I am 37 years old (and getting older) and grew up loving science fiction. My first computer was a commedore "vic 20". I think SETI is an importiant thing because it lets the average person contribute for the greater good. I will never have the education needed to be on the cutting edge of researce, but I can still help.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
Too bad we cant trade some of the seti credits for stuff tee-shirts-pens-stuff from area 51)
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.