1,721,173 research outputs found
Benedict XVI and SETI
No full textThe discovery of other civilizations in the universe would clearly have deep religious implications. Despite this, when I started getting involved in SETI only very few theologians had seriously reflected about the subject, while there was no official position of the Catholic Church as such, whose attitude could be summarized as wait and see". So, one day I wrote to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, asking for his opinion about some theological issues related with extraterrestrial intelligent life, first of all, of course, whether it can exist from a Christian point of view. On 6 June 2014, he sent me a reply letter with some very interesting and open-minded considerations, but, being strictly personal, so far I used it only as a reference point for my reflections, without discussing it in public. However, when at the beginning of 2021 I decided to publish a university textbook about extraterrestrial life and its cultural implications, I asked him to authorize me to include the letter as an appendix, what he did. So, now I finally have the opportunity to present and discuss this historical document, where, for the first time in history, a Pope, although no longer in office, has taken an open position to the possible existence of other intelligent species besides humanity
Philosophical and religious implications of extraterrestrial intelligent life
No full textIf any evidence of extraterrestrial intelligent life were ever discovered, what reactions would it be likely to cause in our society and how should we manage it? An important issue to be addressed in order to answer this question in a correct way is what implications such a discovery would have for our philosophical and religious beliefs. In fact, since a physical contact with an extraterrestrial civilization seems to be excluded, and any evidence should be almost surely indirect (e.g., radio waves), reactions are not likely to be based on military, political or economical considerations, but mainly a) on psychological mechanisms and b) on the fears and/or the hopes raised at the cultural level, which is one of the two fields which could be really affected by such a discovery (the other being science). While the former issue is matter for psychologists and sociologists, the latter will be discussed in this paper, especially focusing (both due to practical and methodological reasons, to be better explained in the paper itself) on the beliefs typical of our Western tradition. Then, some practical recommendations will be sketched, based on the results of this analysis
In-group favouritism and out-group derogation towards national groups: Age-related differences among Italian school children
Full text linkRecently many researchers investigated intergroup attitudes among children, but only few studies analyzed developmental pathways of in-group favouritism and out-group derogation in considerable samples across broad age ranges. The present study aims at examining age-related differences in in-group favouritism and out-group derogation towards national groups among Italian children. Six hundred-seven children (305 males, 302 females), aged 6–12 living in Italy, were asked to answer an individual interview, making various evaluations of the national in-group and of 2 salient national out-groups (German and English). For research purposes 3 measures were used: number of positive traits applied to own and other national groups; number of negative traits applied to own and other national groups; and affect towards own and other national groups. Data analysis indicated that: (a) the effects of in-group favouritism are noticeable from the age of 6 years and persist through time; and (b) out-group derogation is a limited phenomenon that becomes slightly more evident at older ages with reference to the German group, in general negatively perceived among Italian children. These results are discussed in relation to the framework of Social Identity Development Theory
What the Fermi Paradox tells us about the dangers of active SETI
No full textThe debate on whether we should do active SETI, both spontaneously and as a reply to a detected extraterrestrial message, is as old as SETI itself. However, recently it arose strongly again during the debate about the revision of the SETI Post Detection Protocol. The main objection always was, and still is, that, while passive SETI is surely not dangerous for us, active SETI may be. So, I have tried to use the well known "Fermi Paradox" as a tool to evaluate the possible risks of active SETI. My starting hypothesis was that, whatever solution we can give to the Paradox, it always implies as a consequence that active SETI cannot significantly increase the risks we already run (if any) to suffer damages by ETs. However, a careful analysis of all the possible solutions has shown that, while basically the hypothesis has been confirmed, there are at least 2 possible scenarios in which some specific modalities of doing active SETI might be actually dangerous for us
From Maths to Culture Towards an Effective Message
No full textIn a previous paper, presented at the IAC Congress of Toulouse 2001, I suggested for the first time to use analogy to communicate our cultural concept in a SETI communication. In particular, I showed that it is possible to communicate some basic concepts of our moral, religious and philosophical tradition using in an analogical sense some concepts coming from mathematics, science and also common experience. In the present paper I want to go further, discussing in a more detailed way the possible role of mathematics and mathematical logic in the construction of an analogy-based language for interstellar messages with a cultural content. In the next future the same analysis will be done about concepts coming from science and common experience
Adolescents during the time of Covid-19: from nightlife to responsibility
No full textIl contributo si focalizza su alcune implicazioni che la presenza del COVID-19 comporta per lo sviluppo adolescenziale, offrendo una riflessione su cosa significhi per gli adolescenti vivere “a distanza di sicurezza” dai gruppi di coetanei e quali conseguenze possa avere una tale misura sulla loro salute mentale e psicologica; quale impatto possa avere l’incremento d’uso dei cosiddetti social media come conseguenza del distanziamento fisico e delle norme anti-assembramento; come si possa favorire il rispetto delle linee guida sanitarie in circostanze in cui la protezione delle fasce di popolazione più vulnerabili dipenda dalla rigorosa adesione a tali misure
Determinanti psicosociali del processo di integrazione di adolescenti immigrati residenti in Italia
No full textIntroduzione
L’incremento dei flussi migratori comporta l’esigenza di studiare i processi che moderano le relazioni interculturali nel corso dello sviluppo per prevenire conflitti e forme di disadattamento. Da un punto di vista psicologico, l’integrazione e il benessere psicosociale degli immigrati sono influenzati, sin dall’adolescenza, da variabili quali le strategie di acculturazione, l’identità etnica e la discriminazione percepita, oltre che dall’atteggiamento verso l’immigrazione del gruppo maggioritario in termini di tolleranza e ideologia multiculturale (Berry et al., 2006; Musso et al., 2011).
Obiettivi e metodi
Il presente studio si focalizza su adolescenti residenti in Italia, immigrati e autoctoni, allo scopo di: (a) individuare profili comportamentali che descrivano l’esito del processo di integrazione degli immigrati e l’atteggiamento verso l’immigrazione degli autoctoni; (b) analizzare la relazione tra profili individuati e adattamento psicosociale; (c) identificare i fattori che determinano l’atteggiamento verso l’immigrazione degli autoctoni. Hanno partecipato 226 adolescenti di età tra 14 e 18 anni, 114 maghrebini (M=54, F=60) e 112 italiani (M=41, F=71). I dati, raccolti utilizzando un questionario autovalutativo che prevede due forme (immigrati e autoctoni), sono stati analizzati attraverso analisi dei cluster, MANOVA e modelli di equazioni strutturali.
Risultati e Conclusioni
I risultati hanno rivelato che: (a) possono essere identificati due profili sia per gli immigrati (etnico e integrato) che per gli autoctoni (multiculturale e confuso); (b) l’adattamento dei giovani immigrati è correlato all’appartenenza ad un particolare profilo (gli adolescenti nel profilo integrato mostrano livelli più alti di benessere); (c) che l’atteggiamento degli autoctoni verso l’immigrazione è determinato dai loro livelli di benessere e di tolleranza. I dati sono quindi discussi utilizzando una prospettiva socio-evolutiva
Immigrant and Autochthonous Young Adults in Italy: Intercultural Profiles, Psychosocial Adjustment and Mutual Attitudes
No full textIn the last two decades, Italy had to deal with a rapid immigrant population increase. This change in “plural” society is characterized by deep-rooted disagreements that sometimes are even source of conflicts. For these reasons, there is the need to foster the scientific research in the field of intercultural relations in order to overcome conflicts among acculturating groups, especially during a period of economic recession characterized by a renewal in unemployment rates. From this perspective, both psychology of immigration and developmental psychology have begun to contribute to an understanding of those factors underlying the management of intercultural relations during life-course. Specifically, there are three main core questions to be answered in this field: How immigrants acculturate? Whether and how immigrants’ ways of acculturating are related to different levels of adjustment? How the connections between immigrants and autochthonous people affect the quality of intercultural relationships. In our study we focused on young adults living in Italy, both immigrants and autochthonous, investigating: (a) their acculturation profiles and acculturation orientations; (b) the relationships between acculturation profiles/orientations and psychosocial adjustment; (c) the quality of mutual attitudes among immigrants and autochthons. Data came from the Italian section of MIRIPS, an international research project leading by John Berry. Participants consisted of 260 young adults living in Sicily aged from 19 to 30: 130 Maghrebi immigrants and 130 Italian. Data collection involved completion of two structured versions of MIRIPS questionnaire, one for each group. Both versions assessed a wide range of variables, as immigrants’ acculturation attitudes, autochthons’ acculturation expectations, ethnic and national identities and peer contacts, psychological adaptation, immigrants’ socio-cultural competence and perceived discrimination, autochthons’ tolerance, mutual group attitudes. Cluster analysis was carried out to identify young adults’ profiles, both immigrant and autochthonous. In both cases results showed two different profiles: “ethnic” and “confused” for immigrants and “multicultural” and “confused” for autochthonous. A MANOVA suggested that immigrants’ psychological adjustment was related to acculturation profiles. With respect to mutual attitudes a specific theoretical model was tested using EQS 6.1 program, revealing that immigrants’ attitude towards autochthonous people was not affected by perceived discrimination and psychological adjustment, while autochthonous’ attitude towards immigrant people was positively affected by tolerance and psychological adjustment. These findings are discussed in a socio-developmental perspective, considering simultaneously the fact that the Italian immigration phenomenon is relatively new. Moreover, it is shown their impact on the future investigation and the field of educational programs
Family mediation and parenting coordination in the context of conflictual separation or divorce. The perspective of developmental psychology
No full textThis work addresses the issues of co-parenting in the presence of conflictual separation/divorce and of «equal times» of attendance for the minor's mother and father. In line with the most recent relational developmental systems theories, the authors argue the need, before starting a mediation process, to carry out a correct analysis of both the family context and the level of «mediability» of the conflict. Relating to the equal-time placement, the authors discuss that it might represent only one of the possible solutions in favour of minors and should be evaluated in the context of an adequate adaptive balance between the minor's resources and the actual potential of the parenting system
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