S.E.T.I.
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program founded by Carl Sagan is a modern secular religion (q.v.) based around a large network of radio dishes and computers.
It has been noted elsewhere that we earthlings are either alone in the universe, or not, and that either implication is of monumental significance.
Supporters and advocates of the SETI program contend that we are probably not alone in the universe given the fact that billions of systems similar to the one that produced us are floating around in the sky above us. Not a wholly unreasonable assumption.
They also contend that such life forms might possibly be sentient, might possibly be civilized, might possibly be technologically advanced, might possibly have invented radios in the process of becoming technologically advanced, might possible make trips to the mall on Saturdays to visit Radio Shack, and possibly managed to reach this point at just about exactly the same time it was accomplished on our planet (within the last hundred thousand years or so on a scale of about 15 billion), and that it might just be possible to have a listen and figure out if any of this is actually the case.
A lot of money and time gets spent on this well intentioned effort, and it would seem cynical to point out to a nice, humanistic stargazer that sentience on our own planet is somewhat in question, and seems to be something of an evoloutionary fluke in any event.
On the other hand, it would be a dreadful shame if some extra-terrestrial civilization was out there waiting to be discovered, and we were too obstinate to pay it any attention. This was the thesis of Carl Sagan's movie Contact, and the alien civilization in his movie was represented as wise and kind and mysterious and powerful, which is probably a pipe dream if human history is any indication. Wouldn't it be an irony if we were in fact inviting contact with a species even remotely as warlike as we ourselves tend to be.
An earlier endeavour by Carl Sagan had to do with one of the Voyageur probes, and it involved sending a vinyl recording of the word 'hello' spoken in 70-some terran languages along with the probe. Perhaps one day humanity shall encounter a probe of alien origin with a scratched disc on it, and if we do, we can develop a device to read the scratched disc, and listen to the ensuing minute of horrendous screeching and gargling noises that issue from it.
It seems the SETI program is a mostly harmless and worthwhile endeavour, and if nothing else it demonstrates to the world that even secular humanists have dreams, hopes, and a need to seek meaning in the larger framework of the cosmos. True, the odd naysayer might point out that it is somewhat ludicrous to be pointing at the heavens in a search for meaning when we have so many miserable starving beings right here on earth who would profit much more by our attention than any alien civilization might hope to. Then again, very few feats of notable daring would grace human history if the stick-in-the-muds always had their way. There are even reasonable ways of justifying the endeavour to those concerned about the plight of mankind; Sagan, for example, seemed to have the notion that discovery of other civilizations might abate much of the need for conflict here on Earth, a view shared by Ronald Reagan.
You might encounter the odd fellow who insists that, not only does life exist on other planets, but in fact a spacefaring sentient race is involved in guiding humanity's evolution as a species, and that people all over the world are being abducted and having things inserted into their nether orifices, and that spaceships are crashing into earth on a semi regular basis, and that earth's governments are involved in covering all this information up to prevent mass panic. Such people generally have very little to do with SETI, and most ardent SETI supporters don't invite or appreciate any comparison.
It has been noted elsewhere that we earthlings are either alone in the universe, or not, and that either implication is of monumental significance.
Supporters and advocates of the SETI program contend that we are probably not alone in the universe given the fact that billions of systems similar to the one that produced us are floating around in the sky above us. Not a wholly unreasonable assumption.
They also contend that such life forms might possibly be sentient, might possibly be civilized, might possibly be technologically advanced, might possibly have invented radios in the process of becoming technologically advanced, might possible make trips to the mall on Saturdays to visit Radio Shack, and possibly managed to reach this point at just about exactly the same time it was accomplished on our planet (within the last hundred thousand years or so on a scale of about 15 billion), and that it might just be possible to have a listen and figure out if any of this is actually the case.
A lot of money and time gets spent on this well intentioned effort, and it would seem cynical to point out to a nice, humanistic stargazer that sentience on our own planet is somewhat in question, and seems to be something of an evoloutionary fluke in any event.
On the other hand, it would be a dreadful shame if some extra-terrestrial civilization was out there waiting to be discovered, and we were too obstinate to pay it any attention. This was the thesis of Carl Sagan's movie Contact, and the alien civilization in his movie was represented as wise and kind and mysterious and powerful, which is probably a pipe dream if human history is any indication. Wouldn't it be an irony if we were in fact inviting contact with a species even remotely as warlike as we ourselves tend to be.
An earlier endeavour by Carl Sagan had to do with one of the Voyageur probes, and it involved sending a vinyl recording of the word 'hello' spoken in 70-some terran languages along with the probe. Perhaps one day humanity shall encounter a probe of alien origin with a scratched disc on it, and if we do, we can develop a device to read the scratched disc, and listen to the ensuing minute of horrendous screeching and gargling noises that issue from it.
It seems the SETI program is a mostly harmless and worthwhile endeavour, and if nothing else it demonstrates to the world that even secular humanists have dreams, hopes, and a need to seek meaning in the larger framework of the cosmos. True, the odd naysayer might point out that it is somewhat ludicrous to be pointing at the heavens in a search for meaning when we have so many miserable starving beings right here on earth who would profit much more by our attention than any alien civilization might hope to. Then again, very few feats of notable daring would grace human history if the stick-in-the-muds always had their way. There are even reasonable ways of justifying the endeavour to those concerned about the plight of mankind; Sagan, for example, seemed to have the notion that discovery of other civilizations might abate much of the need for conflict here on Earth, a view shared by Ronald Reagan.
You might encounter the odd fellow who insists that, not only does life exist on other planets, but in fact a spacefaring sentient race is involved in guiding humanity's evolution as a species, and that people all over the world are being abducted and having things inserted into their nether orifices, and that spaceships are crashing into earth on a semi regular basis, and that earth's governments are involved in covering all this information up to prevent mass panic. Such people generally have very little to do with SETI, and most ardent SETI supporters don't invite or appreciate any comparison.
