Parallel Human Development

Also known as PHD. Not to be confused with the 100th Monkey Effect, which was a myth propagated in late 20th century Earth, PHD is a measurable phenomena with several predictable results;

The 'rip-off or rip-offed?' phenomena

Every inventor suffers two simultaneous paranoias;

1. what they consider to be their inventions have already been invented by someone else and
2. whatever they have invented is likely to be stolen from them and claimed by someone else.

These fears are well founded. PHD makes the likelihood of the first very high - after all, no idea exists in a total vacuum - and that gives rise to suspicion of the second. There are many examples in history of inventions being simultaneously discovered by completely unconnected inventors.

The 'humanform' phenomena

It is galling to realise that all those egg-carton-walled low-budget Sci-Fi films of late 20th century Earth were correct to assume that all aliens are shaped very much like humans. Of course, in those days, when imaginations and budgets were restricted by what was technically possible, directors and producers had little choice but to dress actors in 'futuristic' fabrics and plaster heavy make-up on their faces but even after

The 'NoFo' phenomena

PHD insists that UFOs will only turn up on Earth when we have managed to build similar spacecraft ourselves and travel to other inhabited planets in the galaxy, buzz around frightening the livestock and mess about with farmers sphincters. Until we can figure out how to do that, the theory goes, there will be no such thing as UFOs. Of course, when we can do it, the flying objects that we'll experience on Earth will no longer be unidentified because we'll know what they are. Therefore, there was no such thing as a UFO