A new study, one of very few of its kind, finds that people typically respond quite positively to the notion of life on other planets. The study investigated the possibility of finding microbial extraterrestrials, not intelligent E.T.s, so people's responses might be a little different if they were told an armada of aliens were headed toward Earth, cautioned study author Michael Varnum, a psychologist at Arizona State University. Nevertheless, he noted, large portions of people believe that intelligent aliens do exist and that they've visited Earth; so even a more dramatic announcement might not ruffle feathers.
"What this suggests is, there's no reason to be afraid" of sharing news of astrobiology with the public, Varnum told Live Science. "We won't collapse. We're not going to have chaos in the streets."Link to the full article HERE.
Also of interest particular to those who read about the possibility of extraterrestrial life's implications for religious belief might be THIS book, Vast Universe: Extraterrestrials and Christian Revelation. Glancing at the table of contents and introduction I was led to believe that the topic is covered rather intelligently and makes a good case for the compatibility of religious belief with the potential discovery of extraterrestrial life. The language, or terms such as "star people" and "star friends" sounds very Kantian and cosmic-cosmopolitan in nature and is a huge bonus for me.
