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The Charming Science of the Other: The cultural analysis of the scientific search for life beyond earth.
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This dissertation presents the cultural study of scientific search for extraterrestrial life conducted over the past sixty years by the scientific community. It introduces an original piece of research that conceptualises the extraterrestrial life hypothesis as a significant part of the general world-view, constantly shaped by the work and discoveries of science. It sheds light on the ways in which alien life is imagined and theorised and presents its concept in both the scientific community and in popular culture.
Drawing from anthropology of science it offers elaboration of ‘culture of science’ and ‘scientific culture’ and describes the scientific search for other life as a specific culture of science, here referred to as ‘charming science’. The three scientific search methods: message sending, analysing of cosmic signals and the search for extrasolar planets are conceptualised as the three search modes: messaging, listening and exploring respectively.
This work introduces the extraterrestrial ‘Other’ as a profoundly cultural concept, firstly presented as the missing subject of ‘charming science’. Exploration of public understanding the extraterrestrial life and popular imagination of the ‘Other’ is intended to introduce the scientific search in broader social context and address the role of science in contemporary Western world.
The dissertation draws on the multi-sited and multi-method ethnographic fieldwork conducted over two years in the UK. The research methods included interviewing (semi-structured face-to-face interviews and interviews conducted via email), participation (conferences and scientific meetings), and data collection from the global ‘online’ community including social networks.
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... At first sight, the engraved plate may seem rather elementary, especially when served with the explanatory callouts. Yet there is a number of qualities and conditions that the receiver would have to possess to be able to find, read and understand such a message (Capova 2013). ...
... The Pioneer Plague and Voyager Record, both carry an image that when approached in terms of its intertextual connections can be interpreted as a creation story. In this context the mythological aspect of the image of the couple, the biblical allusion of Adam and Eve, here in the center of a Space age narrative (Capova, 2013). ...
... The receiver is a priori burdened with the human qualities of the physical body, with a brain producing an intellect; and sophisticated and organised knowledge of the physical and natural world, that is science. The extraterrestrial being is required to see, hear, think, read, interpret, and understand (Capova, 2013). ...
This article gives a brief overview of how human life is represented on the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 plaques and on the 1977 Voyager 1 and 2 Golden Records, sent on their journeys to deep space by the U.S. National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA). Having left the boundaries of the Solar System and moving through interstellar space, the space probes still carry messages with information about their makers and their era. After a description of the two famous American interstellar messages, this article gives a basic introduction to their contents using some of the photographs available in the public domain. The overview includes the visual and audio part of the Voyager message and is focused around the questions for what types of information were included, what methods were used to communicate the information and how were humans introduced to the unknown receiver.
... The upcoming of this era is also ushered in changes in human relations to outer space; that is from something to be explored to something that could be exploited. Based on ethnographic material collected during doctoral research in social studies of science and technology ( Capova 2013), a case-study approach to interpreting dataset was used to enable a deeper, qualitative insight into the state of affairs in space commerce. Three conceptually diverse cases of outer space economy that already captured attention of social scientist are asteroid mining ( Olson 2012), memorial spaceflights ( Cutting 2009) and extraterrestrial marketing ( Capova 2013) are introduced below in order to present the dynamics and recent developments in actual socioeconomic context and to engage outer space as a site of social production. ...
... Based on ethnographic material collected during doctoral research in social studies of science and technology ( Capova 2013), a case-study approach to interpreting dataset was used to enable a deeper, qualitative insight into the state of affairs in space commerce. Three conceptually diverse cases of outer space economy that already captured attention of social scientist are asteroid mining ( Olson 2012), memorial spaceflights ( Cutting 2009) and extraterrestrial marketing ( Capova 2013) are introduced below in order to present the dynamics and recent developments in actual socioeconomic context and to engage outer space as a site of social production. ...
... This curious case of exomarketing shows how the extraterrestrial domain appeals to marketers as a modern commercial advertising medium to promote or sell a terrestrial product. While the scientific community worldwide and other professionals have been discussing the pros and cons of sending messages to potential extraterrestrial intelligence (known as METI, Messaging the Extraterrestrial Intelligence), a brand of seasoned tortilla chips were making marketing history and establishing a new discipline: exo-marketing ( Capova 2013). The Doritos commercial was broadcast using the radars at the European space station in the Arctic Circle (EISCAT) and officially became the first advertisement ever transmitted to the Universe, making One small step for man, one giant leap for advertising ( Pepsico UK & Ireland 2012). ...
At the beginning of the 21st century we witness considerable global developments in space exploration and a new era has begun: the New Space Age. The principal symbols of that age are firstly internationalization of space activities, secondly commercial utilization of space technologies, and lastly emergence of outer space economy. This paper presents selected signposts of the New Space Age. Three cases of recent outer space enterprises: recovery of asteroid resources (exo-mining), post-cremation memorial spaceflight (exo-burials) and first extraterrestrial advert (exo-marketing), are introduced in order to emphasize the monetary and social dimension of commercial application of space technologies. To give an illustration of these trends, this paper provides a brief socioculturally minded account of three outer space undertakings that are interpreted as signposts of the new era.
We discuss how visions for the futures of humanity in space and SETI are intertwined, and are shaped by prior work in the fields and by science fiction. This appears in the language used in the fields, and in the sometimes implicit assumptions made in discussions of them. We give examples from articulations of the so-called Fermi Paradox, discussions of the settlement of the Solar System (in the near future) and the Galaxy (in the far future), and METI. We argue that science fiction, especially the campy variety, is a significant contributor to the ‘giggle factor’ that hinders serious discussion and funding for SETI and Solar System settlement projects. We argue that humanity's long-term future in space will be shaped by our short-term visions for who goes there and how. Because of the way they entered the fields, we recommend avoiding the term ‘colony’ and its cognates when discussing the settlement of space, as well as other terms with similar pedigrees. We offer examples of science fiction and other writing that broaden and challenge our visions of human futures in space and SETI. In an appendix, we use an analogy with the well-funded and relatively uncontroversial searches for the dark matter particle to argue that SETI's lack of funding in the national science portfolio is primarily a problem of perception, not inherent merit.
Haraway’s discussions of how scientists have perceived the sexual nature of female primates opens a new chapter in feminist theory, raising unsettling questions about models of the family and of heterosexuality in primate research.
First published in 1967, Visual Anthropology has become a classic in its field, invaluable not only for anthropologists but for anyone using photography, film, and video to understand human behavior and culture. This completely revised and expanded edition brings the technical information up to date and includes the insights the Colliers have gained from nearly thirty-five additional years of collective teaching and research experience since the first edition.