THE JOURNAL OF ASTROSOCIOLOGY VOLUME 1

has been with us for decades. Religion points people to creation stories based on thesupernatural, while the astrobiological worldview points to explanations characterized bytestable hypotheses and empirical evidence. The stereotyped fundamentalist response toevolution has all of the earmarks of a worldview under attack. This includes denial andrationalization to dismiss the significance of the paleontological record and other evidence ofevolution. It also includes political action to suppress or distort the dissemination of scientifictruth, and generating arguments and data that objective referees would consider flawed. As isoften the case in worldview defense, rather than using external reality (the data) to evaluatepersonal values and opinions, internalized standards are used for evaluating empirical reality(Zimbardo, 1999).IV.Searching for Extraterrestrial LifeAt present, two types of searches are underway to find extraterrestrial life. The first huntsfor non-intelligent biological specimens within our solar system. Much of this hunt consists ofseeking environmental conditions conducive to life (such as the presence of liquid water),chemical activities suggestive of life, and fossils. Chris McKay points out that although thediscovery of any extraterrestrial life would be thrilling, scientists hope to find life that is trulyalien in that it formed completely independent of life on Earth and is not related to the terrestrialtree of life (McKay, 2011). This discovery would constitute proof of a “second genesis,” ademonstration that life began twice in our solar system. Two different biochemistries, bothcapable of initiating evolving life, would show that life on Earth is not simply a fluke and hintstrongly that life is scattered throughout the universe. While the discovery of an extraterrestrialfossil would be of great interest, its origins might be difficult to discern. Scientists need actualbiological material to compare with life as it is found on Earth. This means either bringingextraterrestrial life to Earth or studying it in its natural environment. And this means either goingin person or sending automated devices to the Moon, Mars, or other destinations to conductresearch.As explorers, researchers, industrialists, and settlers, how will we comport ourselves onMars? Should we feel free to alter the local landscape or ecology to meet human needs? Shouldwe respect bacteria, molds, and vegetation? Then, there is our propensity for putting interestinganimals in zoos, plucking them from their natural surroundings, placing them in confined areastypically with little or nothing of interest to them to do, and breaking their families apart. Thesocietal roadmap observes:Any discussion of possible extraterrestrial life must be linked with extensiveliterature and research on human and environmental ethics. The existence of lifebeyond Earth would raise possible questions about “rights” and “personhood,”similar to current debates over complex or intelligent non-human life on Earth.Likewise, the prospect of finding microbial [extraterrestrial] life in the solarsystem raises questions of its moral standing and our obligations toward it. Inaddition, there are numerous questions about the morality and ethical implicationsof expanding life’s range onto other celestial bodies, with or without indigenouslife, either deliberately or by accident (Race et. al, 2012).© 2015 Astrosociology Research Institute17