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Workshop 1
“The Cultural Impact of Extraterrestrial Contact”
Convened July 31–August 1, 1999 | Kamuela, Hawaii
Summary
 In view of the likelihood that a key element of humankind's future in the next thousand years will be contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, the Foundation For the Future sponsored a workshop that brought together 16 participants with scholarly perspectives on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). The workshop was organized and coordinated by Dr. Allen Tough, who also edited the report on the event published by the Foundation, When SETI Succeeds: The Impact of High-Information Contact.
Focused on long-range ramifications, the workshop emphasized the cultural impact several decades or centures after dialogue between humankind and an extraterrestrial civilization commences. The workshop was held in conjunction with Bioastronomy '99: A New Era in the Search for Life in the Universe.
A Report (4.1
MB PDF) of this workshop, When
SETI Succeeds: The Impact of High-Information Contact, edited
by Dr. Allen Tough, including numerous relevant papers by participants
and statements addressing the topic areas below, is available for
download.
*Illustration above was created by participant David Hines.
Topic Areas
1. Practical Information
2. Answers to Major Questions
3. Changes in Our View of Ourselves
4. Cooperation in Joint Galactic Projects
5. Significant Long-term Effects That Are Primarily Negative
6. What Should Humanity Do Now to Maximize Positive Long-term Impacts?
Participants
 Ragbir Bhathal
Lecturer
University of Western Sydney
Sydney,
Australia
 John Billingham
Trustee and Senior Scientist
SETI Institute
Mountain View, CA USA
 Eric J. Chaisson
Wright Center for Science Education
Tufts University
Medford, MA USA
 Bob Citron
Executive Director
Foundation For the Future
Bellevue, WA USA
 Kathleen Connell
Associate Director
NASA Astrobiology Institute
Moffett Field, CA USA
 Paul Davies
Professor, Dept. of Astrobiology
University of Queensland
Brisbane, Australia
 Steven J. Dick
Astronomer and Historian of Science
US Naval Observatory
Washington, DC USA
 Ben Finney
Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Anthropology
University of Hawaii
Honolulu, HI USA
 Albert A. Harrison
Social Psychologist
University of California
Davis, CA USA
 David Hines
Artist
Santa Clarita, CA USA
 Guillermo A. Lemarchand
Professor
Universidad de Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina
 Claudio Maccone
Technical Expert, Space Systems Group
Alenia Spazio
Torino, Italy
 Jill Tarter
Director, Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI Research
SETI Institute
Mountain View, CA USA
 Keiko Tokunaga
Institute of Zen Studies
Honolulu, HI USA
 Allen Tough
Professor Emeritus
University of Toronto
North York, Toronto, Canada
 Douglas A. Vakoch
Director of Interstellar Message Composition
SETI Institute
Mountain View, CA USA
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