What would Voyager 3 contain if it would be re-launched today, after 38 years? In 1977, an information package was launched into space, a symbolical selection for the human civilization, launched with the intention to be intercepted or discovered by an alien civilization. A sort of “hello” from the humans, a way of saying “we are here”.
Today, maybe, such a package would contain microchips, texts with smiley faces at a correct decoding. We would probably brag about the invention of a virtual communication system, about our intelligent control systems? Our self-control or the controlling of others. We might also include some e-books about the human nature, on micro-sd cards, because we also advanced our knowledge in the field of psychoanalysis. Why wouldn’t we send a picture of Osama or of other terrorists that we cannot find, maybe they would help us with that.
Maybe we could simply send a cry for help, in the hope that in the thousand years that would take them to discover it, there would still be a chance for a few of us to be saved. Or Voyager 3 could be a new Noah’s ark, a capsule of DNA for a possible reconstruction.
In the end, the important thing to know is that we are not alone. And also, it is important to understand how did we end up here. But does it worth the effort? Or wouldn’t it be wiser to enjoy our mere existence and to co-exist peacefully without exploiting each other for the sake of profit, without exercising our power and dominance over each other.
Is this exploitation of others human nature? Is it the engine of progress? Is this evolution? Or is it evolution the creation of virtual realities where we can feed our brains with “01”? Till then, we have other serious problems. Soon the Earth will become overcrowded and under the human influence, the fight for territory drives the species to the verge of extinction. For now, we are preparing a colony to Mars…
But meanwhile art must go on, contemplating and acting, re-acting with our creative means, being aware of the power of now. Hope exists as long as we believe in hope, as long as we believe in our creative power in order to save ourselves and hope for a broader echo.
