The reading and interviews raised several questions about how the discovery of extraterrestrial life can affect human society. One primary question was “Will the interactions with aliens allow there to be a level playing field between the Western powers and the rest of the world, or will it heighten the divide in terms of economies and knowledge?” I am particularly interested in whether the new aliens would be revered as gods in a new religion, or whether or not they would try to abolish all other religions so everyone only worships them. There are many implications this can have, such as rebellions that could occur to preserve freedom of religion. I am interested in how science would change with the knowledge of new minerals, galaxies, and technology. I believe that this would be a net negative for society since it will increase the inequality between the rich countries and the poor countries. However, this is difficult to understand because the aliens may seek to exclusively aid people in third world countries.
The divide between the countries would likely lead to skyrocketing economies for the Western powers, who will likely be the ones who are mostly in contact with the extraterrestrial life, but is difficult to answer. I am curious about how companies would adjust if extraterrestrial life hands out technology to people, along with medicines, because then the economies would likely crash. This could allow the world to be cured of many diseases and lead to in essence a utopian communist nation, where extraterrestrial life would likely not allow mega billionaires to exist. However these questions are extremely difficult to answer because we are not sure about their intentions, which would dramatically change the answer.