| Personal background |
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I grew up in Bedord, Ohio, a small town now part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. I've had virtually no training in science, a deficiency I intend to remedy upon retirement (who knows when that will be?). My interest in space came from the first voluntary reading I can remember -- pulp fiction copies of Astounding Science Fiction and Galaxy -- books I read under the covers by flashlight as a kid. That interest led me to my SETI participation, and, further, to interest in quantum physics. I was a businss major in college, and read the pop physics books voraciously, assuming that some small, but increasing percentage will stick and make rational sense (but then, of course, one reads that the concepts of quantum physics, string theory, and the like require total suspension of belief of that which we supposedly "know" about how things work.
I've got a wonderful wife who supports my interests, three great kids, one grandchild. |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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It would be arrogant to believe extraterrestrial life doesn't exist. We're just at the beginning of these explorations, so it's hard to project when or how we'll discover it. It's possible, of course, extraterrestrial life will discover us.
Regarding benefits and dangers of such a discovery, the benefits, for me, all come down to the answer climbers give to why they climb mountains -- "because they're there."
I just read an interesting history of the space program ("This New Ocean," William E. Burrows), which concluded with the thought that some 6 or 7 billion years from now, our Earth will be consumer by our Sun as it evolves into a red giant. When that occurs, we'd hope that the inhabitants have a way to leave, the direction of which is rooted in our space program. Because if we don't, "Not striking out for other worlds, not spreading the seeds, would mean that those tortured souls at the end of the line would have to accept that their civilization willingly abandoned nature and ultimated counted for absolutely nothing...They would agonize over the fact that, where the universe was concerned, they never happened."
So, this exploration is one step in the journey that will and must lead us "out there," because it's there, and because we, as a race, have much to offer the universe, as it no doubt has much to offer us.
Dangers? Sure, yet I'd hope people feel about the unknown like I do -- it's much more interesting to go around the next curve in the road than to know the answers in advance, than to not seek them.
A final thanks to the people at the SETI project for starting it, for showing that millions can collaborate, and, perhaps to demonstrate new ways we as a race can work together to solve problems, and thanks to all who participate in it. For some of us, it may be as close to going into space ourselves that we can get. |
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