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Hollace Bain
Professor Ruccio
English 1101
10 November 2014
Ideological Extinction
Human beings: a small collection of atoms with self-aware minds that are currently flying
through space on a tiny, overpopulated rock called earth. This miniscule celestial body, in which
an entire race of beings is evolving, is currently the only known planet in the universe that has
intelligent life, of any kind, existing on it. It is for this reason that some people have strong
ideological opinions about earth being the only planet to harbor any form of living organisms in
this vast universe of ours. This ideology of insisting that we are alone in the universe is only
accomplished through complete ignorance or lack of knowledge, and is currently damning the
human race into extinction.
Not knowing anything about a certain subject or field can naturally lead to the formation
of ideologies such as the one at hand. The first thing people should try and understand when
thinking about life elsewhere in the cosmos is the sheer size of it. Our galaxy alone holds
hundreds of billions of stars, and is 100,000 light years in diameter (Burnham 192). For earth to
make one orbit around the Milky Way, human beings would have to wait 230,000,000 years
(Burnham 192). This may already start to seem like a large amount of space for life to begin
somewhere inside of it, but the Milky Way is one of the many billions of galaxies in the
universe, all of which are comprised of billions, to trillions, of stars. Of course, size is not the
only thing that matters in trying to understand this immense place in which galaxies and star
systems lie; age is also a factor. The estimated age of the universe is about 13.6 billion years old.
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That means that the universe that we inhabit now has had 13.6 billion years to give birth to any
kind of life anywhere inside of it. Therefore, it is more likely for the universe to have other forms
of life somewhere far away in the distant past, or distant future, than to only have life on a single
planet at this moment in time. Although it may seem honest to have this ideology when someone
simply doesn’t know the true size and scale of the universe, there are many people who hear
these facts, and for some odd reason, simply choose to ignore them.
There are several paths to the depths of which someone could deny scientific information,
and assume that the universe is vacant of any other forms of life. The first of these is legitimately
not thinking about any issues other than those popular culture suggests are important. In today’s
world, the general population is easily persuaded by the visuals and interpretations of certain
values and topics expressed by modern media. One of which is the misconception of what life
means elsewhere in the universe. Popular television shows and movies are usually the only place
that the average person gets to see someone else’s idea of alien life. The way in which alien life
is portrayed usually consists of non-realistic renditions of humanoid creatures flying through
space in some sort of saucer-shaped aerial vehicle, which the creature then uses to ruthlessly
attack unwitting earthlings. After watching many science fiction films in which this method of
fictionalizing alien life is unbearably present, it becomes more apparent as to why someone
might choose to have the ideology of a human-only existence. This is sadly a common
occurrence in today’s over-eccentric, media-dissolved culture. If it is not the media telling
someone to discount the possibility of life out in the far reaches of space, then there is another,
more significant force driving the stake through the heart of scientific progression. The main
factor that leads people to use this particular ideological lens when asked about the universe is
religion. Although there are religious individuals who would chose not to deny the
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overwhelming possibilities of distant intelligent life, the majority of creationist believers seem to
insist that earth is the only planet in the entire universe that has been home to intelligent life
(specifically humans). Although freedom of religion is a given right to all humans, the highminded ignorance of certain religious groups is leading to the demise of our beautiful, relatively
young civilization. There are many negative effects that come from this ideological perspective,
both short-term and long-term, and if our culture does not develop out of this perspective, many
scientists fear that the human race may never fully progress to the place of scientific knowledge,
of which it needs to be a part in order to further flourish and prosper.
The short-term effects of this cultural ideology in which people decide to blindly assume
that earth is the only life-bearing place in the entire span of the universe, are, to the average
person, irrelevant. It is perhaps for this reason that even with all of today’s scientific research and
breakthroughs, there is still no push to detach from the extremely primitive way of thinking that
only on earth have forms of life existed. The only legitimate short-term effect of this flawed
ideology is the complete under-funding of America’s space exploration program. To the ordinary
citizens of the United States, this issue would most likely never cross their minds, but to the
more scientific-minded citizens, the priority of fixing this issue has never been more urgent. This
is due to the fact that every person who knows the possibilities of what could exist in this cold,
expansive universe also knows that the only way to progress to a point of finding out is through
space exploration. Bill Nye, a popular scientist in the minds of our nation’s youth, is the chief
executive officer of The Planetary Society, a non-profit organization that devotes its efforts to
scientific innovation in any and all fields of astronomy. He has become one of the most
prominent leaders in trying to further the progression of America’s ideology about space
exploration. Bill Nye, in a letter to President Obama, tries to explain the urgent need of financing
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space exploration through the planetary science program, under NASA, by saying, “planetary
science deserves special attention, because it is special. It is a remarkable value in which we
should maintain or even increase our investment” (1). After calling attention to the demands of
scientists across the nation, he goes on to explain the effects of having an effective space
program as he writes, “supporting a robust space program raises everyone's expectation of what's
possible. With a space program, everyone in our society comes to believe and expect that any
problem we face can be solved. It's inherently optimistic” (Nye). The only way to stop the
abysmal downward spiral of ideological despair in which most modern humans find themselves
is to counteract the obvious short-term effect of underfunding the most important part of the
government. Although this is a solution for solving the more immediate damages done to our
civilization, the long-term consequences of having an entire culture believe in this bizarre
ideology are far more severe.
Extinct: a term that is usually associated with dinosaurs and some specific species of
mammals. This word holds a miniscule amount of importance in the minds of most people, due
to its non-relevance to human beings. So far, the only organisms that have gone extinct from this
world are not completely necessary for the survival of our civilization. Although the word
“extinct” has not been applied to organisms of vital importance, what happens when that
changes? There is no resolution after humanity’s life lines start to disintegrate beneath its feet.
This scenario of the earth’s resources beginning to diminish is not a fictional future but an everhastening reality in the near future. Humans have exploited this planet from the beginning, and
there is not an end to this destructive behavior in sight. Even if reductions are made, resources
will run out, and humans will still be on the path to extinction. The ideology of denying that
there is life beyond our planet is the majority of the reason why human beings are not
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considering colonizing other worlds. For many of the believers of this astoundingly archaic
ideology, it is not ethical or “in the plan” for humans to consider moving on to other planets or
moons. Of course, space exploration is not completely non-existent, but at the rate in which
culture is dismissing it, there will not be enough time or resources to relocate earth’s population
when the time comes. Extinction will already be the only outcome by the time people start to see
how important it is to grow as a civilization. These realizations may seem unresolvable, but there
are solutions. And if anyone in the future wants to see the human race evolve and progress, these
solutions must be taken seriously.
Just as other intelligent life in the universe has done or will have to do, humans must
move on from their home planet, and the only way for progress to ensue is to eradicate the belief
that man is the sole occupant of the universe. This may sound unnecessary, but imagine a world
where modern culture is focused on space exploration and trying to find other forms of life,
where choosing science, instead of ignorance, was the most respected thing to do with an
individual’s life. Forms of life do exist elsewhere in the universe, and choosing to believe
otherwise is not only going against all logic and reason, it is going against the way that humans
where meant to evolve and prosper. The next one hundred years will decide humanity’s fate, and
if there are still culturally accepted, science-denying ideologies present, the extinction of all of
mankind will be certain.
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Works Cited
Burnham, Robert, Alan Dyer, Jeff Kanipe, and Wil Tirion. Astronomy, the Definitive
Guide. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003. Print.
Nye, Bill. "An Open Letter to President Barack Obama." Letter to Barack Obama. 6 Dec. 2013.
MS. N.p.