And What Can Facilitate It?
An interesting article in the New York Times, "The Search for Intelligent Life is About to Get a Lot More Interesting," (9/15/22) describes scientists' thinking and efforts to detect life on other planets. In addition to looking for biosignatures (such as a ratio of gases that suggests the presence of microbes or plants), they now want to also look for technosignatures (like chemical and electromagnetic signs) of possible life.
Earth's technosignature, as seen by satellites, includes heat islands over cities, rising concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane, clouds of floating industrial byproducts, radiation leaks, and electromagnetic transmissions. Present day telescopes can see these kinds of data from nearby planets, and future telescopes will be able to see such data from planets around other stars.
An Instance of Hampered Creativity
Astrophysicists' thinking had been that civilizations are basically focused on harvesting energy and putting it to work. One scientist will be looking at a planet circling Trappist-1 star, and wants to determine its biosignature and technosignature. Is there life? First, she asks, "Is there air?"
At a conference, it took a student to ask: "This is all very anthropocentric. What if you have a civilization of octopuses?"
Now, scientists are beginning to consider that their familiarity with Western technology could trap them. What if the life of other worlds consisted of octopus-like creatures using water pressure or bubbles as tools, or even trees in a grove, communicating through threads of fungi underground?
In Fact, Narrowed Thinking Happens Routinely
I have seen instances of this in my own field, where psychiatrists have attempted to understand new theories by trying to make them fit in with already known theories rather than accepting them as something new and different.
Why?
Because the known is more familiar, and therefore more comfortable, than the unknown. If a person were in a boring situation, she would need new stimuli and would welcome new ideas; but otherwise, her comfort would be maintained by embracing the familiar. Unfortunately, this hampers creativity.
A Solution
I have written recently about a new, very special, mental pathway, which I call an Inner Guide. This entity, which has access to one's entire memory bank, can see when we are stuck in a narrow path of thinking that obstructs our creativity; and it can enable us to surmount that difficulty, freeing our creativity. I will be offering a course in the near future that will enable you to create your own Inner Guide. In the meantime, use of the Emotional Comfort® Tool will prepare you for success with your Inner Guide.
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