Aliens Like Us?: An Anthropologist's Field Guide to Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life

by Anthony Aveni

Overview

In this authoritative, accessible, and at times funny and irreverent work, distinguished anthropologist Anthony Aveni speaks to the trained astrophysicist and the curious layperson alike about a simple but previously unexplored question: Why do we assume aliens, if they are really out there, behave just like us?

Aveni’s newest work departs from the usual scientific treatment of extraterrestrial intelligence by probing the historical and widely neglected anthropological record, which offers relevant analogous incidents of contact among terrestrial cultures. Beginning with theories of the evolution of life and culture advocated by astrobiologists, Aliens Like Us? explores how the Western cultural imagination is influenced by ways of knowing that are deeply embedded in the minds of the questioners—for example, how we consider the ownership of property, the idea of progress, and even the way we classify things. The lessons of anthropology offer not only value structures from other cultures that differ profoundly from our own but also testify to the diverse ways in which "alien" cultures interact.

Finally, on the question of potential first contact, Aveni closes with a fascinating exploration of the image of extraterrestrials in popular culture that is derived in part from the hugely influential realm of science fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826367426
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	03/18/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Anthony Aveni is the Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of Astronomy, Anthropology, and Native American Studies Emeritus at Colgate University. He has written or edited more than forty books, including Conversing with the Planets: How Science and Myth Invented the Cosmos and The End of Time: The Maya Mystery of 2012.

Table of Contents

Introduction

PART I. ARE THEY OUT THERE?
Chapter One. ET Fever
Chapter Two. Optimists vs. Pessimists

PART II. DO THEY EVOLVE LIKE US?
Chapter Three. Life Like Ours?
Chapter Four. Does Evolution Converge?
Chapter Five. Does Culture Evolve Too?

PART III. DO THEY THINK LIKE US?
Chapter Six. Do Aliens Believe in High-Tech Progress? Lessons from History
Chapter Seven. Doesn’t Everybody Do Things the Way We Do? Lessons from Anthropology
Chapter Eight. Contacting the Ultimate Other: More Lessons from Anthropology
Chapter Nine. Do Aliens Believe in God?

PART IV. ARE THEY HERE?
Chapter Ten. The Story of Ufology
Chapter Eleven. Epilogue

Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Credits
Index

Editorial Reviews

This fascinating and thought-provoking volume applies insights from the social sciences and humanities to the search for life beyond Earth, from exoplanets to aliens and UFOs. Aveni brings his unique expertise in the cultures of Earth to illuminate possible cultures in the heavens. The result is an important, readable, and unusual contribution to the literature of astrobiology, illuminating not only possible extraterrestrials, but also the humans who search for and believe in them.”—Steven J. Dick, former NASA chief historian and author of Astrobiology, Discovery, and Societal Impact

“One of today’s most exciting research efforts is focused on detecting the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But are we, in fact, looking for ourselves?”—Seth Shostak, senior astronomer and director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute and author of Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

“One of today’s most exciting research efforts is focused on detecting the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But are we, in fact, looking for ourselves?”—Seth Shostak, senior astronomer and director of the Center for SETI Research at the SETI Institute and author of Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

“Aliens Like Us? is an important contribution to the emerging dialogue between astrobiology and social science communities. It shows some of the deep and powerful assumptions and biases that have shaped SETI to date.”—John Traphagan, author of Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Imagination: SETI at the Intersection of Science, Religion, and Culture

From the Publisher

One of today’s most exciting research efforts is focused on detecting the presence of extraterrestrial intelligence. But are we, in fact, looking for ourselves?

Seth Shostak

This fascinating and thought-provoking volume applies insights from the social sciences and humanities to the search for life beyond Earth, from exoplanets to aliens and UFOs. Aveni brings his unique expertise in the cultures of Earth to illuminate possible cultures in the heavens. The result is an important, readable, and unusual contribution to the literature of astrobiology, illuminating not only possible extraterrestrials, but also the humans who search for and believe in them.

Steven J. Dick

Aliens Like Us? is an important contribution to the emerging dialogue between astrobiology and social science communities. It shows some of the deep and powerful assumptions and biases that have shaped SETI to date.

John Traphagan