Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I received EXTRATERRESTRIAL early this afternoon, and finished it this evening. Two hundred mind-blowing pages. At least one reviewer before me gave it one star, saying he gave up after a single chapter because Avi Loeb didn't discuss the science. FFS, there ought to be a hard rule about not being able to leave reviews unless you actually finish the book. Loeb begins with his philosophical drive for asking the big questions about the nature of the universe. He includes relevant personal history, yet ultimately expounds upon extremely specific technical reasons—not merely insubstantial hypotheses—why he holds that 1I/2017 U1 is the product of extraterrestrial intelligence. By the end, his personal history becomes important, contributing to the philosophical and scientific defense of his position. Serious declarations deserve serious reading, whether they meet our first-chapter expectations or not. They always have. Stick with Loeb and give his words due consideration. His argument is deeply compelling, and his explanations for 1I/2017 U1's anomalies are much stronger than many of the arguments for 1I/2017 U1 being a naturally occurring object. I lean toward believing Loeb, but whether he's correct or not, his deeper premise holds even greater weight: We as a civilization are doing a poor job of getting out of our tribal, myopic, destructive patterns, and a poorer job of collectively considering the bigger questions and possibilities in our own lives and cosmos. 1I/2017 U1 may have been a very recent, if subtle, wakeup call for humanity. Let's heed it, work together, and look more to the stars.