Imagine a civilisation that's way in advance of us wants to communicate with us, and assist us in our development. The information we provide to them must reflect our highest aspirations and ideals, and not just be some crazy person's bizarre politics or religion.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of conveying our best qualities and ideals to advanced civilizations rather than our flawed aspects.
Paul Davies highlights the responsibility of humanity to present itself in the best possible light when communicating with advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. He implies that if such civilizations were to exist and attempt to assist us, the information we share should embody our highest aspirations and ideals, rather than our lower instincts or chaotic beliefs. This perspective encourages us to elevate our discourse and actions, reflecting our potential for greatness and wisdom.
In practice
During a seminar on extraterrestrial life, one could share this quote to prompt discussion about our expectations of advanced civilizations.
The temptation to believe that the Universe is the product of some sort of design, a manifestation of subtle aesthetic and mathematical judgment, is overwhelming. The belief that there is "something behind it all" is one that I personally share with, I suspect, a majority of physicists.
Science, we are repeatedly told, is the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypotheses. Religion, by contrast, is based on faith. The term 'doubting Thomas' well illustrates the difference.
Although the elusive 'cure' may be a distant dream, understanding the true nature of cancer will enable it to be better controlled and less menacing.
Many investigators feel uneasy stating in public that the origin of life is a mystery, even though behind closed doors they admit they are baffled.
Traditionally, scientists have treated the laws of physics as simply 'given,' elegant mathematical relationships that were somehow imprinted on the universe at its birth, and fixed thereafter. Inquiry into the origin and nature of the laws was not regarded as a proper part of science.
For me, science is already fantastical enough. Unlocking the secrets of nature with fundamental physics or cosmology or astrobiology leads you into a wonderland compared with which beliefs in things like alien abductions pale into insignificance.
Those people who treat politics and morality separately will never understand either of them.
There is no space in which worship should not take place, no time when it should not occur, and no activity through which it should not happen.
Intelligence is characterized by a natural incomprehension of life.
It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to desecrate a grove and change your mind. The very holy mountains are keeping mum. We doused the burning bush and cannot rekindle it; we are lighting matches in vain under every green tree.
Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.
The socialist tradition....goes back to Jesus Christ,_x000D_ not (Karl) Marx.
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