Dr Gary L Wenk of Ohio State University believes aliens exist and humanity will be able to bond with them over a shared history of ‘gods and spiritual rituals’ when they visit
A leading psychology boffin claims aliens have religious beliefs similar to humans. Dr Gary L Wenk of Ohio State University believes extra terrestrial beings will visit us someday “if the universe is as vast as astronomers say”.
The emeritus professor of Behavioral Neuroscience told Psychology Today that aliens are likely to have religious beliefs if they are mortal and care for each other. Dr Wenk even suggested humanity will be able to bond with the aliens over our respective “gods and spiritual rituals”.
He said: “One day, probably far off in the very distant future, if astronomers are correct in their assumptions about the vastness of space, Earth will be visited by intelligent beings from another planet. Astrobiologists predict that their biochemistry will be very similar to ours.
“This prediction is based on evidence about bioactive molecules and familiar amino acids that occur throughout space and on other planets. Will they be bilaterally symmetrical with four limbs?
“We can’t predict what they will look like; however, I think that they will be able to tell us about their gods and their spiritual rituals.”
Dr Wenk added: “My prediction is based on only two assumptions. First, our visitors from space can die; they are not immortal. Second, they care about each other. When one of their own dies, they mourn them, just as humans do.
“These assumptions, I think, will have led these aliens to invent gods and a belief in the afterlife. Belief in the afterlife, where we defeat death and are reunited with loved ones who have died, is the basis of all past and current religions.
“This desire is so pervasive and universal that humans have imagined being reborn into an afterlife in many, many places, such as Heaven, the Fields of Elysium, Tartarus, the Isles of the Blessed, Valhalla, Fólkvangr, Kibu, Pulotu, Duat, Diyu, Yomi, and more. It’s a very long list.”
Dr Wenk believes that by the time aliens have the technological ability to visit us, they will have outgrown their religious beliefs. He said: “However, given the advanced level of technology required for intergalactic space travel, it is likely that this highly evolved and intelligent alien visitor would have already discarded their own ancient mythologies.
“Numerous studies of humans have consistently shown a robust negative association between religiosity and intelligence. We now see the consequences of a more educated world, as evidenced by a reduction, across countries and cultures, in public participation in religious services; a decrease in the personal importance of religion; and a decline in formal religious affiliation.
“By the time aliens finally land on Earth, it is likely that both humans and aliens will be able to share stories about their respective long-past civilizations that once believed in supernatural beings.”
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