Subject: ET's: What If They Liked The Taste Of Human Flesh?

Sent in from Francisco Lopez

EXTRATERRESTRIALS: What If They Liked The Taste Of Human Flesh?

   The following opinion piece was originally published in the Globe &
   Mail, Canada's largest national newspaper, in August 1991...


   EXTRATERRESTRIALS: What If They
   Liked The Taste Of Human Flesh?
   by Dr. Michael J. West

   The possibility that life might exist elsewhere in the universe has
   fascinated human beings ever since our ancestors first gazed into the
   starry skies. Could life also have arisen on other worlds, or is the
   Earth unique? Are there other intelligent beings in the cosmos with
   whom we might someday make contact?

   As long ago as 400 B.C., the Greek philosopher Metrodorus of
   Chios reasoned that "It goes against Nature, in a large field to grow
   only one shaft of wheat, and in an infinite universe to have only one
   living world." Such speculations have sparked lively debate among
   astronomers, and fueled the imaginations of innumerable science
   fiction writers.

   The idea that human beings may someday travel among the stars in
   search of extraterrestrial life remains only a dream at present, far
   beyond the capabilities of existing technology. Yet it is certainly
   conceivable that advanced civilizations of other worlds, if they
   exist, may already have learned to navigate the vast expanses of
   interstellar space, and perhaps already set out to explore the cosmos.

   The possibility, however remote, that highly-advanced extraterrestrial
   beings might someday come to Earth raises some interesting
   philosophical and ethical questions. What if one day extraterrestrials
   really DO arrive here? Just imagine the possibilities....

   What if extraterrestrial beings someday came to Earth and found that
   they liked the taste of human flesh? Would alien "farmers" raise herds
   of human "livestock" to be slaughtered for meat? Might men, women, and
   children end up baked, broiled, or barbecued to satisfy some hungry
   extraterrestrial's appetite? Perhaps certain "strains" of humans
   beings would be selectively bred to produce especially tender meat.

   Suppose extraterrestrials discovered that they liked the taste of
   human milk. Might female humans be imprisoned on alien "dairy farms"
   where they would be regularly impregnated so that their breast milk
   could be gathered for little alien children to drink? After these
   women "cows" were no longer productive milk producers for their alien
   owners, might their fate be similar to that of dairy cows here on
   Earth -- ground up to make a few kilograms of human hamburger?

   What if it became fashionable on some distant planet to wear
   coats made from human skin? A "human fur" coat made from the scalps of
   a few dozen earthlings might keep some fashion-conscious
   extraterrestrial warm from the chilly night air on a far away world.
   Might extraterrestrial "trappers" someday lay traps for unsuspecting
   humans walking the streets of our cities in order to satisfy the
   demand for human pelts?

   What if leading extraterrestrial scientists and doctors began
   performing experiments on live human subjects in order to advance
   their own medical knowledge? Perhaps they would undertake large
   medical studies, infecting hundreds or thousands of human "guinea
   pigs" with their most dreaded diseases in the hopes of finding a
   successful cure.

   Many unfortunate humans might spend their entire lives imprisoned in
   tiny cages in alien laboratories, enduring years of painful
   experiments before death finally ended their misery. Others might be
   dissected while still alive so that alien vivisectors could study
   their anatomy or experiment with new medical techniques.

   Although such experiments would cause tremendous stress,
   suffering, and eventually death for their human subjects, perhaps
   alien researchers would simply ignore their cries of pain, convinced
   that human experimentation is essential for medical progress. Alien
   lives are obviously worth more than any human life, because as every
   highly-intelligent extraterrestrial knows, those dumb humans aren't
   really capable of anything but the most primitive feelings and
   thoughts.

   To an advanced alien civilization it might seem that sacrificing
   thousands or millions of human lives for medical research is a small
   price to pay if it could eventually save the life of even just one
   cute little extraterrestrial child. What if the idea that human beings
   possess fundamental rights of life and liberty seemed as absurd to
   them as the idea of animals having these same rights seems to many
   humans?

   What if the Earth were to become a favorite vacation spot for
   extraterrestrial hunters who would come here for the "sport" of
   hunting humans? Is it possible that killing other living creatures
   simply for fun is a favorite pasttime enjoyed by all advanced
   civilizations in the universe? Will future generations of human beings
   live in fear of having their heads blown off by some extraterrestrial
   yahoo with a gun? Might the walls of alien hunters' homes someday be
   decorated with the heads of humans they had "bagged" while on a
   hunting trip to Earth?

   If we human beings believe that we have the right to be treated
   humanely by any extraterrestrial beings that we may someday encounter,
   even those more intelligent or technologically advanced than us, do we
   not then also have a moral obligation to likewise treat other sentient
   creatures that we encounter with similar compassion and respect? Does
   this not also apply to our treatment of other animals with whom we
   share our planet?


   As Albert Einstein, the greatest astrophysicist of this
   century (and himself a vegetarian) said:

   "Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of
   compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and
   its beauty."/em>

   If extraterrestrials ever come to Earth, let's hope that they will
   have developed a deeper sense of compassion and respect for all living
   creatures than Earth's supposedly most intelligent species seems to
   have developed so far.

   Michael West is a professor of astronomy and physics at Saint Mary's
   University, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.



February, 1998