Something I rarely see discussed in SETI circles is the question:
should we really have contact with ETI's if they do exist? (If we detect
them, should we respond? Should we be trying to detect them in the first
place?)
Looking at the history of our own species, one can see how enormous the
impact usually is on a civilization when it comes into contact with one
more powerful (e.g., more technologically advanced). Sometimes by design,
sometimes by accident, the results are often catastrophic. And the
difference in advancement between our civilization and one with which we'd
come into contact is likely by simple statistics to be far greater than
anything we've heretore experienced, and the results nearly unimaginable.
In some of the worst-case scenarios, the ETI's could have hostile
intentions -- a case I see no logical or theological reason to exclude,
and one which would quite likely be disastrous (one could argue that
the vast interstellar distances preclude any ETI's coming to bomb us
or eat us or enslave us or whatever, but in any case, information itself
could probably be sent in a harmful way.
I've asked some forefront SETI personalities about these issues, and
thought the answers unsatisfactory. It seems the operating assumption for
most people devoted to SETI is that ETI's will be benevolent and contact
with them beneficial -- that contacting them would be better perhaps than
contacting God.
So my concern remains: every day there are people listening to the
skies for a signal, yet what will happen if someone hears something? Last
I heard, there was no international or national policy covering such an
event, though there was some sort of U.N. position in the works (does
anyone know more about this?) Whatever the case, there is probably not a
lot currently to prevent some scientist or another to take it into his/her
head to send an "obligatory answer" upon a bona fide ETI signal detection.
Depending on the equipment required, it may or may not be possible to
keep anyone from answering, but in principle, I think the human race as a
whole should be given a chance of some sort to decide what to do in the
event of detection -- an event which would forever change the world.
Thoughts?
- Aaron
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