13 Apr 2003 @ 20:32, by Craig Lang
A few years ago, as several friends and I were talking about going to a rather popular restaurant, one friend quipped "Oh, nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded...". I smiled yesterday afternoon, as I was reminded of this remark during a discussion we had at the most recent Minnesota MUFON meeting.
On the second Saturday of each Minnesota MUFON holds our regular meeting, which is open to the public. During the last half-hour-or-so, of each meeting, we often have an open mike session - discussions where anyone can make comments. I had just given a talk on the topic of ET contact, and so, the general discussion centered around possible open ET contact at some time in the near future. I indicated that I didn't feel that this was likely. I suggested that humanity is not ready for contact, simply because it's single biggest endeavor is war (see the article "The Day the Earth Stood Still: Thoughts on Why They're Here" for some thoughts on this topic).
I indicated that at the present time "We" (meaning humanity) are very much dis-united. Individual humans give their allegiance to smaller units within our overall world civilization - nations, religions, individual leaders, etc. As long as we generally think in terms of "I", or a smaller-scoped "we" [and at times this author is certainly not immune to this thinking, either], then humanity will probably not be a very good neighbor.
As I was referring to "humanity", I casually used the term "We". And that's when the fun began...
As soon as I had made my comment, a person sitting in the back row jumped up and shouted angrily, "Who's this 'We'? Don't count me as part of this 'disunity' you're talking about!" At this point the person sitting in front of him replied that the responder had just proved my point. Like my friend's remark of a few years ago, this was one of those delghtful paradoxes in logic. And it just made me smile...
To me, it is plausible that humanity is not yet ready for membership in what I imagine is a "Galactic Club" out there. This will be the case until there is a deep, underlying shift in the global human consciousness. As a species, and for each human as an individual, there must come this shift in focus from I and small-we, to Global-WE [and just like this author, most of us probably still have alot to learn]. Until that time, very little overt contact will likely take place - and humanity will remain isolated from the rest of those "out there".
I offer the guess that if our civilization can survive the coming generation or two without destroying itself, we may well accomplish the needed shift in consciousness. And networks such as NCN, and other similar efforts pave the way to this paradigm shift - bringing us into coming Awakening.
In the mean time, while I suspect that there are many members of the "Club" out there, perhaps watching us closely - I would bet that few of them actually visit Earth. As long as we make comments such as "Who's WE? - Don't include ME in that!" - I suspect that the Visitors will probably limit their involvement to observation, abduction and other such covertness. There will be minimal contact with our overcrowded and dangerous world.
And so, maybe, my friend's comment takes on new meaning. Perhaps, indeed, almost nobody goes to Earth because it's too crowded...
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