Profile: Doc Garcia

Personal background
I am 48 yrs old; born near Warrington, England; am married with 4 grown kids, ranging in age from 20 to 27 years old, and 1 grandson, 5 years old; a former Navy Hospital Corpsman during the Vietnam War; a retired consultant Health Educator for social service agencies; a former firefighter/rescue tech. 2/ EMT 2 for emergency services in Alaska; and am currrently a volunteer for the American Red Cross. I received a B/A in Health Education and a Minor in Computer Science from the University of South Florida. While I am no Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawkins; I was inspired by them to reassert my efforts to achieve some level of success in both math and hard science by taking classes in them some years after I had graduated from college. I just had to prove to myself I wasn't as dumb as I'd felt I was when I first had to take them in school. I am now fairly proficient enough to understand the concepts they cover to be able to discuss them intelligently with others. I am an avid reader of such scientific periodicals as Science (even when the math may tend to be a tad over my head), Scientific American and Astronomy. I read a variety of books, whether fiction or non-fiction. I am an amatuer astronomer (sorry no great discoveries as yet) and a student of military history and the evolution of the weapons of war. I have been interested in the SETI program from its inception and only regret that some of our more visionary scientist/authors could not or will not live to see a time when humanity finally does journey away from the cradle of earth to become, in a sense, ETs ourselves visiting and maybe colonizing other worlds. Oh for those days when I stayed up all night and sat in awe as I saw our astronauts walk on the moon.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
1) I certainly hope extraterrestial life exist as it would be a pretty lonely universe if there weren't any. I feel that some form of robotic probe will be the source for that proof of life other than on our planet. Life is much more prolific and varied than we could ever have imagined. The sheer knowledge of the existance of any form of life would give us hope that we really may not be alone. The obvious danger of such a discovery would be a crisis of faith that could occur should occur. Our religions are pretty grounded on the concept that we are G_d(s)'s only children.

2) Yes. I think the message should be similar to what we sent out on the Voyager spacecraft. Remembering to include not only our commendable achievements; but also some our failures as humanity has grown. We should be honest. Show ourselves as we truly are; a species that although not perfect is continually striving to improve itself. Of course we should also include some examples of the natual beauty of Earth with diverse flora and fauna.

3) I am an incurable optimist; so I hang on to the hope that I or someone else will be the first to get that real and confirmable "WOW" signal. Don't stop. The universe is a very large neighborhood. Just keep working to improve the program to make it more efficient at carrying out its mission goal.
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