4 ms·
I think it's quite probable that even if some entity or group finds linear sequences of symbols unnatural, if they're smart enough to pick it up they're also sm
by andrewflnr 6y ago
I think it's quite probable that even if some entity or group finds linear sequences of symbols unnatural, if they're smart enough to pick it up they're also smart enough to piece together the meaning the hard way, the same way we would if presented with something very foreign. Any technological entity has encountered and mastered lots of foreign systems, including us. Biochemistry, quantum mechanics, heck, even classical mechanics don't come to humans naturally, but we're getting by pretty well anyway.
As for recognizing life, eh, I don't think it's an accident that we're carbon-based blobs of relatively flexible, mobile matter. If there was a more likely template, that's probably what we would be based on instead.
- mFixman 6y agoOur definition of "intelligence" is overfit for humanity. There's no reason why an alien civilization have any interest in linear sequences. The way I see it, any communication system that doesn't make it possible to communicate with starfish won't make it possible to communicate with aliens either.
- Koshkin 6y agoWell, radio communication is serial (and even television signal is encoded as a linear sequence). Looks like serial protocols are the most natural, simple, and reliable of all. And do not forget about the natural numbers!
- giantrobot 6y agoLots of natural phenomena are "serial" just due to entropy. Radioactive decay, friction, even pulsars are going to tell intelligent species that things happen sequentially in the time domain.