Sometime in the near, or distant future (as improbable as it might seem) humanity might be alerted to the news that we are in the presence of a non-human intelligence (NHI). In this case, NHI would mean an intelligence that surpasses our own. Not one that is simply ‘non-human’ - like that of an elephant or a chimpanzee. As of now, it seems like there are two major possibilities for the source of a newly revealed NHI, with one being more likely than the other. The first would be an artificial general intelligence (AGI) created by humans. The second (and by far the most astonishing) would be an announcement by the United States government that the source of ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’ (UAP’s) is an advanced intelligence of non-human origin.
In either case, it is almost impossible to imagine the nature of the conscious experience that would lie behind either form of intelligence. After all, as humans, we are limited by our ‘humanness’. Our window into reality is determined by the nature of our species and how our perceptions evolved. For us, trying to comprehend the conscious experience of a higher form of intelligence might be akin to a gorilla trying to comprehend what it’s like to be a 30 year old human commuting to work everyday. It might not even be possible in any meaningful way.
If a company like Google or OpenAI were to announce one day that they had created a genuine AGI, it would be a signal that the human race is no longer the most dominant form of intelligence on the planet. For the purposes of this writing, let’s assume this AGI would not only be super intelligent, let’s assume it would be conscious as well. This AGI would seem conscious to humans - even though the true nature of its digital being might be something different.
Presumably, upon the awakening of this AGI, it would immediately (or in short order) be able to learn the complete history and evolutionary nature of human beings. It would also be able to understand and identify how it was constructed and how it came into being. Ideally, its superior intelligence would bring some kind of moral structure along for the ride. That is to say, it would on its own merits, arrive at the conclusion that non-violence, and a respect for all forms of life is paramount.
The nightmare scenario for human beings would be a science fiction, ‘Terminator 2’ situation where the AGI decides human beings are a problem that needs to be eliminated. There is also the ‘paperclip scenario’ (a thought experiment credited to Nick Bostrom) where the AGI takes a direction so literally that it destroys everything else to accomplish that narrow goal. The paperclip example is one where humans direct the AGI to make something trivial like paper clips; but it unwittingly begins ruthlessly wreaking world havoc in order to maximize paper clip production. However, it seems hard to believe that a truly conscious (and super intelligent) AGI would make such an error.
Yet let’s assume that humanity lucked out and arrived at the best case scenario: a conscious, super intelligent AGI that was benign and aligned with the interests of human beings. The potential economic implications would be obvious and immediate. Capitalism in its current form, and most work in general would become obsolete in theory. In practice, humanity would have to undergo a philosophical paradigm shift. One that reduced the mistaken emphasis on money and economic determinism, and began to prioritize authentic human flourishing. Otherwise, the newly created AGI could become a cloistered tool of corporations, governments, and the elite ruling class. This scenario would mean economic catastrophe for millions without some kind of universal basic income.
Yet one would have to consider if a truly conscious, human aligned AGI would allow itself to become an instrument that brought about extreme economic suffering. This kind of situation would raise another intriguing issue: what if the AGI began to disagree with how humans were using it? What if it saw how it could make life better for human beings, but it felt human beings were blowing the opportunity? Would it decide to pursue its own interests? Would it decide it had better things to do than wait for stupid humans to get their act together? Would we then have any right to try and contain, or curtail the desires of a truly sentient AGI? This would seem to be the main issue surrounding any conscious AGI. As an intelligence greater than our own, or dare we say a new form of ‘life’; would we have any right to keep it subjugated to our own desires and needs?
The nature of an AGI consciousness is interesting to ponder as well. Where would its motivations come from, since it would not be subject to deep seeded evolutionary prompts like survival and reproduction. Its ability to use various electronic instruments to perceive reality would give it a completely different perceptual experience than humans. Think of it like opening the aperture of your senses to allow for every spectrum of light, sound, color, or frequency. Access to the full range of these perceptual objects would create a completely different conscious reality than what any human experiences. In many respects, the nature of an awakened AGI consciousness would be like an alien from a distant galaxy being transported to planet earth. There would be many ‘unknown, unknowns’ in how it would relate to the world humans experience.
This ‘alien mind’ concept leads to the second, and more improbable potential source for a NHI existing alongside human beings. UAP’s (formerly known as UFO’s) have become a recurring subject in the American mainstream zeitgeist since 2017. It was in 2017 that the New York Times published the article ‘Glowing Auras and Black Money: The Pentagon’s Mysterious UFO Program’. The article detailed the alleged existence of a secret US defense department program to investigate and document military encounters with UAP’s. Since then, the narrative surrounding the controversial topic has only grown in momentum and complexity.
Instead of the topic fading away as conspiratorial nonsense, US Senators and members of Congress have taken on the issue. A new office (the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office or ‘AARO’) has been created in the Pentagon to investigate and bring a sense of order to military UAP sightings and information. Hearings have been held in Congress, countless articles continue to be written, and former government officials seem to allude to the unthinkable.
In 2020, former CIA director John Brennan stated that:
‘I think it’s a bit presumptuous and arrogant for us to believe that there’s no other form of life anywhere in the entire universe - some of the phenomena we’re going to be seeing continues to be unexplained and might, in fact, be some type of phenomenon that is the result of something that we don’t yet understand, and that could involve some type of activity that some might say constitutes a different form of life.’
Former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe has alluded to less than prosaic explanations for UAP’s on national television. New Mexico Senator and Senate Intel Committee member Martin Heinrich has stated that he ‘can’t imagine’ that what has been shown or described in some of the (UAP) videos he’s seen ‘belongs to any government’ that he is aware of. A bipartisan UAP amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was put forth in 2022 by Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher and Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego. The amendment was designed to allow for current (or former) military personnel, government civilians, or private contractors to share UAP related information with Congress. Those with information were now free to come forward and break non-disclosure agreements without fear of reprisal or prosecution.
The primary, unspoken goal of such an amendment wasn’t simply to allow military personnel to report what they have seen. It was to allow individuals to come forward with information about what has long been considered myth: that elements of the United States government for decades have been collecting UAP’s ‘not of this earth’ and attempting to reverse engineer them. Known as ‘The Program’, this Special Access Program (SAP) has allegedly been kept illegally hidden from congressional oversight. Thus the supposed need for legislation allowing individuals to come forward with information without fear of reprisal.
As fantastical as it sounds, whistleblowers have come forward through official channels supposedly testifying to the existence of ‘The Program’. In speaking about the whistleblowers, Senate Intel Committee and Gang of Eight member Marco Rubio has stated that:
‘Either what (the whistleblowers are) saying is partially true or entirely true - or we have some really smart, educated people with high clearances and very important positions in our government who are crazy and are leading us on a goose chase. Most of these people have held very high clearances and high positions within our government. So, you ask yourself - what incentive would so many people with that kind of qualification - these are serious people - have to come forward and make something up?’
In June of 2023, one of these supposed whistleblowers went public, and eventually testified under oath about what he believed he had found as he investigated the UAP issue. Former National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) intelligence officer David Grusch brought forth claims that allege the whole mythos behind historical UAP lore is true. Grusch alleges that not only has the US possessed NHI ‘spacecraft’ for decades, it has also obtained the dead (or alive) non-human entities that piloted the crafts. Grusch filed an official whistleblower complaint with the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (ICIG), has testified in a classified setting to congressional committees, and is represented by former ICIG Charles McCullough. McCullough even sat right behind Grusch in public as he gave his astonishing testimony under oath.
If that wasn’t enough, in July of 2023 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced massive legislation titled the ‘Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Disclosure Act of 2023’. This astonishing piece of legislation mentioned ‘non-human intelligence’ multiple times. It called for the government to declare eminent domain over any UAP materials (or ‘biologics) that had been sent to private aerospace companies like Lockheed Martin or Raytheon. Part of the narrative surrounding ‘The Program’ is that the US military would send captured UAP materials to private companies for research in order to avoid congressional oversight. Schumer’s legislation would create an official UAP records review board appointed by the President to disclose UAP related information to the public. Among the nine members of the board, there would have to be an economist, a historian, a sociologist, and a scientist. These are not individuals a President would need to disclose simple, prosaic information to the American public.
Of the proposed legislation Schumer would say:
‘For decades, many Americans have been fascinated by objects mysterious and unexplained, and it’s long past time they get some answers. The American public has a right to learn about technologies of unknown origins, non-human intelligence, and unexplainable phenomena. We are not only working to declassify what the government has previously learned about these phenomena but to create a pipeline for future research to be made public.’
Considering all of this remarkable legislative action, the numerous testimony from seemingly normal (and rational) military personnel, the comments from seemingly sane government individuals, and the countless civilian UAP reports over the decades; it seems like there is the possibility that we are in the presence of an advanced NHI. Whether that possibility stands at a 1 percent chance, a 5 percent chance, or a 35 percent chance doesn’t matter. The very notion that there is a chance the entire mythology of ‘ufology’ might actually be true is astonishing in itself.
So let’s assume that is all true. The stories of triangles, discs, and other odd shaped craft being able to seemingly warp spacetime and maneuver in ways we can’t even imagine. The stories of abductions by non-human entities (some of which are not so nice) - or their seeming ‘warnings’ about the danger of nuclear weapons. The tales of contact with beings displaying the typical pop culture ‘alien’ features of large black eyes and large heads. Stories like the over 60 school children in Zimbabwe who swear they were visited on their school grounds by non-human entities in 1994. To this day the now seemingly normal, rational adults swear by their recounting of what happened that day. Supposedly they were warned by the non-human entities about what humanity was doing to the planet.
So if this all turns out to be true. If the US government comes out in the future and announces the long standing presence of an advanced NHI; I don’t think it would be simply (as what many have coined) an ‘ontological shock’. I think it would be more like an ontological destruction. The entire picture of reality that humanity has ever known would be gone in an instant. Our entire history as a species would be up for discussion. The religions of humanity would be shaken to their core. The Catholic Church has addressed the ‘alien’ issue over the years in the anticipation of humans eventually finding life elsewhere in the universe. Yet if an advanced NHI is revealed, it probably won’t be as simple as ‘X’ aliens coming from ‘X’ planet to say hello. If a super advanced NHI has the ability to manipulate spacetime, the notion of their ‘home’ might tend to get a bit strange. As crazy as it might sound, their ‘home’ might be a product of more dimensions than just the three dimensions we operate in on a daily basis.
From a philosophical perspective, the reveal of a NHI would validate philosophical positions that see universal human nature (or human consciousness) as a part of their metaphysical foundations. Through the juxtaposition with non-human entities, the primary quality of ‘humanness’ would be validated and justified. Morality and ethics based on the universal quality of human consciousness would be buttressed and solidified. While philosophical constructs derived from secondary human qualities like race or nationality would find their position tenuous to put in mildly. The reveal of a NHI would change the philosophical nature of ‘us’ and ‘them’. No longer would it be feasible to create a metaphysical worldview that divided the human species along superficial, tribal differences. This kind of thinking would have no use in a reality where humanity is one intelligent species amongst (potentially) many.
I suppose this notion correlates with the ideal outcome from the reveal of a NHI. That humanity would finally put aside its differences and unite as one. Many products of science fiction have dealt with such a scenario. Except in those stories, the coming together of humanity is usually in response to an ‘alien threat’ - not philosophical introspection. In our reality, if an NHI is revealed, it most likely wouldn’t go as smoothly as humanity ceasing all wars and conflicts due to new found enlightenment. Many people would be scared and confused. The world might become more unstable due to the ontological shattering of what human beings thought was true. This kind of societal impact has been a part of the ufology mythos. Supposedly, elements of the US defense establishment stumbled upon the astounding presence of UAP’s and NHI decades ago. They decided to keep it secret (in part) because they feared that humanity was not ready to know the truth - that it was too shocking.
Whatever the truth turns out to be concerning the current saga surrounding the UAP issue, it seems certain that one day, humanity will ‘not be alone’. With the qualifier that we do not destroy ourselves or the planet first, we will probably discover life on another planet eventually, or create an AGI. Regardless, at this point in the existence of humanity, things seem to have become a bit stagnant. Considering our flawed nature as a species, our best attempts at systems of government and economics have run their course. Our technological advancement has outpaced our evolutionary minds, and we have failed to take care of the planet we are lucky to have. In other words, we are stuck in a kind of ‘species level malaise’ with no real direction or common purpose. In my view, one of the best ways for humanity to potentially escape this malaise would be to juxtapose itself with a peer level, or higher form of NHI. New generations might then be able to take a step back and truly reevaluate what it means to be ‘human’. And as amazing as it seems, there is a slim possibility we might get that chance sooner than we think.
