When I was a kid I used to dream up all sorts of
imaginary situations. Nerd that I am, some involved me being alone in the
middle of nowhere late at night and happening upon an alien spacecraft. Hollywood
defines that as a close encounter of the third kind.
In my youth, I always fashioned the craft’s occupants as
benevolent. That is, they were kind and good-natured beings. After all, to be sufficiently
advanced so as to travel vast distances to other worlds required not just advanced
technology, but also a learned spirit of cooperation rooted in compassion and
understanding.
Then I grew up.
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| That's no Vulcan "peace" sign he's throwing |
In college my what-if scenario evolved into a game with
friends that inevitably posed the question: “Would you go back with them?”
As one might expect, this sparked all sorts of
interesting and often hilarious banter. Answers ranged from, “Heck yeah, count
me in” to “Hell no, I won’t go.”
On reflection, it felt like “ET” and “Cocoon,” – films,
in which the visitors were warm and fuzzy – fueled the kumbaya responses. Conversely,
alien invasion flicks like “Earth Versus the Flying Saucers” and “Independence
Day” fired up doom-and-gloom the sentiments.
Reasons for aliens coming to our planet were either good
or bad. Good: friendship, exploration, and scientific research (think Jane Goodall,
not cosmetics companies). Bad: colonization, appropriation of our natural
resources – including human resources,
galactic domination, etc. There were other more inventive reasons as well.
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| Keep away from me, you! |
It’s interesting to note that while I consider myself a
card-carrying pessimist, when it came to alien close encounters, I land
squarely in the, “Take me, take me…” camp. Here’s why: movies like “Star Trek”
and “Star Wars” offer a third, somewhat less polarized middle ground. That is, the
cosmos contains both good and bad space travelers, with the good guys tending
to win out.
Of course, there’s the fourth option, the one in which
there is no life anywhere but here on Earth, but that’s too close to reality.
In large part, this game is just that, a game. Still
there are philosophical ramifications to it all. And for those wondering what
the point of all this seeming nonsense is, there also is an historic
perspective. It’s one that continues to make this “game” relevant. And that is
the holiday known by some as Columbus Day.
I say some because surprisingly what many U.S. residents
have forgotten since grade school (or worse, never were taught), is that Christopher
Columbus never set foot on what is now the United States. His landings were far
to the south in the Caribbean, Central America and South America. But this too
is beside the point. What is perhaps most relevant today is that his arrival set
in motion a chain of events that has decimated the indigenous peoples of the
Americas.
Many have been the time when more advanced (at least
from a weapons perspective) group of people have invaded, colonized or
otherwise appropriated a previously unknown peoples’ land, resources, culture
and, in the very worst cases, the people themselves. Close encounters of the worst
kind.
In Columbus’ case, it was done for natural resources
like gold and later slaves. It also has been embarked on in the name of
religion, nationalism and such self-centered notions like Manifest Destiny.
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| Label this under entitlement |
This all reminds me of a scene in the movie, “Finding
Nemo.” A baby clown fish named Nemo is abducted from his family and ocean reef home
by a weekend scuba diver. During a brief yet socially relevant exchange back
home, the diver explains to his friend, “I found that guy struggling for life
out on the reef, and I saved him.”
It’s another close encounter gone bad, except like in my
childhood fantasy scenario, no one gets hurt.
Follow J.R. on Twitter @4humansbeing or contact him at 4humansbeing@gmail.com.
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