I really, really liked the alien simulation that took place in class on Thursday. I thought that it was a fascinating and hands-on way to examine the idea of constructivism in a way that is accessible to everyone.
For me, a lot of the decisions made about how to prepare for the aliens rested on the idea of constructivism. Since constructivism involves the creation and application of identities for states and institutions, the process of answering an incoming alien vessel rested on how America’s identity perceived the aliens’ identity. If the decision-makers saw the aliens as peaceful and diplomatic, the hope is that the creatures would not feel threatened. However, one does not want to be without defenses in case something happened.
Gunperi mentioned at the end of the class that no one had discussed the possibility that the shuttle coming down to Earth was empty, or filled with things that were not aliens. I think that this is a very interesting possibility. We tended to make our decisions in class partly because of all of the alien invasion movies we had seen. The shuttle being empty would have really confused us, and it would have sent the world into a panic, maybe more so than if the shuttle had been filled with little green martians. I think the lack of knowledge of what was manning the shuttle and, foremost, why it had come to Earth, would have driven everyone crazy with curiosity and fear. We would have been forced to reevaluate the past decisions and possibly keep the world’s defenses on very high alert.
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