Share

Extraterrestrial Altruism

2013-09-14 Science
Download Extraterrestrial Altruism PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2013-09-14
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 505/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Extraterrestrial Altruism by : Douglas A. Vakoch

Download or read book Extraterrestrial Altruism written by Douglas A. Vakoch. This book was released on 2013-09-14. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extraterrestrial Altruism examines a basic assumption of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI): that extraterrestrials will be transmitting messages to us for our benefit. This question of whether extraterrestrials will be altruistic has become increasingly important in recent years as SETI scientists have begun contemplating transmissions from Earth to make contact. Technological civilizations that transmit signals for the benefit of others, but with no immediate gain for themselves, certainly seem to be altruistic. But does this make biological sense? Should we expect altruism to evolve throughout the cosmos, or is this only wishful thinking? Is it dangerous to send messages to other worlds, as Stephen Hawking has suggested, or might humankind benefit from an exchange with intelligence elsewhere in the galaxy? Would extraterrestrial societies be based on different ethical principles, or would we see commonalities with Earthly notions of morality? Extraterrestrial Altruism explores these and related questions about the motivations of civilizations beyond Earth, providing new insights that are critical for SETI. Chapters are authored by leading scholars from diverse disciplines—anthropology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, cosmology, engineering, history of science, law, philosophy, psychology, public policy, and sociology. The book is carefully edited by Douglas Vakoch, Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute and professor of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. The Foreword is by Frank Drake. This interdisciplinary book will benefit everybody trying to understand whether evolution and ethics are unique to Earth, or whether they are built into the fabric of the universe.

The Contact Paradox

2019-10-31 Science
Download The Contact Paradox PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2019-10-31
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 440/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Contact Paradox by : Keith Cooper

Download or read book The Contact Paradox written by Keith Cooper. This book was released on 2019-10-31. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What will happen if (perhaps when) humanity makes contact with another civilisation on a different planet? In 1974 a message was beamed towards the stars by the giant Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico, a brief blast of radio waves designed to alert extraterrestrial civilisations to our existence. Of course, we don't know if such civilisations really exist. For the past six decades a small cadre of researchers have been on a quest to find out, as part of SETI, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. So far, SETI has found no evidence of extraterrestrial life, but with more than a hundred billion stars in our Galaxy alone to search, the odds of quick success are stacked against us. The silence from the stars is prompting some researchers to transmit more messages into space, in an effort to provoke a response from any civilisations out there that might otherwise be staying quiet. However, the act of transmitting raises troubling questions about the process of contact. In The Contact Paradox, author Keith Cooper looks at how far SETI has come since its modest beginnings, and where it is going, by speaking to the leading names in the field and beyond. SETI forces us to confront our nature in a way that we seldom have before – where did we come from, where are we going, and who are we in the cosmic context of things? This book considers the assumptions that we make in our search for extraterrestrial life, and explores how those assumptions can teach us about ourselves.

Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Law

2023-08-07 Law
Download Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Law PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2023-08-07
Genre : Law
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 704/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Law by : Michael Bohlander

Download or read book Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Law written by Michael Bohlander. This book was released on 2023-08-07. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is statistically unlikely that humans are the only intelligent species in the universe. Nothing about the others will be known until contact is made beyond a radio signal from space that merely tells us they existed when it was sent. That contact may occur tomorrow, in a hundred years, or never. If it does it will be a high-risk scenario for humanity. It may be peaceful or hostile. Relying on alien altruism and benign intentions is wishful thinking. We need to begin identifying as a planetary species, and develop a global consensus on how to respond in either scenario.

Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective

2013-05-16 Psychology
Download Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2013-05-16
Genre : Psychology
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 52X/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective by : Douglas A. Vakoch

Download or read book Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective written by Douglas A. Vakoch. This book was released on 2013-05-16. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Altruism in Cross-Cultural Perspective provides such a scholarly overview, examining the intersection of culture and such topics as evolutionary accounts of altruism and the importance of altruism in ritual and religion. ​​The past decade has seen a proliferation of research on altruism, made possible in part by significant funding from organizations such as the John Templeton Foundation. While significant research has been conducted on biological, social, and individual dimensions of altruism, there has been no attempt to provide an overview of the ways that altruistic behavior and attitudes vary across cultures. The book addresses the methodological challenges of researching altruism across cultures, as well as the ways that altruism is manifest in difficult circumstances. A particular strength of the book is its attention to multiple disciplinary approaches to understanding altruism, with contributors from fields including psychology, anthropology, sociology, biology, communication, philosophy, religious studies, gender studies, and bioethics.​

What We Know About Extraterrestrial Intelligence

2016-09-23 Science
Download What We Know About Extraterrestrial Intelligence PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2016-09-23
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 565/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis What We Know About Extraterrestrial Intelligence by : Michael Ashkenazi

Download or read book What We Know About Extraterrestrial Intelligence written by Michael Ashkenazi. This book was released on 2016-09-23. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have you ever wondered what could happen when we discover another communicating species outside the Earth? This book addresses this question in all its complexity. In addition to the physical barriers for communication, such as the enormous distances where a message can take centuries to reach its recipient, the book also examines the biological problems of communicating between species, the problems of identifying a non-Terrestrial intelligence, and the ethical, religious, legal and other problems of conducting discussions across light years. Most of the book is concerned with issues that could impinge on your life: how do we share experiences with ETI? Can we make shared laws? Could we trade? Would they have religion? The book addresses these and related issues, identifying potential barriers to communication and suggesting ways we can overcome them. The book explores this topic through reference to human experience, through analogy and thought experiment, while relying on what is known to-date about ourselves, our world, and the cosmos we live in.

You may also like...