All right that does it, them’s fighting words, Neil deGrasse Tyson — well, not really, but can’t you humor all of us believers out here? Look, I get it, aliens are a tough sell. It’s true that the U.S. Government released some videos during COVID, which if you take more than a few seconds to think about is bonkers, but it’s not like U.F.O. sightings have been all that common otherwise.
In his long-form interview with VladTv, deGrasse Tyson doesn’t pull punches when it comes to his opinion on extraterrestrials.
“Who am I to know what would or wouldn’t interest an alien? What I would say is, what kind of an ego must you have to think that a more advanced species — vastly more advanced that we are, as it would have to be if it traveled here, we haven’t left low Earth orbit in fifty years — to believe that aliens would cross the galaxy just to observe us, in a very shy way?”
Okay so I’ll admit that his logic here is pretty darn sound. What’s so great about human life that aliens would feel compelled to check us out? We haven’t done anything that special, all things considered. Or have we? Think about it, over the years humanity has come up with stuff like: art, democracy, and the McRib — all mind-blowing in their own right, if you ask me.
Still, we also dabbled in slavery for a few thousand years and invented the atomic bomb, so, you know… Not everything rocks.
When thinking about it though, wouldn’t aliens be at least a little interested in the fact that a bunch of hyper-intelligent ape-like creatures have the power to blow each other to smithereens? Admit it – if that was the premise of a new Netflix miniseries you’d binge until your eyes bled. I would too, it’s one hell of a concept.
It seems the biggest issue a guy like Neil deGrasse Tyson has comes by way of exposure, or really, a lack thereof. Putting himself in the shoes of this hypothetical alien civilization, the iconic astrophysicist shared his perspectives.
“When we visit Earth, let’s only go to the restricted airspace where the Navy flies, and let’s make ourselves fuzzy.”
If aliens were truly taking tourist trips to view our little blue planet, wouldn’t everyone with a phone in their pocket be getting proof of the phenomenon? World government can’t be the only ones able to catch a glimpse of these interlopers, right? I would certainly like to think so. Most people I know use their phones as makeshift periscopes, viewing their own life through a lens like a submarine on the ocean floor. Getting pictures should be the easiest part of this whole process.
Moreover, wouldn’t those photos be better quality than the grainy snapshots we’ve been sold on? After all, phone cameras have come a long way. I saw a cool bird outside my apartment window last week and was able to get a semi-decent photo of the thing before it flew away. Point is, wouldn’t we have proof by now?
Still, I’m here to play both sides, so let’s look at things a bit differently. Notice how Neil doesn’t deny alien life outright, because that’s impossible. He’s a man in the business of questioning our universe, it pays to be curious. Space is vast, actually it’s vaster than vast — it’s infinite, so it would stand to reason that there could be life out there other than our own. Maybe not life as we know it, but life all the same.
However, when coming to a conclusion like that, I find myself thinking quite a bit about sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, who said;
“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”
It’s one or the other. Either we’re totally alone, sole bastions of intelligence and life — carrying that mantle of possibility until we die, kill each other, or don’t. OR, we aren’t alone, we’re not special, and life is all around us, making our existence yet another blip on an unfeeling cosmic radar. Lots to think about. Have fun getting to sleep tonight. Be good, stay crazy, tell your friends.