CBC Massey Lectures 2309 Philosopher Karl Gyekye reading, "What Is Possible" University of Toronto, Canada. René Descartes postulated, “Cogito, ergo sum”. The famous phrase, "I think, therefore I am". Simply consider your own existence to confirm your own existence. With that, one is the centre of the universe with the whole of creation awaiting your personal consideration. All things beyond your sight, can be called into existence as needed. Exactly where we find ourselves at the beginning, god and centre of our own personal universe. Yet, as learned through personal experience, the last thing an infant spouts is Latin verse. Some sixty years ago, the news broke that astronomers from a small Egyptian university had detected the first alien civilization. The first of what would be many both great and small, this one we now call Civilization Isis. Looking back it was an almost surreal moment in the human condition. Every person from leaders to school children seemed to be holding their breath. Waiting for some kind of meaning to unfold. I knew that our world would never be the same. Though I didn't appreciate how, I got the future completely wrong. Except for the part about an impending invasion. I was right, it didn't happen. I expected, as scientists and pundits espoused, an in rush of new, unheard of sciences and revolutionary technologies. The sudden access to knowledge of civilizations millions of years greater than are own. Some argued that this was a type of invasion.1 But if the new knowledge was an invasion, it hasn't advanced beyond its beachhead. Yes, we learned how to craft exotic materials from raw energy. No, creating that energy out of, well, nothing eludes us. For myself, I quested to learn any and everything I could about a concept now known as 'tooling'.2 The manipulation of time to acquire a desired outcome - sic aiunt.3 I've learned a lot since then, but neither I nor any human has succeeded with tooling at any scale. It is one thing to know the truth, it's another thing to make it do your bidding. Still, we learned and continue to learn what is possible. The McLaughlin Planetarium hosted the first holographic depictions of the world we call Planet Isis. I eagerly attended many. Popular culture may have worn out the word "inconceivable", but how else to describe the 'forests'? Cities of 'trees' two kilometres high, budding berry shaped communes, populated with as many as five thousand members. I'm told that the young and more athletic types travel from sphere to sphere by climbing the exterior superstructures - imagine if we had tails. Like myself, audience members were humbled by the ethereal projections of these artifices. And that was just one world. None of us would boast of human achievement with the same hubris again. Today, we call ourselves, "Civilization Humanity". We name most other civilizations after the constellations in which they seem to reside, but we're apart from all that. Admittedly, there is nothing presumptive about making our own labels, in the Community there are many names for a thing. On Earth, do crows speak the word 'human'? No, they sing a two verse song when they bother to trill about us. But this self designation is a symptom of our claim over the centre. What is surprising is that, beyond two exceptions, this claim is common in the Community. What is possible is that there is more commonality than expected. Let's begin with arrogance... 1Dr. Meing Zheng (2195-2301) was the first academic leader to voice concerns of the social impact of alien sciences. Though he never used the term 'invasion' his supporters continue to do so. 2This got me into scuffles with authorities, some political and religious groups were and are suspicious of what tooling represents. 3The Latin expression sic aiunt was introduced into our common vocabulary because of non-demonstrable alien concepts such as tooling.