John Milinovich - Week 10 - We Are Not Alone...

Ever since the prospect of space travel has graced the pages of science fiction novels and comic books, people have tried to put a face to the mystery that they associate with the unknown universe. This is where the idea of extra-terrestrials, or life forms from another planet, enter the picture.

The idea of the alien, or extra-terrestrial, has been associated with the mystery and horror that exists in that which we do not fully understand. While the frontiers of space are more accessible than ever before, space exploration has a sort of chain reaction effect: the more we know, the more we realize that we do not and potentially cannot know. This idea is not acceptable in our culture, so people try to put images to the disembodied ideas that we have conceived.

Popular culture is inundated with references to aliens, whether they be evil or peaceful and has been as such since the early fifties, when the idea of space travel was first conceived as possible. Mankind is not fundamentally wired to accept that there may in fact be some other life form that exists independently from us, whether it be "in a galaxy far, far away" or even within our own solar system. The simple fact is, people fear that which they cannot control, and the belief that other-worldy bodies not only exist but are ready to attack us at any moment is threatening to the basic foundation and principles by which our culture functions.

The modern image of the alien is amusing and egotistic and describes a whole mess of how humans view the world around them. The traditional image of the alien (as seen above) portrays a short-statured creature with green skin, no hair, long arms, large, black eyes, no nose and a small mouth. These lifeforms share a great deal of characteristics with humans but they generally have some sort of powers - whether it be the healing finger of E.T. or the over-exaggerated brain power of those which appear in The Simpsons and other movies or TV Shows. All of the aliens also seem to have some sort of infatuation with the human anatomy and they often engage in activities such as anal probing and dissection.

At this point in our scientific knowledge and discovery, there really is no way to know whether there are actually other life forms in the universe. It would be arrogant to think that the (non-religious) idea that the way the earth and its inhabitants were conceived was a miracle only possible and that only occurred in one place in the infinite regions that make up the infinite abyss. Regardless of what science may prove, however, the idea of the other-worldy lifeform will continue to be a major focal point of our culture.

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