Faith and SETI

The following is a paper I wrote for a college summer seminar on the theory of evolution and its relationship with Catholic theology. The basic thesis takes the themes of the course and extrapolates them to how theology relates to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. It's a few years old, but I *did* get an A in the course, so I think it's suitable for publication.

Faith and SETI

Having devoted the bulk of his book Deeper than Darwin to the theory of evolution and the implications for its compatibility with theology, John Haught shifts the focus in his last chapter: “Darwin, God, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence”. At first the topic seems like mere science fiction, but it is entirely relevant to a theological analysis of evolution. The discovery of intelligent alien life in the future would be a landmark discovery much like Darwin’s discovery of evolution. It would cause debate. It might cause some to believe that the existence of God has been disproven. But for many, it will be possible to see the existence of alien intelligence as further proof of cosmic purpose. Like evolution, first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will lead us to greater insight about God’s creation and about humanity’s place in it, and not only is the existence of alien life compatible with faith, the faithful should expect it.

C.S. Lewis's "Space Trilogy" is one of the first works of science fiction to explore the interaction of the concepts of faith and alien life. (Image source)

Haught describes the discovery of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe as “one more in a series of occasions that modern cosmology has provided for theology to […] deepen its sense of nature and God” (p. 179). This “series” includes the discovery that the Earth is not the center of the universe and the discovery of Darwinian evolution. Both of these revealed scientific views of the natural world that ran counter to the literal interpretation of the Bible, yet Christianity did not die out in the Renaissance, nor did it die out in 1859. Religion has never been disproved by scientific discovery, and since science is the study of God’s creation, it can never do so. Instead, challenging scientific discoveries offer theology an opportunity to expand into greater depths; the discovery that the earth is billions (instead of thousands) of years old and that new creatures are created through the gradual change of older species reveals new truths about the grand scope of God’s creation. In the same way, the revelation that God has created other peoples in the universe will change the perspective of theology dramatically.

There exist several reasons some believe that the discovery of alien intelligence would disprove the existence of God. One of these arguments is that a generally held tenet of religion is that humans are special in the scheme of creation, and the discovery that other intelligent species exist in the universe would mean humans are not unique. Haught lists two points defending human uniqueness even if intelligent life were found to exist elsewhere in the cosmos. The first of these is that physically, humans would still be unique, as “it is biologically inconceivable that there would be other humans anywhere else in the universe” (p. 180). Despite depictions of humans or aliens who are nearly identical to humans in a wide variety of science fiction works such as Star Trek, in reality the odds of finding other humans in the universe are nearly zero when we consider how just on our planet, species have evolved on widely diverse paths. Since conditions on any other world would not be identical to conditions on Earth, the idea of life following an evolutionary path identical to ours seems absurd, even when considering convergent evolution. It is possible that any alien race we find won’t even share basic body arrangements with us, such as a bipedal, upright form or two eyes and a mouth on a head. Thus in that sense we as a race will retain our uniqueness, our sense of identity, no matter how many other races we may find out there.

Everything we know about life on Earth suggests that any intelligent life we find elsewhere will look nothing like us, defying the expectations of popular culture. (Image source)

The other argument Haught gives for human uniqueness and value is that given by many different religions: “we express our own unique human dignity and value not by looking for signs of our mental or ethical superiority over other forms of life but by following a path of service and even self-sacrifice with respect to the whole of life, wherever it may be present” (p. 180). The aliens may have the ability to traverse the galaxy instantaneously or a lifespan ten times that of a human, or they may have nothing more than stones, clubs, and fire. Regardless of their technological or sociological accomplishments, however, we will retain our dignity and value, for nothing can change our ability to show compassion or love to others. While humans will no longer be unique in the sense of being the only species in the universe capable of showing love, we will remain part of that unique class of beings that can love. If anything, first contact will represent an enormous opportunity for us to learn how to show love, compassion, and respect for an entirely new species.

The Bible speaks only of the human race and not of any alien races on other worlds (although angels are a different race, just not a physical one). Thus the discovery of aliens might lead some to believe the Bible is inaccurate. This would be a fallacy though, as whether or not other races exist in the universe is a topic largely unrelated to the revelations with which the Bible is mainly concerned, for the same reason that the Big Bang, evolution, and the earth revolving around the sun are not discussed. On the contrary, we should note that the Bible leaves room for the existence of aliens; it never states explicitly that humans are the only physical beings with souls in the entire universe.

Haught comments on religion’s ability to accept new scientific teachings: “Religion can put up with all kinds of particular scientific ideas so long as these ideas do not contradict the sense that the whole scheme of life is meaningful” (p. 185). Haught presents a compelling reason why the discovery of intelligent life would be an affirmation of the existence of God: the knowledge of not one but two intelligent species in the cosmos would effectively double the number of reasons to believe that the universe naturally gives rise to intelligence, indicating that life does indeed have a “point,” or a goal towards which it strives. Haught argues that the discovery would “place the burden of proof upon those who see no intrinsic connection between mind and […] nature” (p. 188). When multiple instances of intelligence are shown in the universe, Occam’s razor would dictate that there is a cause, a reason, for this trend, which is a simpler solution than the idea that these “random” events occur over and over again. And the more of these “flukes” we find in space, the greater that burden will become.

With so many galaxies in the universe, it seems unlikely that there could only be one species of thinking, feeling beings. (Image source)

If anything, rather than being “too much” for religious belief to accommodate, the discovery of alien life may not be enough; it may actually be too narrow an idea in comparison to what really exists in the cosmos. Haught remarks that intelligent life “is only one instance of cosmic beauty” and that “What we call intelligent life might turn out to be too trivial a notion to capture what is already ‘out there’” (p. 189). Haught cites philosopher Alfred North Whitehead’s argument that since beauty has intrinsic value, anything that produces beauty “could be called purposeful or ‘teleological’” (p. 189). Thus the concept of the universe being purposeful could lead to creation giving rise to all kinds of things (things we could not begin to imagine), not just intelligence.  Throughout the course of human history, predictions about future discoveries have often failed to grasp the wonder found in the actual discoveries; God frequently surprises us with just how amazing His creation can be, even if we begin with the acknowledgment that He is omnipotent. Even if we imagine a universe containing countless civilizations, we may not be thinking too big; we may be thinking too small. The idea of civilizations dotting the stars may not do justice to what is truly out there.

Though we have yet to discover any life in space, natural beauty nevertheless abounds in the universe.

 (Image source)

When the idea of a universe over which an omnipotent, benevolent God presides is accepted, then it follows that the universe has a purpose. When that purpose appears to be to bring forth sentient life, theists should not be surprised at the possibility of the existence of aliens. In fact, they should expect it. Contact with alien intelligence, should it ever occur, will be far less of a game-changer than some might expect. It will certainly allow theology to probe deeper into the depths and reveal new insight into our place in Creation. It will not signal the death of religion; it will solidify the case for religion. The knowledge that the changing cosmos has led to intelligence in more than one instance would represent greater evidence that the entire universe strives towards an end goal. With every alien race we would encounter, that evidence would grow stronger, pointing to a universe created by God to bring forth free-willed beings, made, like us, in His image. We may find, however, that those races are nothing more than the tip of the iceberg, and that the universe is filled with wonders humanity never imagined, a testament to the beauty and wonder of God’s creation.