Q&A: METI, SETI’s Twin Brother
METI, SETI’s Twin Brother
Question
Rabbi, according to Column 144, where you explained that there is no real reason to think intelligent beings outside Earth would see anything special in the things we see as special, is the METI project even logical?
In this project they do the opposite of SETI: they themselves send signals into space that would cause extraterrestrials to understand that there is an intelligent civilization here.
For that purpose they send signals that would presumably look special to those intelligent beings, such as the sequence 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.
But you already explained that there is no reason to think other beings would also be like us, and therefore METI could just as well send the sequence 2,6,5,3,1,5,8,4, and the chance that this signal would reach someone who sees something special in it (and understands that some intelligent being sent it) is the same as the chance that the sequence 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 reaches someone who sees something special in it. So the project is really absurd, no?
Answer
I didn’t write that there is no logic to it; I wrote that it is not necessary, and there is no reason to assume it specifically. Of course it could be.
Therefore this project makes sense only in the sense that if they are built like us, they will respond. If not, then we have wasted our time for nothing. So the possible outcomes of the project are: either they respond, in which case there are intelligent beings like us in space; or they do not respond, in which case there is no way to determine whether or not there are intelligent beings in space.
Discussion on Answer
I assume the hope/assumption is that there too there was evolution, even if it happened before us or after us, and therefore the beings created there have some similarity to the structure of our brains.
My argument from SETI is the opposite. My claim was that according to atheists, who do not see the world’s specialness as something that requires explanation, then even if something arrives from space that seems special to us, one should infer nothing from that about whoever sent it.
And in your opinion there’s no logic to that “hope”?
On the contrary, according to my view, if something special arrives, it requires an explanation, and apparently there is an intelligent entity that sent it. According to atheists, there is no point to this project, because even if something special arrives it does not indicate an intelligent entity. So what are we waiting and checking for?
And regarding METI, from your perspective is there really no point in sending specifically an orderly sequence?
I wrote that there is. Why not?
Because why would the fact that they too were created through evolution cause them to see something special in 123456789? The chance that evolution would create an aesthetic preference for that is equal to the chance that it would create an aesthetic preference for 946831909.
So why do you think there is logic to it?
First, that preference probably has survival value, otherwise it would not have arisen. If so, maybe it will arise among others too. Second, even without that, this is what we can do, so it makes sense to do it. Beyond that, nothing can be done. As for the question of the chances of getting a positive result—see the previous sentence.
I understood the first point.
The second I didn’t. One could just as well use 946835299.
No. Because if information about that comes back to us, it won’t tell us anything. Suppose there are beings in the universe who identify such a strange signal as a special signal. What are they supposed to do with it? Send us a signal and make contact with us. But their signal won’t tell us anything.
And in general, instead of sending 946835299, we might as well send nothing at all. Space is full of random signals and noise.
So they send specifically that so that they’ll also answer us in a similar code?
With Heaven’s help, 22 Sivan 5778
Maybe there is a halakhic problem with communicating with extraterrestrials, because of “and inquires of the dead” — of the METIM 🙂
And if only we could first succeed in communicating properly with our brothers who dwell on planet Earth…
With blessings, S.Z. Levinger
So why choose דווקא this sequence?