The Extraterrestrial Life debate in different cultures

TL;DR

This paper explores the cultural differences in the debate about extraterrestrial life, highlighting the Western-centric nature of this discussion and analyzing the concept of decentration across cultures.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of how different cultures approach the question of extraterrestrial life and introduces the concept of decentration to explain cultural disparities.

Findings

Western literature predominantly raises the extraterrestrial life question

The notion of decentration varies across cultures and influences the debate

Cultural factors shape the rational discourse on extraterrestrial life

Abstract

Surprisingly, the question "Is there Life in the Universe outside Earth?" has been raised, in rational terms, almost only in the western literature throughout the ages. In a first part I justify this statement. Then I try to develop an explanation of this fact by analyzing the different aspects of the notion of decentration.