Seeking Shared Values while searching for ETI
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Start Date
14-12-2020 10:00 AM
End Date
14-12-2020 10:20 AM
Description
The express mission of the SETI Institute is “to explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence.” Absent from the SETI mission is an explicit search for extraterrestrial values. I claim that the search for extraterrestrial values is just as important as the search for intelligent life, and that it is equally beset with epistemic challenges. I argue that we should be searching for extraterrestrial values, but I do not reach this conclusion by proving that universal, shared, or objective values definitively exist. In fact, there is reason to be skeptical of their existence. I argue instead that such skepticism is not consistently applied, and the concerns one might have justifying the search for values mirror the concerns one should have justifying the search for intelligent life. I lay out various reasons to be skeptical of both extraterrestrial intelligence and extraterrestrial values—looking to Earth-based evidence, the role of evolution, potential differences in capabilities, and anthropocentric biases. Since the search for intelligent life appears to be justified despite these skeptical concerns, and since the search for shared values faces parallel concerns, I conclude that anyone who endorses the search for extraterrestrial intelligence should, on pain of inconsistency, equally endorse the search for universal values. Just as we assume that the discovery of intelligent life is possible, so too may we assume that the discovery of shared values is possible. After providing epistemic justification for including values in our search, I end with a gesture toward the moral justification for this inclusion. The search for shared values and any discovery of extraterrestrial values will inform the very important question of how we are morally permitted to treat extraterrestrial intelligence that we encounter.
Recommended Citation
Haramia, Chelsea, "Seeking Shared Values while searching for ETI" (2020). Society for Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SSoCIA) Conference. 4.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/ssocia/2020/schedule/4
Seeking Shared Values while searching for ETI
The express mission of the SETI Institute is “to explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence.” Absent from the SETI mission is an explicit search for extraterrestrial values. I claim that the search for extraterrestrial values is just as important as the search for intelligent life, and that it is equally beset with epistemic challenges. I argue that we should be searching for extraterrestrial values, but I do not reach this conclusion by proving that universal, shared, or objective values definitively exist. In fact, there is reason to be skeptical of their existence. I argue instead that such skepticism is not consistently applied, and the concerns one might have justifying the search for values mirror the concerns one should have justifying the search for intelligent life. I lay out various reasons to be skeptical of both extraterrestrial intelligence and extraterrestrial values—looking to Earth-based evidence, the role of evolution, potential differences in capabilities, and anthropocentric biases. Since the search for intelligent life appears to be justified despite these skeptical concerns, and since the search for shared values faces parallel concerns, I conclude that anyone who endorses the search for extraterrestrial intelligence should, on pain of inconsistency, equally endorse the search for universal values. Just as we assume that the discovery of intelligent life is possible, so too may we assume that the discovery of shared values is possible. After providing epistemic justification for including values in our search, I end with a gesture toward the moral justification for this inclusion. The search for shared values and any discovery of extraterrestrial values will inform the very important question of how we are morally permitted to treat extraterrestrial intelligence that we encounter.