Dr. Avi Loeb certainly knows how to think outside of the box. The esteemed (well in most circles anyway) Harvard astronomer and professor, author and researcher, is probably best known for his rather unorthodox theories on the existence of extraterrestrial life and civilizations and more importantly, his openness in discussing these theories and risking (and getting) criticism from his academic peers. Not that it has stopped him from putting his ideas out there, but some of his critics and peers have not been kind and the review that I read, stated that he is a “pariah”- the reviewer’s words, not mine.. I’ve written previous posts about Dr. Loeb’s work and have long admired his confidence and willingness to take on the establishment, so to speak. You might remember his hypothesis that the first interstellar object found in our solar system in 2017, Oumuamua, was powered by extraterrestrial technology. Although the media had a heyday with this theory at the time, it has since been disproved by the mainstream scientific community– or so they say. Seeing as I barely passed Grade 11 Physics, I am not in a position to say one way or another. Read the literature yourself and you decide. I honestly don’t know but I do know this. Dr. Loeb is worth listening to.
In the summer of 2023, Dr. Loeb released his latest book ” Interstellar: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Our Future Among the Stars.” It might sound like a science fiction movie, but you can’t help but be intrigued by Loeb fearlessly (or I guess I should say “boldly” if I’m going to accurately steal from the famous Star Trek quote) taking us
” where no-one has gone before.”
In the book, Loeb introduces us to the Galileo Project, which he founded in 2021. The scientific group is dedicated to the search for ET signatures from technological civilizations. The review that I read noted that Dr. Loeb has had his share of critics, particularly amongst his academic peers who seem to feel that he is paying more attention to garnering publicity than the scientific method. But the reality is that, as the world is changing so rapidly and with it, the evolution of technology, we are getting closer than ever to making contact with “life “elsewhere–whatever we perceive that life to be. Dr. Loeb is challenging us to consider the possibilities and how we will deal with whatever we find. Are we ready to encounter ET life and will we even know it when we see it? The book covers several related topics to get us thinking, but for me, the most powerful possibility that Dr. Loeb poses is that ET may in fact be AI (Artificial Intelligence)! And there is good reason for that. Given the tremendous distance between stars, it would take thousands of years and many generations to travel those distances, even at the speed of light. More likely, Loeb believes, that any sentient beings capable of roaming the universe are not biological at all but rather, an advanced form of AI. Now, it that doesn’t give you enough to think about, and perhaps even scare you a little bit, Loeb has taken on the role of being the voice of the moral compass of humanity, so speak, and he has shared with us a number of reflections so that we may wax philosophical along with him. When I first contacted Dr. Loeb –actually I was trying to contact a member of his communications team to see where I could direct questions about his work. He was kind enough to get back to me directly and provided me with a link to his personal essays and reflections which he gave me permission to summarize or quote from as he believed that they would answer any questions that I have. He didn’t offer an interview but hope springs eternal and perhaps at future date, me might consider it. This is a BIG topic after all.
For today’s posting, I selected Dr. Loeb’s t reflections on ” What does Extraterrestrial Intelligence Look Like? ” because I personally believe that we may be closer than ever to finding out. I hope that you find it as interesting and thought provoking as I did.
Dr. Loeb tells us that he is often asked to define intelligence –which would no doubt be a challenging task for any of us, forgoing turning to Google or an online dictionary. His response was fascinating. “Intelligence represents the ability to process and communicate information for the pursuit of goals, The more complex the information is, the more intelligent its carrier is (or must be). A genius is someone who displays efficiency by identifying an insightful shortcut to solve a complex problem – an oracle of sorts. ” This seems basic enough, doesn’t it? But to be honest, how many people do you know who would truly fit that definition? Do you feel that you fit that definition? In a sense, any of us who are capable of critical thinking and basic problem solving, skills that we teach to our children early in life, would easily meet those criteria. Where the waters become murkier, is how we define “complex”. Dr., Loeb reminds us that humans have always celebrated their status as the most intelligent species on Earth, relegating so called lower lifeforms to items on a restaurant menu. Firstly, we now know how wrong we are about intelligence among so called lower life forms (some may even be smarter than us, especially certain politicians and leaders who would sacrifice anything, including nature, to cling to what they perceive as their power) . Second, along comes —gasp!!--Artificial Intelligence ( AI) with the capacity to acquire more connections than the number of synapses in the human brain, and Dr. Loeb tells us that we might soon be outsmarted by our technological objects. Actually, I fear that moment may already be here. Even as I write this, my sister-in-law, whose husband is an award-winning poet, sent me an example of a poem generated by Chat GPT, using the parameters her husband had fed into it. Because of what he had directed, the metaphors were silly but the structure and rhythm of the poem were ( and I am no expert here ) but virtually indistinguishable from a professional poet, including the classic and masters that we took in school. We see this all around us, from fake videos to voice calls from beyond the grave, and it is becoming harder to distinguish what is real and what is not. Loeb says that the development of an artificial superhuman intelligence will cure our hubris and will bring a sense of modesty to our status in the Universe. He compares it to the Copernican Revolution where the heliocentric view of the Universe – where the Earth revolves around the sun as opposed to the earth being the centre of the solar system – was ultimately accepted as the correct scientific model.
Now that we are appropriately humbled, Loeb’s next reflection really resonated with me. Since I was a child and old enough to wonder about such things–it hasn’t been so much about the curiosity of meeting other life from other civilizations or even finding out if we are alone in the Universe. No, the first thing that occurred to me is ” I wonder what we can learn from them?” Loeb gets it. He compares it to seeking out the smartest student in the class as inspiration to do better, to be better.
He says “We should seek it not just for the purpose of recognizing that we aren’t alone, but also a recipe for self-growth. There is plenty of room for self-improvement given that our geopolitics is dominated by conflicts over terrestrial territories. And here is where, in my opinion, he hits it out of the proverbial ballpark. ” The most intelligent beings would aim to live as long as they can, taking advantage of interstellar journeys to visit real estate that lies beyond their planet. Any culture engaged in acts of violence and destruction is heading in the wrong direction on the highway of natural selection. It will definitely not be the fittest to survive over billions of years.” This reminded me of the fictional Star Trek Universe where planets looking to join the iconic Federation of Planets must have evolved beyond the point of war and violence. Yep–we would still be on the outside looking in, warring amongst ourselves and not yet worthy to join the Federation. We are on the wrong path and with some hope and prayers, we might yet find our way before we become a space faring race.
Dr. Loeb tells us that he is frequently asked what the most intelligent ET would look like, and he replies, ” an unfamiliar genius”. He reminds us that our imagination is based on our past experiences on earth and frequently, by science fiction script writers. But nature, he says, is far more imaginative than Hollwood script writers. But when we do find or meet them, how should we react and how might we prepare? His response will be a boon to psychologists and people with good communications skills. “Psychologists” he says ” would be better suited for figuring out a proper response to alien intelligence because they have better skills for dealing with intelligent systems.”
And in today’s troubled world, they will certainly need them. Because now, bad human actors have dictated our terrestrial priorities and instead of seeking out the best students in the class, they have reduced our aspirations to the lowest common denominator, They have been arrogant and greedy, grasping over territory and land that, if we continue on our current course, will be worthless and all of their money and perceived power won’t matter on a planet that is dying.
You might be asking yourself, at this point, if we should be seeking out any contact at all. I am making an assumption here that any ET we meet will be more technologically advanced and perhaps even superior. But will they be morally advanced? Perhaps we should regard them with fear and mistrust, at least until we are sure that are friendly and interested in helping us and not eating us. These are fair questions and there will be a broad diversity of answers and each of us must look inside ourselves for the answers.
In summary, Dr. Loeb says it best: ” We should seek a higher intelligence in interstellar space. In addition, we should pray that they will appreciate our intelligence enough so as not to list us on the menu of their restaurants. We must behave more intelligently as soon as possible. An important threshold will be crossed once the ” Director for National Intelligence’ would be the government official responsible for elevating how smart we are instead of the officer responding to destructive threats. “
Just a short postscript from me on Loeb’s final observation. In case there is ever such a job or office, I will be updating my resume. You know—just to be ready 🙂
Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
M.A.N.
Fascinating concepts that upend our human-centric, earth-centric assumptions, which have gone largely unchallenged (except in fringe circles and in sci-fi). He may not have all the details down, but at least he’s opened the doors to inquiry and is beckoning us down the path. We don’t know what we don’t know . . . and we’re limited by our human brains, human sense organs, and human-developed technology.