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| Personal background |
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| My name is Ed. I am 18 years old, and my interests include break dancing, martial arts & alien hunting. |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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1. Intelligent, extraterrestrial life almost certainly exists. To assume that we're the only living creatures, in what appears to be an infinite universe, seems very unlikely indeed. It's almost as laughable as those luddites who remain convinced that the earth is flat (and worryingly there are quite a few of them). In terms of first contact, probability suggests that there's just as much chance of entities from outside of this planet discovering us first, as there is a chance of us discovering them. I would dearly love it to happen in my lifetime, but I fear we're some way off in terms of our technological capabilities, the limits of space travel (the furthest man has ever travelled from Earth is only 400k km, and that was nearly 50 years ago), as well as our relatively scant knowledge of the universe we reside in.
2. In the meantime, we should certainly consider transmitting some sort of beacon for others to find. As you see in so many of the movies, and similar to 1977's 'Voyager Golden Record', the signal should contain pertinent information about our planet, so any potential visitors know what they're letting themselves in for. Most importantly, to know that we're a friendly & welcoming species (most of the time).
3. I signed up to SETI@home in 2003, well over a decade ago as I write this. I did so because I strongly believe 'we are not alone' (excuse the well-worn cliché), and am genuinely fascinated to know what life lies beyond our strange little planet. I find the notion of us being an infinitesimal speck in an incomprehensibly vast expanse of nothingness...a place that no one really knows much about, how big it is, what's in it, where it ends, how it ends, how it all got to be there in the first place, etc...totally & utterly intriguing, yet baffling, scary, and exciting, all at the same time, plus a whole load of other emotions that actually makes it quite hard to describe what it really feels like. It's the ultimate set of questions that no one has yet been able to answer.
4. The discovery of intelligent life outside of Planet Earth would without doubt be the greatest & most significant discovery since mankind's conception. It would be so unbelievably exciting, and I can't quite imagine how it would all unfold. So many films have dramatised this in hundreds of different ways, that it's hard not to be influenced by the images we've been fed. I would like to think it'll be nothing like any of the stuff we've seen - it'll be totally unique & extraordinary - and I just pray it happens in the open, for everyone to see & be a part of, and not something that gets hidden away, covered-up by Govts, or enjoyed by a few.
5. The SETI project is a truly noble one, and I'm so glad that Frank Drake & Carl Sagan had the foresight & determination to make it what it is today, with so many people supporting & participating in it, each helping to bring us that much closer to that moment of discovery. It's important on so many levels, but especially if the human race is to understand more about its origins, and what else is 'out there' other than just us. My gut feel is that the answer to this question will probably come around (or close to) the point that we make contact with ET.
The crying shame is that governments aren't giving enough funding, support & recognition for what is a unbelievably important project. |
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