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Timing 217 machine, warned Koerner and LeVay, may have lost all memory of its organic ancestors. Grinspoon foresaw more ambiguity. If we receive an interstellar message, we may never know if it was sent by machines or biological organisms.*! There would seem to be less ambiguity in the probe scenario, in which our contact is with a machine. But who sent the probe? The machine we discover may be in the service of another machine.” What about direct contact on Earth? In the film “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” the powerful robot Gort appears to be under the supervision of the humanoid Klaatu. That film was based on a story—Harry Bates’ “Farewell to the Master”—with a very different message. We discover on the final page that the Master is not Klaatu, but Gort. Most popular images of machine intelligences are frightening, although the benign alternative has been suggested. R2D2 and C3PO, the cute robots from “Star Wars,” were firmly under human control; they seemed unlikely to violate Asimov’s laws of robotics, which forbade harming a human being. Robbie, in “Forbidden Planet,” demonstrated that he could not carry out such an order, burning out his circuits instead. The film “The Iron Giant” portrayed a huge robotic creature who was powerful enough to be destructive, but who was peacefully inclined (he even had a smile fixed on his metallic face). acd Lee ake 2 ann nt Our current opinions are heavily influenced by the omnipresence of information technology and robotics in contemporary culture, and by pre- dictions of artificial intelligences that are smarter and more powerful than we are. Although these technologies are at the center of our attention today, they may not be a generation from now. Our images of aliens then may emphasize different qualities. Timing The consequences of contact for Humankind also will depend on the state of our own civilization at the time; our reactions might vary widely from one era to another. Other factors being equal, proposed Harrison, the basic rule is that human reactions will be more positive in good times than in bad.* The emotional context of the times strongly affects the ways in which people react to news. The underlying factor, found the social impact group, is expectations. During a time in which international tension is low, toler- ance of differences is high, prosperity is generally on the rise, and per- ceived disjunctions in our lives are few, people are likely to have positive expectations. Conversely, a time full of upheaval may provoke an anxious emotional climate. In such anxious times, negative events are perceived as parts of a pattern. Even events that do not conform to negative expecta- tions may be interpreted as threatening.**