Reading Kelsey Johnson’s work raised a question that I can’t shake: If we do discover extraterrestrial life—especially radically different or more intelligent life—how will that rupture our Earth-bound hierarchies and systems of value, especially those built on colonialism, capitalism, and human exceptionalism? As someone who deeply values community, justice, and curiosity, I’m struck by how many of our economies, religions, and sciences are built on the illusion that humans are the apex of creation: rational, chosen, and central. The question is difficult to answer because it challenges everything; not just our institutions, but our sense of self, our stories of origin, and even our right to dominate Earth and its resources—let alone the universe. If life elsewhere exists and doesn’t fit neatly into our definitions, can our systems evolve to recognize it without exploiting or fearing it? Or will we try to colonize the stars the way we did each other?
If I were being totally honest with myself, the most interesting ideas from the chapter are the ones that challenge our (or let me be even more honest and say my own) human-centered assumptions. Especially the idea that life doesn’t have to look anything like us, and might not even meet our rigid criteria for being “alive.” I’m fascinated by how quickly life appeared on Earth after the Late Heavy Bombardment, which suggests that life might be more inevitable than exceptional—and that maybe Earth isn’t as special as we like to think. I’m also really drawn to the way Johnson questions the ethics of terraforming or creating synthetic life, and how those questions expose the limits of modern capitalism’s “can we” logic, reminding me that just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should, especially if we’re still operating from a mindset of extraction, domination, and narrow definitions of value.
I think the word alien already carries a weight that feels inherently derogatory. It implies otherness, exclusion, and even threat. Will we even be able to “discover” and interact with life beyond Earth if we can’t even engage with the concept without projecting our fears onto what we don’t yet know? Will we be able to “discover” life beyond Earth if we can’t admit that we don’t know what we don’t know?