© 1975-1979, 2008 Robert A. Freitas Jr. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Xenology: An Introduction to the Scientific Study of Extraterrestrial Life, Intelligence, and Civilization, First Edition, Xenology Research Institute, Sacramento, CA, 1979; http://www.xenology.info/Xeno.htm

22.4  Philosophy and Knowledge

A few writers have suggested that ETs, no matter how strange they may appear, probably will think much like human beings.^63,191 Modern xenology does not support this point of view.¹¹⁷¹ Xenologists today believe that the ways of thinking employed by sentient lifeforms on other worlds will differ as much or more from the human than their physiologies, technologies, or social systems. Earlier we hinted that even relatively minor differences in sensory apparatus and basic mental equipment could significantly alter the perception and thought processes of extraterrestrials. Here we shall examine more explicitly a few of the many alternative modes of thinking that may be exemplified by intelligent aliens elsewhere in our Galaxy.

Last updated on 6 December 2008