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339 may not be their first priority, or ours. If we do receive messages or arti- facts, they may not be full of scientific facts. They also may be extremely difficult to understand. The human hope for intervention from above—the desire to be guided, rescued, or punished by superior beings—remains strong. We cannot assume that voices from the sky will guide us with transforming philoso- phies or lead us to utopia. However, they may provoke our thinking and broaden our perspective. Contact could inspire us or demoralize us. We could feel demoted if ae wee nee oe Men ete ed eee Leet WS 2a fn 01 contact challenges our anthropocentrism and our hubris. We could feel promoted by our entry into a larger community; that might satisfy our desire to be accepted, to be approved. The biggest change in our way of looking at the consequences of contact is that there are now two established paradigms: remote contact through detection of electromagnetic signals (including the detection of astro- engineering), and direct contact through interstellar travel. The second paradigm implies that the consequences could be much more powerful han the traditional SETI school anticipated. The more intense forms of contact could provoke cultural shock, testing our ability to adapt. Even if extraterrestrials were well-intentioned, they could damage us. The outcome of such contacts may depend on the motiva- ions and inhibitions of the more powerful species, and on the intellectual and cultural resilience of the less powerful. Direct contact could happen in different ways, with different implica- ions. Passive direct contact, with an artifact that does not send communi- cations either to us or to its home civilization, would allow us a wide range of choices. Active direct contact, with a machine that communicates or akes other actions toward us, could tilt the range of consequences toward our fears. Even then, worst-case assumptions may not prove true. The outcome of contact is not a sure thing. Its consequences for Human- kind will depend on which scenario prevails, and on the capabilities and intentions of those in contact—the extraterrestrials, and ourselves. We may know our own capabilities and intentions in advance of contact, but not ak theirs. The closer we are to the other civilization in time and space, the more potential there is for cooperation—and for conflict. The path chosen will depend on decisions made by intelligent beings. Those decisions could be influenced by the communication of intent, and by actions consistent with those intentions. The most rational view about the consequences of contact may be ambivalence. Many possible outcomes could be mixtures of the hopeful and the fearful; the effects could be both positive and negative. We may find beauty; we may find ugliness. If we are intellectually brave, we will face both possibilities, confronting both our angels and our demons. Anticipated Consequences