Taking Aliens Seriously - Guest: Sean Esbjorn-Hargens, Institute of Exo Studies

Is there intelligent life beyond Earth? Have alien beings contacted us? What do we make of the thousands of testimonials of human-alien contact, including from scientists, diplomats and astronauts? Yet … where’s the proof? And if there is proof, why is alien contact not the biggest story of the millennia? “It is arguably the most intellectually credible topic on the planet with the most cultural taboo surrounding it.” So says my guest, Sean Esbjorn-Hargens. Many of you know Sean as a leader in the integral community, as producer of three hugely successful Integral Theory Conferences, a respected consultant (founder of MetaIntegral) and author (Metatheory for the 21st Century). Well, it turns out there is another side to Sean. Here’s how he describes it: “For over a decade I’ve been a closeted UFO/ET geek – reading 100s of books and watching 1000s of hours of videos (interviews, documentaries, movies) – all in an attempt to make sense of my own experiences and intuitions around this fascinating and confusing topic. If there is ever a place where multiple perspectives run amuck, bumping into each other and in general creating chaos, it is around aliens and the craft they pilot. Over the last few years, I’ve begun to talk with ‘integralists’ about these topics and I’ve been continually surprised to discover many of them have had their own powerful and evocative experiences with UFOs, ETs, and paranormal realities.” Sean is throwing himself fully into the arena. This year he founded the Institute for Exo Studies (IES), and this fall he debuts the Exo Studies Master Course, a three-month online course “exploring the psychological, sociological, and scientific implications of living in a multidimensional multiverse.” I’ve never met an alien (that I know of) but I jumped at the chance to talk about them with someone whose intelligence and judgment I respect. As I expected, I found our conversation to be quite mind-expanding. I hope you do as well!