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I think SETI is horribly misguided. It may be there are other civilizations, but that they are smart enough to avoid each other. I posit that the only aliens w
by ericb 15y ago
I think SETI is horribly misguided. It may be there are other civilizations, but that they are smart enough to avoid each other.
I posit that the only aliens we want to meet are ones that are not interested in us. Any interest, given the likely difference in technological levels, is unlikely to end well for us. The book Guns, Germs, and Steel painted a not-so-rosy picture of the meetings of societies at even small differences of technological advances. These differences are likely to be magnified for races without a common ancestral history and similar starting point in time.
The wishful thinking of people hoping to meet alien civilizations includes assumptions like:
* Alien civilization began just like ours.
* Time passed.
* ????????
* Magically altruistic alien society arises.
If this is true, great. But do I want to bet humanity on it? Hell no.
- nhaehnle 15y agoI don't want to discuss whether your pessimistic outlook is more realistic than an optimistic outlook. However, I'd like to point out that SETI isn't misguided in any case. Heck, if your pessimistic outlook is correct, SETI is even more important, because it might provide the only early warning of an incoming invasion. That may not help in the end, but it's better than nothing.
- ericb 15y agoI could be wrong on this point, but isn't the underlying assumption with SETI that when we listen that we will also respond?
- nhaehnle 15y agoWell, it's called Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, not Communication with Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. At least right now they aren't sending anything, and I'm sure there will be plenty of time to discuss this issue before and if they ever find anything. I agree with you that it makes sense to be careful. Sending high-powered directed radio signals before we really know what we're dealing with does sound like a bad idea.