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From: jlg@lanl.ARPA (Jim Giles)
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Scutle the Space Program?
Message-ID: <249@lanl.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 9-Mar-86 16:25:42 EST
Article-I.D.: lanl.249
Posted: Sun Mar  9 16:25:42 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 12-Mar-86 03:32:02 EST
References: <860305153340.481402@HIS-BILLERICA-MULTICS.ARPA> <758@ihwpt.UUCP>
Reply-To: jlg@a.UUCP (Jim Giles)
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Lines: 23

In article <758@ihwpt.UUCP> knudsen@ihwpt.UUCP (mike knudsen) writes:
>Incidentally, if we do encounter a friendly race that makes us
>look pretty inferior, our mental health may be preserved by
>some myths that have been taking a beating  in the net lately.
>One is the Star Trek myth that there's something really
>instrinsically great about being "human."  Another is the
>Western religions.  Finally, our modern ecological sense, that
>even a snail-darter is worth preserving for its uniqueness,
>will help save our minds if/when we end up looking like
>snail darters (a little freshwater fish threatened by US dam
>construction, BTW).

The authors of STAR TREK scripts were in control of the plot and could
make the myth of 'intrinsic human superiority' come out true in the end.
Many modern fundamentalist churches oppose the idea of alien life forms
since it contradicts the idea that man was the chief object of creation.
And if any aliens we encounter don't share our opinion that uniqueness
is valuable - that idea may fall too.  It will be those who don't have
such an egotistical opinion of themselves and of mankind's place in the
universe who will keep their sanity.

J. Giles
Los Alamos