| Personal background |
|---|
| I am a BS degree holder with a major in CIS. I now work as a computer consultant. |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
|---|
Do I think that extraterrestrial life exists? Absolutely. The possibility that we are the only life forms in the entire universe is too remote to take seriously. Whether humans ever find other life is uncertain. Perhaps we are looking for it incorrectly. Obviously there are benefits and dangers of finding E.T., but the curiosity of humans is too great to hold back. There are normally benefits and dangers of bringing two different worlds together. The “discovery†and then crossing of humans across the Atlantic to the New World is one such example. Humans were able to learn many new things and to expand and create new life by coming to America, and on the other hand, we also destroyed humans through bloodshed and by unwittingly spreading disease.
Should we transmit a beacon? It is somewhat ironic to ask that question, when we, here at SETI are looking for just such a beacon. If we are questioning whether or not to send a beacon, other life-forms may have also had this discussion and decided against it. Therefore, this project’s search would be futile. There is only a limited amount of information that we can send without first knowing how other life-forms can communicate. After all, they may not have a DVD-ROM or an MP3 player :). Of course we can communicate somewhat via systematic light and sound waves, but I think it would be better to find a little more information about them before supplying information about us, which could have certain drawbacks in the future. I would suggest a beacon, which would show that we are looking for other life and that we are attempting to communicate, but not to supply any other information.
I run SETI@Home in hopes of aiding the search for E.T., of course. Whether or not we will find anything this way remains to be seen. I guess the chances are about 50-50%. True the chances that at least one other life-form has decided to send out a beacon is pretty great, but we may not have the power to look far enough. |
| Your feedback on this profile |
|---|
| Recommend this profile for User of the Day: |
I like this profile |
| Alert administrators to an offensive profile: |
I do not like this profile |
|
| Account data |
View |
| Team |
None |
|
