Profile: Ma Wei Tao

Personal background
Lets see... Where to start?

I was born in Chaves, Portugal but grew up in the United States. I'm 27. I have a strong interest in Chinese culture. For that reason I lived in Taiwan almost 2 and a half years. It was there that I met my wife, an awesome girl. I'm a graphic designer. But my interests are varied. My hobbies include game design, illustration, biking, music. I also have a strong interest in science and technology.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
I'm convinced there are other beings living out there in the universe, but unfortunately, I dont think it will be easy finding them.

It seems that the universe works in a particular way as to ensure that humans learn about things in small bits. I think humanity will be exposed to extraterrestrial life in small doses. First as bacterial-life, then plants, followed by animals, and so on. Perhaps the first discovery of intelligent life will be an archeological find on another planet. Unfortunately, advancements in space exploration have progressed painfully slow. I dont really see why we couldn't be much further along than we are now.

If, by chance, we did have a sudden encounter with intelligent life in the near future it would come in one of two ways. Either the discovery of a signal, or actual contact. If a signal were discovered and confirmed to be of extraterrestrial origin I dont see there much impact on society. Unfortunately, it wouldnt become much more than an interesting conversation piece. And there would always be people ready to question the true source of that signal. People on the whole seem to be rather jaded, and more wrapped up in personal lives and the accumulation of material things. The contents of that message, however, may be of some significance.

If first contact involved direct interaction with an alien being, thats a whole other story. I think society has been exposed enough to the notion of extraterrestrials that I wouldnt expect much panic. Especially if contact were made in an organized manner.

Some people tend to think that meeting aliens somehow would give us profound insight into our existence. I dont see why that has to be the case. They're people like us, travelling the universe. Technology does not necessarily equal profound comprehension of the world around us.

Now, if those guys are belligerent then we're in trouble.
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