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250 preexisting beliefs. People who have negative predispositions to extrater- restrials are likely to become more negative; those with positive views are likely to become more positive. The strongest impact will be on people who have not given the matter much thought. Others believe that that those who interact only with the like-minded would have their prejudices and obses- sions reinforced and shift toward more extreme positions.” A survey of science media people and individuals involved in SETI showed that the most common reactions that they anticipated in the event of a remote detection were interest, excitement, rumor, confusion, and disbelief, although both groups believed that a fear response would be of low intensity. A majority of each sample felt that there would be angry or even violent reactions from some groups, particularly religious fundamentalists."° Some argue that the familiarity of contact themes in popular culture will minimize the emotional impact of remote contact. Most Americans, and many people in other nations, already believe that extraterrestrials exist. “It will be a shock to some people, perhaps profound to a few,” said Morrison. “But... it’s been so discounted by the elaborate imaginative infrastructure of our time... that I don’t think that it’ll be that much.”!! All of these commentaries assumed remote contact. A Continuum of Responses The more unambiguous the signal, proposed the authors of the social implications report, the more definite and interpretable the content of the message, and the more immediate the likelihood of two-way com- munications, the stronger would be the reaction. In an anticipatory emotional context, responses to a remote detection will be tilted in a positive direction, toward exuberance; in an anxious emotional context, toward defensiveness. Irrationally extreme responses to detecting a signal are likely to be infrequent, thought these scholars. However, the size of the population manifesting paranoid or “pronoid” behavior will fluctuate as a function of circumstances. Paranoid or pronoid individuals will react forcefully, perhaps violently; they will be persistent and indefatigable in attempting to acquire information about the signal and about its originators. They may insist not only that their point of view be heard but also that their plans of action be adopted to the exclusion of other possibilities. Responses to a signal also will vary over time, which can be divided into three phases: predetection anticipation, immediate responses to a detection, and later responses. Immediate responses have the most potential for negative or positive consequences, and may be the most amenable to modification by advance preparation. Mixed Emotions