Professor Avi Loeb (Host)

Right.

So I completely disagree with his assessments.

In fact, I have a bet with him.

But I think it's really important for any committee to have a dissenting opinion, someone who plays the devil's advocate.

And the other point is that you could use him as a proxy about the progress that the council is making, because if he changes his tunes, if he concedes to my bet with him, you would know that it's very convincing.

Okay, so that's my way.

If I were to have only people who agree with me or at least share my view that UAPs are real and they could represent non-human made technologies, then there is the risk of building an echo chamber where you convince yourself of something that is not real.

But if I have one member who started on the other side of the argument,

and at the end of the process, he's on my side, then you will know that we found something real.

And that was my intention.

Now, I regret that he made some comments that made people upset, and I hope he will not make them again.

That would be another hope that in the process of conversing with him, I will change the way he expresses himself on the subject.

But all in all,

First, it's very healthy to include people that do not agree with you on a committee.

That is a rarity these days because there is a lot of polarization on any matter, including politics or any.

And then, you know, in the US right now, there are people who do not invite relatives to Thanksgiving just because they disagree with them on political matters.

That's

That's unheard of.

And all of this is fueled by social media and the hate, the toxicity that you find.

The algorithm is encouraging you to engage only with your own tribe and people who agree with you and say exactly the same things.