Questions popped up on Dennis Miller's radio program the other day concerning extra-terrestrial visitation. Not all of the following questions were asked directly but each was implied in the generalization:
1. Are we really being visited?
2. Why do they come here?
3. Why won't they make open contact?
4. Why do they do all those biological examinations?
Oddly enough a strong theoretical answer to these questions relates to one of Mr Miller's favorite episodes of "The Twilight Zone". To wit: "To Serve Man".
To understand what I'm about to say we have to begin with the science behind the science fiction. It all has to do with the principle of entropy. According to that theoretical principle all things in nature tend to return to a chaotic state. This is as true in the macro-science of astronomy as it is in the micro-science of cellular biology. A star might explode into a vaporous cloud or burn itself down to cinder. The cells of a mighty redwood may split, duplicate and regenerate for 2,000 years but eventually old age will overtake it and it will simply wear out and die.
The pervasiveness of entropy can be seen everywhere in our physical environment; even in our social fabrics. Take politics for example. Follow any royal line in human history and you will see that every dynasty has eventually lost its ability to regenerate or to hold on to its power. Nor has anyone come up with a political system that can resist the corrupting forces of entropy for any meaningful length of time. Even the great wealth and security of a nation like the U.S.A. has not prevented it from being infected by the fatal diseases of greed, apathy and dysfunctional idealism. But I digress...
I find it ironic when I hear anthropologists and other scientists speak of "dead ends" on the branches of the family trees of various flora and fauna, including the human family tree. Neanderthal, they say, was a separate species that split off the human evolutionary path "but it was a dead end". Well, the truth is that every species along the human path of evolution has met its own dead end and the same will eventually happen to mankind even if we should learn how to postpone it for a million generations. That is the relentless nature of entropy.
It is the inability of the human body to continue cellular reproduction that dooms the individual in the end. But it is the inability of DNA to copy itself perfectly and endlessly that dooms the species. Either the species will mutate and disappear or its genetic "will to live" will expire. In spite of all do-gooder efforts, then, the panda, the spotted owl and the hissing frog will all cease to exist in due time according to nature's plan.
Now consider yourself an alien being whose species has been reproducing for 30 million years and you see that the end is in sight. (Have you seen pictures of these guys? They don't look like they've got the strength to get out of bed. They don't even seem to have the power to walk. They just float from place to place. Hell, we call that one species "the grays". How healthy can that be?) So what would you do to keep your species viable? Well if I had the technology for intergallactic space travel what I would do is establish planetary colonies from which I could harvest fresh genetic material.
To begin with I'd seed ten thousand planets and allow them to develop untended until they reached a point where they could support sapien life forms. Then I'd infuse them with my species' genetics to form a more vigorous hybrid. Periodically I'd visit all of my "gardens" and make adjustments or harvest genes as needed. You get the picture.
We're here to serve the aliens.