Scientists in the US are Urged to Seek Contact with Aliens

Tired of bad news? Don't hit yourself over the head any longer! There is hope. Many have become interested in making contact but few if any know what the outcome might be. I'm assuming we'll either make friends and enslave them after they trust us or many will finally get what they've been asking for...


BYE BYE HUMANS!!!

Scientists in US are urged to seek contact with aliens

The Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence institute attended the latest meeting in San Jose with many esteemed scientists from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The SETI's director, Dr Seth Shostak, made a strong case to the attendees that "it was now time to step up the search" for intelligent life. It's appears he was successful.

Scientists at a US conference have said it is time to try actively to contact intelligent life on other worlds.

It might surprise people that SETI's radio telescopes are on "listen only" mode and have actually never sent a message into space besides conducting a few demonstration tests. This time, they are looking to formulate a plan to send not only a message, but one that wont get our asses kicked if received in the wrong way.

"A lot of people are against active Seti because it is dangerous. It is like shouting in the jungle. You don't know what is out there; you better not do it. If you incite the aliens to obliterate the planet, you wouldn't want that on your tombstone, right?"

I certainly wouldn't, but who cares when the planet explodes! This has got to be one of the most dangerous things we have done as a species, and the response we may get would change the course of history in a way it hasn't changed for a very long time.

Leading astronomers, anthropologists and social scientists will gather at his institute after the AAAS meeting for a symposium to flesh out plans for a proposal for active Seti to put to the public and politicians.

This gives me faith that someone is actually taking the idea seriously. I just hope they've got the right people for the job. While many would love to attempt contact, there are some who don't think it's a good idea. David Brin, a science fiction writer invited to speak at the AAAS meeting, specifically opposes the plan.

"Historians will tell you that first contact between industrial civilization and indigenous people does not go well," he told me.
Mr Brin believes that those in favor of active Seti have been "railroading the public into sending a message without a wide and detailed discussion of what the cultural impact might be".

Here's the fun part!

Also on the agenda at the active Seti symposium is that if we are to send a message to ET - what should it be?

I would love to hear what ATS can come up with! Some involved in the discussion believe we should send a clean and sanitized account of ourselves, leaving out the parts of history we aren't proud of. Dr. Shovostak thinks we should just be ourselves.

"My personal preference is to send the internet - send it all because if you send a lot of information then there's some chance that they'll work it out".

For the sake of mankind, I hope they do.

a reply to: eisegesis

The only problem we'd have with sending out any kind of message into space is that unless we told them we're a tribal like, constantly warring peoples - they'd simply arrive, see we lied and either A kill us all or B leave.

Though I have had personal encounters with UFO's and if they ARE alien, I'm not saying the ones I saw are, but I hope to never ever see them again.

One proposal I read about was to send out the rules of criket, in the hope that an alien species would pick it up and appreciate that we are a learned being. The guy to suggest it was being serious and said there was no point of showing the chemical make up of water or hydrogen, because they would already know them.

I suppose it makes some sense, but how many people outside of the commonwealth, know about the glorious game of cricket?

Strange.

The best place for them to start is at the Mexican boarder, the Scientists may have to learn Spanish though.

originally posted by: rickymouse
The best place for them to start is at the Mexican boarder, the Scientists may have to learn Spanish though.

Or they could just attach messages to their pilfered tax refunds.

a reply to: eisegesis

I love the way you presented that. That is a grade-A post. All you need to make it perfect is an X-Files theme sound-over to listen to while you read it all.

I think sending the internet would be the simplest, most comprehensive and honest package of information possible. It gives a complete and uncensored snapshot of the world. As brutally honest as you can get.........from the diamonds to the skidmarks of the world. It would show anyone else out there that we're not afraid to pull down our knickers for the sake of meeting and possibly learning from a race of...........whatever out there in space somewhere.

Of course this would have to be done by people who are humble and want to learn, so politicians are disqualified.

Ask for help finding another planet so we can bugger up another one ?

They should use the universal language of mathematics to make first contact.
Something like this for example,

you want to send a message? What should i say lol

Wow some of those quotes were the exact same thing i said about contacting random E.T. Bravo.

Tho this does not apply to E.T that are already here.

Send them the internet!?!? Oh dear, NO! I will NOT have my FB pics go intergalactic!

Great post! Wonderfully laid out, so thank you for a fun read.

Seriously though, humanity is a bit of a mess, no? We don't even fully agree that we ARE simply "humanity." A large percentage of folks, it seems to me, want to divide humanity into little boxes of nationhood, religion, skin color, economic status, etc. and claim certain groups are inherently better than other groups and, as if that wasn't enough, we go to war over these claims. We fight over whether or not to take care of our own (humanity) or leave "unworthy ones" to starve and die. We be crazy!!!

What alien people is going to want to interact with us knowing what xenophobic newbies we are in our Civilization Making Process.

Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic.

If we really are sending a message, I hope it does include our mathematical understanding of the Golden Mean (as I'm sure they would have noticed that, too) and how it is expressed on our world. Add music, art, dance and culture from around the world. Let them know our good sides, too...

peace,
AB

I dont doubt that aliens already know we are here, have tried in the past to make contact and most likely have a few agreements with world governments. This we are looking for alien life is just to keep the public entertained in my opinion.

originally posted by: weirdguy
They should use the universal language of mathematics to make first contact.
Something like this for example,

Oh! I see what you did there.

That's because I'm an intellectually developed (sort of) mammal.
Might not work on reptiles, or floral life forms....

And yet, one person who has established a reputation for matters scientific has come out against any contact - from the Cambridge Times, Feb. 12, 2015... Stephen Hawking warns that attempting to contact aliens could invite disaster


Obviously, your reaction to this is based on your opinion of Stephen Hawking as a scientist, public figure or shill...depending. I used to be a terrific Hawking fan, but his attitudes lately have given me pause upon occasion.

And in this case, I fail to see what aliens can do to us that we are not more than capable of doing to ourselves already. Obliterated is obliterated, whether from biological, nuclear, climactic, geological, or Hulk level Gamma Radiation - gone is gone. Since the odds are exactly 50 50 with regard to alien intentions toward Earth (they will either be hostile, or friendly...what other choices are there for actual contact?), I choose to be on the side that says friendly. Let them know where we are by sending them the things that make us unique. Send them their own selfie. Upload our endless files of hubble shots, moon crater maps, etc. The other stuff can come later, but let's get them into the neighborhood first, by letting them know we know they are out there - and we are looking for them. The inter-galactic equivalent of orphans posting their birth info on Facebook, looking for someone to recognize them.

I think its the wrong time to be sending beacon signals. I think we should wait until we are a space fairing race. There are two reasons....

First, any other race that would be able to make their way here now would be far more advanced than us and we all know how that has always panned out. If we waited to advertise our location until we were a space fairing race at least there's a small chance we would be on par technically with them.

Second, if we were space fairing we would have the ability to disperse and evade being conquered/destroyed.

There is a novel called Signal To Noise which deals with the idea of contacting an alien race. A scientist figures out how to listen in on intergalactic communications and then contacts an alien who keeps asking where Earth is. Information is the only real commodity left since space fairing races can just go mining raw materials anywhere themselves. Too late the scientist finds out that aliens would rather just rape a civilisation for its collective knowledge instead of trade information legitimately and Earth is destroyed. Yup, everyone dies.

My fellow earthly humans are under the impression that aliens are on the same mental playing field as us here on earth.

a reply to: cronemel

Stephen Hawking is one hell of a numbers man, and knows his astrophysics, but I fear that too many people take heed of his word on matters beyond the narrow scope of his PHD.

I think the fellow is amazing, but I only really pay attention when he is talking physics. When he is talking xenopsychology, if I will be permitted a small foray into sci-fi vernacular, I pay no attention what so ever, for in that field, he is precisely as prone to error as the rest of us.

For the out there alien types, they already got the Honeymooners from us decades ago.

a reply to: eisegesis

We should send the message to ETs that Earth is a gorgeous planet full of amazing biological complexity, but that many of our human social institutions have a type of arrested development and disconnection from the natural order of life on Earth that it has become a threat to all life on the planet - and that we very seriously need for the aliens to violate their prime directive and help us out technologically. This would include advanced science and mathematics for new energy technologies and ways of cleaning up radiation, pollution and overpopulation. Dealing with the latter issue would include helping us find and establish other places to live, either off-planet or in something akin to "biodomes" on Earth, or for sorting out the problematic and useless from the promising and useful in the most alien-humane way that they see fit.