Comments on: Me in USA Today on SETI

By: Randall Parker

Randall Parker — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:27:31 +0000

There are a lot of possibilities to explain this state of affairs other than the absence of life out there. Another possibility: Some civilizations are very hostile and other civilizations have learned to hide from the hostile civilizations.

The hostile civilizations could be quiet because they assume other intelligent species are just like them: dangerous and aggressive.

Could be we are being watched by some less hostile civilizations that are waiting to decide which category to put us in. Until we develop AI and genetically engineer offspring our future direction is unclear.

By: Tim Tyler

Tim Tyler — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:50:03 +0000

The Milky Way doesn’t seem to be a Kardashev Type III civilization composed of Matrioshka Brains – or we would know about it!

Other galaxies are still fair game, though. Most of them are very distant. We have very little idea about what the atoms over there are being used for. Again, I think circular polarization will probably be the most obvious signature.

“High Circular Polarization in the Star Forming Region NGC 6334: Implications”

– http://www.aspbooks.org/a/volumes/article_details/?paper_id=20314

By: Tim Tyler

Tim Tyler — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:42:45 +0000

We’ll probably be able to figure out which galaxies have already become infected – once we have a clearer idea about what we are looking for.

Then the question will be whether they have a message to broadcast, or not.

By: jonathan

jonathan — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:27:50 +0000

I’m curious why so many creative ideas about quiet, hiding, etc. when basic probability theory suggests that even though there may be billions of advanced civilizations the odds are low any would be anywhere near enough to us to be ‘visible’? We’re out on an arm of a spiral galaxy, literally one of perhaps trillions of galaxies. Let’s assume that SETI operates for 100 years without finding anything. That says we can then define some form of possible density function for intelligent civilization (based on failure to find). The function would be a better guess than we can do now. Again, it’s probability not anything else.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:22:46 +0000

I think if aliens were interested in communicating they would probably use the hydrogen band for the same reasons we are listening to it. Those reasons are independent of any particular human sympathies.

By: Tim Tyler

Tim Tyler — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:01:25 +0000

The galactic civilisation that doesn’t want to be found mostly seems like a rather silly conspiracy theory to me. If they were here, surely they would be all around – they would be us. The Star Trek prime directive is science fiction.

Quiet?!? There seem to be an awful lot of huge explosions going on. Check the Orion nebula, for example. Lots of circularly-polarised light is coming from that direction. It seems quite likely that someone is banging the stars together over there.

By: Eliezer Yudkowsky

Eliezer Yudkowsky — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:47:56 +0000

Aliens with a very wide range of utility functions would be expected to find better uses to put the irreplaceable energy (negentropy) being wasted by stars. We should see them eating galaxies.

By: Robin Hanson

Robin Hanson — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:16:14 +0000

Possums that are alive but pretending to be dead act quiet. If the universe looks quiet it looks dead.

By: Robin Hanson

Robin Hanson — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:12:38 +0000

One has to assume that such ubiquitous invisible brains have an extremely low probability of wanting to use or modify the sort of matter than we can see.

By: Schell

Schell — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:17:17 +0000

Exactly!