WESTFIELD – On Thursday, April 23 at 6 p.m. in the Wilson Hall Auditorium, Professor George Michael will explore the question that has been asked for centuries; “Are we alone?”
George Michael, assistant professor of criminal justice at Westfield State University, has authored several books on political extremism including “The Enemy of My Enemy: The Alarming Convergence of Militant Islam and the Extreme Right,” “Willis Carto and the American Far Right,” and “Lone Wolf Terror and the Rise of Leaderless Resistance.”
Michael’s newest book, which he will discuss during the lecture, is a departure from his work on political extremism and instead focuses on the prospect of extraterrestrial life. The book, “Preparing for Contact: When Humans and Extraterrestrials Finally Meet,” studies the consequences of both direct and indirect contact with extraterrestrials from a variety of perspectives, including the fields of astronomy, astrobiology, SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), and ufology.
Michael’s research on extraterrestrial life began almost five years ago when he heard Stephen Hawking’s warning that communicating with extraterrestrial civilizations could be potentially dangerous. The work of theoretical physicist Michio Kaku helped to enhance Michael’s interest in the subject. He was particularly intrigued by Kaku’s explanation of the Kardashev scale, a method for measuring the technological advancement of a civilization.
“According to this framework,” Michael explained, “a Type I civilization can harness all available power on its planet. A Type II civilization can harness power directly from its star in its solar system. Finally, a Type III civilization can harness the power of other stars in its galaxy.
Inspired by Hawking, Kaku, and the 2010 film “Skyline,” which depicts an alien invasion of Los Angeles, Michael wrote an article for Skeptic magazine titled “Extraterrestrial Aliens: Friends, Foes, or just Curious?” In his article, Michael offered a different take on why extraterrestrials might be interested in our planet.
“It dawned on me that any alien civilization able to traverse interstellar distances to visit Earth would most likely be at least a Type I, but probably a Type II civilization,” Michael said. “In that case, I found it implausible that aliens would come all the way to Earth to plunder its resources because they would have advanced so far that there would be nothing on Earth worth plundering… I argued that if aliens did ever visit Earth it would be out of curiosity, perhaps to practice a form of cosmic anthropology, rather than mount a hostile invasion.”
Michael’s lecture, which will be filmed by CSPAN, will cover topics such as the study of life outside of Earth, the existence of UFOs, and the aspects involved in interstellar travel. Michael will conclude his presentation with a discussion of the future relationship between humans and extraterrestrials.
“I’ll discuss the challenges our civilization will have to surmount in order to survive and establish contact with extraterrestrial intelligence,” Michael said.
