The UFO enthusiasts in the USA believe that the government is hiding information about such visitations on planet earth. A UFO visit cannot be ruled out despite the vast distances between the stars. Science fiction writers such as Clarke and Asimov have written much on such possibilities. Latest in this genre of writers is Douglas Adams with his book Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, besides writers of pure fiction such as Suzanne Collins with the Hunger Games. Clarke once commented that it was scary to imagine an alien specie visiting us knowing what we have done in the locals during the colonial days. In the same vein he also said that it was scarier to think of us, the human, as the only occupants in this enormous universe. Clarke was a scientist as was Asimov, both prolific writers of the time.
Clarke's book Space Odyssey 2001 was a huge influence in our time. The film based on the book, or the other way round, is considered the best science fiction film of all time. Clarke had close relationship with NASA and had a role in the development of telecommunication satellites. It is difficult to believe that his books were pure fictional imaginations delinked from personal beliefs. In this book the primitive inhabitants of earth came across a monolith standing high on the ground. It had been implanted by aliens to monitor activities on the planet. Is that pure fantasy delinked from personal beliefs? The divide between facts and assumptions based on facts cannot be very rigid. This hardness is even less in scientific experiments when conjectures are used to connect the missing links. For example, nobody has seen the dinosaur of the prehistoric days except in the Jurassic Park. Yet we know what it looked like from the hanging model at the science museum. This has been created piecing elements of prehistoric fossils and bones with much assumptions. As the elements are pieced together, possible sources of errors can be many from the use of assumptions and conjectures. The award of a Nobel Prize needs some proof of proposed theories such as the Black Holes and hence there is a time delay. This is how Stephen Hawkins may have missed the prize.
Astronomy is a fascinating area of science that touches our life in many ways. Reports on the activities of orbiting ISS, flights from the SpaceX, journey of the voyagers and newer findings of Webb in the outer sky attests to this observation. Scientists such as Sagan had roles in creating an aura about the possibilities in this area of activity. Popularity of films such as Cosmos, Interstellar, and Gravity are proofs of this interest. Yet, questions may arise as theories precede proofs such as experiments with Black Holes at the CERN. Possible errors can be many, even in this age of fourth industrial revolution. Correction is a step forward despite the sad walk of Galileo to the gallows. There will be many more steps, forward and backward, as we now talk about the boundary of universe, possibility of multi verses or even the entire creation being a simulation in the stye of the film Matrix. These are deviant thinking that will need intervals to be proven or corrected. That is a strength rather than weakness.
These days there are much talks on Discontinuous or Disruptive changes in products or services such as going wireless from wired or using a GPS tracker to navigate on the road. These were no surprises as we gradually got used to the adoption. Changes in the AI as newer elements are added are not surprises as they allow time for preparation.
Two futuristic books of the past century that dealt with such surprises are Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. We do not yet have any such book in this century. The two books were written in the first half of the century when the world was least bothered about topics in the book. The time concept of Big Brother interfering in our lives were created through the author's dislike of the iron Curtain countries as he portrayed the scenario in another seminal book of the time, Animal Farm. Disregarding the authors bias, the possibilities seen in the books have now entered our lives with the added strength of computing power. Apart from the Big Brother we now have problems with the smaller brothers such as hackers. The book by Huxley is about experiments in dividing humans into segments such as alphas and betas with different roles to play in life. Part of this is already visible from practices such as intervention in terms of sex and physical ability as seen in the foetus. The two books defied all norms of thinking at the time. The obsession today of migration to the outer world will not qualify in this genre of thinking. Neither will experiments on DNA sequencing and the like. However, the newly created door of Quantum Computing may have a possibility as it breaks infinity into countable chunks that can be easily handled. Another book towards the end of the century that comes close to this genre of thinking is The Theory of Everything by Stephen Hawkins. The possibility of time rolling back into the beginning is an uncomfortable idea defying conventional wisdom. Who knows!
Surprises do not come easy. Deviant thinking today have lost the ability to surprise us anymore. A surprise requires one of two major attributes. First, the suddenness such as Covid-19 that came from nowhere. We were almost clueless at the beginning. Second, an absurdity turned into reality such as a journey to the outer space through the wormhole as in the movie Interstellar.
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