule, he is standing by his theories and gone on record saying that he doesn’t care what his colleagues think.

I’ve recently been re-reading some articles on Dr. Loeb’s theories and thoughts about the possibility of life elsewhere ( actually , he sounds pretty certain ) because of the direct connection to the subject of this blog. A common theme that runs through his writing is what he calls “cosmic modesty” – meaning that it is blatantly arrogant to assume that we are alone in the Universe. I couldn’t agree more and if you are reading this blog, I am betting that you do too. But let’s be honest, the theory sounds a whole lot better coming from Harvard’s top astronomer than from little old me with my BA in Psychology and English. That’s just the that way it is in our world and so now–you don’t have to be rocket scientist to figure out that I am a big admirer of Avi Loeb. He is not only standing by his word but dialing it up and has apparently done some recent writing on “how the discovery of alien life in space with transform our life” and by association our world view and for people of faith, our understanding of God. In a 2018 interview, he says that an advanced civilization is a ” good approximation to God” Imagine, he says , showing a cell phone to a caveperson. They will see it as rock because they are used to rocks.

“Now imagine this object- Oumuamua –being the I Phone and us being the cave people .” That will change everything and challenge all of our existing belief systems.

And Dr. Loeb wants people to be ready for that and is doing on a large scale what I hope to do on a much smaller scale with this blog- start the conversation.

And he knows what it might cost him. And like most visionaries and truth tellers, he is prepared. He is quoted in one article as saying
” In the military, there is a saying that if you are a good soldier, you put your body on the barbed wire so that others can pass over it.”

“I’m willing to put my body on the barbed wire”.

Now that is a true soldier of the truth. I am looking forward to hearing more from Avi Loeb in the future. In fact, I would really like to meet him or at least, attend one of his presentations some time. And, in the spirit of “anything is possible”, there might be a path to at least give it a try. Have the stars lined up for me ? Well–perhaps a little bit. Even though I live in Northern Ontario ( sometimes known as the Middle of Nowhere ) –I have a good friend who lives in Boston, the very home of Dr. Loeb. She has even attended one of his public presentations and texted me a few times while in the audience. It was great fun–almost like I was there. 🙂 And ( notwithstanding the Corona virus that is currently make me and mostly everyone else nervous about travel ) – I have been thinking about visiting her again at some future time. In perfect world, I could ring up Dr. Loeb and see if he is available for a coffee and what my dear Irish mother used to call a “chinwag” —Why not ? And I don’t need to cross any barbed wire to get to him- I’m already part of his “tribe’ 🙂

Stay tuned and any thoughts or musings are more than welcome:)

M.A.N.