Throughout history, humans have always held a fascination with extraterrestrial life. Science fiction tales were written in the second and tenth centuries (Joy and “Satire or the First Science”). Crop circles were claimed to be found in medieval times (Radford). Searches for canals built by martians were carried out more than two hundred years ago (Simon). The fascination with alien life integrated itself into human culture and as it changes, the beliefs change as well. Science fiction allows people to expand their imagination and explore the possibility of extraterrestrials (“Why Science Fiction”). Hoaxes and conspiracy theories take advantage of that fascination to benefit the hoaxer, even if it is done so unintentionally (Drinkwater
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The Extra-Terrestrial, E.T., the alien, has much more depth than the aliens of the past. He had unique extraterrestrial powers, like reviving dead plants and levitating objects. Like in It Came from Outer Space, E.T. was left on earth as a mistake, but instead of the aliens from the 50s movie, E.T. is not aggressive. In fact, E.T.’s benevolent nature attracts humans to help him get in contact with other aliens. E.T. willingly creates strong bonds with humans as well, a trait that other aliens seemed to not possess in the past. In fact, in the end, E.T. even asks the protagonist of the story to return home with him (“E.T. the …show more content…
There is a common belief that aliens likely do exist but if they did then they would only be bacteria, a microorganism. Geologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee both said that it is improbable that any life other than a microbe is somewhere else in the universe. They state that the earth is a rare case and that intelligent life somewhere else is close to impossible. Even microbes, they said, would be the greatest discovery in the history of science because it suggests a "universal biology," not just a natural history of life on earth (Dick “Astrobiology”). The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, however, disregards this. Little factors ever outshine doubt, but there is one that prevails in this case. This factor encourages humans to put billions of dollars in a search that may lead to nothing, complete fascination. In this case, that fascination is extraterrestrial life
The Extra-Terrestrial, E.T., the alien, has much more depth than the aliens of the past. He had unique extraterrestrial powers, like reviving dead plants and levitating objects. Like in It Came from Outer Space, E.T. was left on earth as a mistake, but instead of the aliens from the 50s movie, E.T. is not aggressive. In fact, E.T.’s benevolent nature attracts humans to help him get in contact with other aliens. E.T. willingly creates strong bonds with humans as well, a trait that other aliens seemed to not possess in the past. In fact, in the end, E.T. even asks the protagonist of the story to return home with him (“E.T. the …show more content…
There is a common belief that aliens likely do exist but if they did then they would only be bacteria, a microorganism. Geologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald Brownlee both said that it is improbable that any life other than a microbe is somewhere else in the universe. They state that the earth is a rare case and that intelligent life somewhere else is close to impossible. Even microbes, they said, would be the greatest discovery in the history of science because it suggests a "universal biology," not just a natural history of life on earth (Dick “Astrobiology”). The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, however, disregards this. Little factors ever outshine doubt, but there is one that prevails in this case. This factor encourages humans to put billions of dollars in a search that may lead to nothing, complete fascination. In this case, that fascination is extraterrestrial life