The Economic
Benefits Of Alien Abduction – Why Would Intelligent Life Elsewhere In The
Universe Want To Kidnap Humans?
MessageToEagle.com –
Why would intelligent life elsewhere in the universe want to kidnap humans? If
they’re anything like us, the answer is pure economics.
Popular culture has
long imagined that aliens exist, and that they travel to Earth with a specific
goal in mind, one that offers their species an economic, cultural or survival
advantage. E.T. was a botanist who came in search of plant forms. Predator, a
professional predator, came to fight Earth’s most valiant foes, namely Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, and Jesse Ventura. Kal-El, aka Clark Kent, came
to the blue planet when his parents were trying to hide him from interstellar
baby killers.
A perusal of alien case files suggests
modern abduction narratives are incentive driven. The abductees, who generally
reside in rural areas, are frequently seized while traveling along secluded
roads. From there, they are subjected to experiments, probes, brain scans,
telepathic mind control, alleged sexual encounters, and a litany of medical
procedures—all of which result in some benefit to the alien abductors. Similar
to their fictional counterparts, there must be motivating principles for
presumed aliens to visit Earth in the first place. Otherwise, what is the
economic impetus to travel millions of miles through the galaxy, risk being
shot out of the sky by trigger-happy governments, just to spend hours probing
and scanning innocent earthlings?
Taken just from the
perspective of survivors of such encounters, it would seem this business model
is no way to run an intergalactic syndicate, based either on kidnapping or
scientific research, or more nefarious ambitions. If alien species are anything
like us —creatures with the desire to survive in a harsh and infinite
universe—then their dealings likely involve some form of economic principle.
“I haven’t thought
hard about aliens from an economics perspective. And I am less confident than
you seem to be that aliens would be like us,” says economics professor Lawrence
J. White, with New York University’s Stern School of Business. “But suppose
that you are right. Then you are in the world of ‘the economics of crime’. The
operative concept would be that of a benefit-cost analysis. And, in turn, that
would initially require the specification of a goal.”
A cost-benefit
analysis, in a nutshell, is how a business gauges its use of manpower and
spending to produce the most worthwhile results. According to Mark L.
Weinstock, a professor of economics at Pace University, it’s reasonable to
assume alien businesspersons would be similar to us in that they would have
goals for such abductions.
“One thing that we
would have in common, since we are talking about other species and not about
organisms that are immortal, is the fact they have to operate in time,”
Weinstock says. “This means they have to make choices and have to use resources
so they have to prioritize their time. We assume that any kind of
extraterrestrial that reached the Earth has some form of rationality in its
thought process.”
According to
popular abduction narratives, certain economic intentions—or thought processes
of alien abductors—seem to be fairly clear.
Maybe we are a
hobby, reality television-like entertainment that aliens poke and prod for
sport.
“One possibility is
that it is research related. This might be a scientific team engaged in the
study of galactic species, such as our own,” Weinstock says. “We don’t have a
problem interfering in the life cycle of animals, such as dolphins, whales, and
tigers in order to understand them. So why would an alien species have a
problem interfering in our life cycle if they perceive us as a lower form of
life?”
A second economic
benefit to abducting humans might be that it’s part of a long-term project,
where the aliens are visiting our planet to further improve their already
advanced society in directions we can’t possibly comprehend. Or maybe,
Weinstock philosophizes, we are a hobby, reality television-like entertainment
that aliens poke and prod for sport.
“Abductions could
result in a defined benefit to the alien race,” Weinstock says. “We have
medications that we test on animals. The argument of pharmaceutical companies
is that they operate for the greater good.”
Being the
laboratory meat of some technologically advanced, intellectually pragmatic
civilization might not be the worst scenario. According to nuclear physicist
Stanton T. Friedman, the economic benefits associated with abduction might have
less to do with benefiting alien society, and more with preventing their
society’s destruction by a sinister foe. Namely, us.
“I consider us a
primitive society obsessed with tribal warfare,” Friedman says. “We are a
planet where $1 trillion is spent on military warfare each year.”
Friedman says it’s
possible Earth once served as a colony for extraterrestrial felons, similar to
how Georgia and Australia operated as penal colonies in the 18th century. That
would make us descendants of those prisoners, a possible explanation for how
cruel our society behaves toward one another, according to Friedman, the
original civilian investigator of the Roswell Incident and a renowned lecturer
on unidentified flying objects. Perhaps the economic benefit of abductions is
not to study us for scientific purposes, but rather to understand us from the
perspective of continued incarceration.
“We have become the
epitome of a threat to the neighborhood. Perhaps we are being watched, or
quarantined,” Friedman says. “They’re sending us a message—stop developing
weapons of mass destruction. Don’t let those idiots off their planet to bother
the rest of us.”
Regardless of the
economic benefits—to study, exploit earthlings as laboratory specimens, or
prevent us from destroying the galaxy—the abduction methods so-called
intelligent life use often inspires distrust among the masses. A valid point is
that most abductions occur without credible witnesses, an aspect with which
even abductees would agree. And according to the abductees, they are kidnapped
by alien spaceships, one at a time, which doesn’t seem economically viable.
Wouldn’t it be more
cost-efficient to abduct a small village, or a cruise ship, or a Boeing 777
flying over an ocean at night? That’s what many thought happened to Malaysia
Airlines Flight 370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014. It wasn’t just
conspiracy theorists hypothesizing that aliens might have been responsible.
Several media organizations, including New York magazine and CNN, reported on
the scenario, if only as filler to aid the 24-hour news cycle.
Perhaps we are
being watched, or quarantined. They’re sending us a message. Don’t let those
idiots off their planet to bother the rest of us.
But economics might
shed some light as well on the nighttime nature of abductions. If most alien
abductions occur in the dark, Weinstock says that may be the case because it’s
the most economically efficient model.
If aliens abducted
an airplane, “all these people have friends or families who will investigate
this disappearance, and suddenly it’s a major ordeal,” Weinstock says. “Aliens
would operate in the least observable way. Otherwise, it creates too many
headaches for them. They would prefer not to endure higher costs if their
motives are more obvious and well known. More awareness on our part might
increase the costs of conducting their missions.”
Intelligent
visitors could be operating under economic principles, though a philosophy
completely foreign to our understanding. Instead, their principles are based on
a society much more advanced than our own. In the same way we hope to one day
mine asteroids for commercial application, Weinstock believes alien technology
is so progressive that it costs very little to travel to Earth.
“We’re speculating
based on our own cultural perspective,” Weinstock says. “It’s possible they are
using modes of transportation that are not linear, that could involve the use
of space structures, wormholes, which make travel much more efficient.”
“It may be no more
of a big deal than flying from New York to London in a few hours,” Friedman
speculates. “That would have been incredible 120 years ago. The space station
orbits the Earth every 92 minutes. It took Magellan’s ship three years in 1523.
Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers can operate for 18 years without refueling.”
There may not be
one reason that intelligent life forms observe us. Friedman believes we’re not
being watched by just a single entity, but rather scores of extraterrestrials
operating without our knowledge.
“I think there are
loads of civilizations in the local neighborhood sending loads of vehicles to
visit, study, destroy, enjoy,” says Friedman.
There’s a thought.
Maybe intelligent life forms come here not to study or quarantine us, but to
vacation, relax, and enjoy themselves. Maybe the economic advantage is similar
to our own sinful proclivities: What happens on Earth, stays on Earth.
MessageToEagle.com
No comments:
Post a Comment