The Human Race Should Pursue A Policy Of Active Seti

As debates rise over whether the human race should pursue a policy of active SETI, perhaps the discussion should spend some time deciding what messages humans should send into space. After all, the messages sent under a policy of active SETI would largely determine the results of the policy. The extreme importance of the content of the messages sent into space becomes clear when one considers how organisms on earth respond to different initial signals. For instance, a human, when it sees a bee near, can either stand still, and let the bee go on its way (which would probably work), or the human can try and wave the bee away (which would most likely result in the bee stinging the human). In this case, the initial actions of the human result in two drastically different results. From this example, one can see how, before deciding if the earth should pursue active SETI, one must first understand what messages humans would send into space under a program of active SETI. To determine what the messages should contain, one must consider the audience. First, one must realize that if said extraterrestrials are as technologically advanced as humans, then they may have already noticed the waves humans have accidentally leaked into space (Shostak). If this type of extraterrestrial civilization exists, there are two main possibilities as to how they will react to a more direct form of advancement from the earth. The first option: the other civilization will ignore a direct advancementShow MoreRelatedIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 PagesRoger Blench Roger Blench Mallam Dendo 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/ Fax. 0044-(0)1223-560687 Mobile worldwide (00-44)-(0)7967-696804 E-mail R.Blench@odi.org.uk http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm To whom all correspondence should be addressed. This printout: November 16, 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations: ................................................................................................................................................. 2 Editor’s Preface