Is the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence a Search for God?
Jeff Hecht Discussion (60 min.). In Civilized Life in the Universe, George Basalla traces the history of the search for intelligent life beyond the Earth, and concludes that it a secularized quest for God or some entity sufficiently superior to humanity that it could stand in for God. He points in part to science fiction, citing books where aliens arrive to teach us the errors of our ways and stop war. He writes that SETI seems to have replaced religion for a number of scientists, including the late Carl Sagan. We’ll talk about his ideas and how alien civilizations have been portrayed in science fiction. 54. 9:00 NH Thomas M. Disch reads from an unfinished novel. (30 min.) 55. 9:00 VT Delia Sherman reads from Changeling, a fantasy for younger readers (forthcoming in August from Viking) about a young girl who was stolen by the fairies when she was a child and raised in Central Park. (30 min.) 56. 9:00 Vin Strange Stories and Robert Aickman: An Introduction to the Man and His Work Adam G
