Why is SETI not receiving signals? NOTE: Update video available

Scary reasoning that even the author does not like or want to believe - but it needs saying.
NOTE: AN UPDATED VERSION (20011) OF THIS VIDEO NOW EXISTS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGDdtAXdmbI

Category:

Education

Tags:

• cosmos
• force
• of
• nature
• universe
• pantheo
• animism
• extinction
• homo
• sapien
• biosphere
• gaia
• SETI
• stephen
• goodfellow

[malignantpoodle]

I can think of many scientific reasons for no confirmed signals yet, before even having to consider philosophical ones such as these.

Signal strength, distance, broadcast time, method of transmission, and the like.

If we were to consider life exceedingly rare (I got 3 civilizations in the Milky Way via Drake equation which still equals almost half a trillion civilizations universe wide), the chance that neighboring civilizations only say, 50,000 light years away from one another... (cont)

[zappedpyramid]

I appreciate the communication difficulties, but if you will permit me, might I suggest that you are approaching the problem through the eyes of contemporary technology? I might argue that a super-civilization would be entirely cognizant of the difficulties you, an emerging sentience, would have. Do you not think they would have taken that into account?

[danemisis2002]

Makes Sense, But if SETI is not working ... y does it still exist ? What purpose is it to use and maintain something that does not work ?

[zappedpyramid]

Well, because it would be really great if my thesis were proven wrong. You can only do that if you keep on looking.

[rbolo29]

I hope they aren't communicating through 'quantum entanglement' or some exotic form of ESP communications they might have evolved.

Frequency hoping, spread sprectrum and phased array communications would be hard enough to detect using narrow band scanning.

[zappedpyramid]

Considering the amount of sentience that is postulated to have been and is out there in our galaxy, some super-civilizations might have chosen such a communication system, but many may have chosen alternative forms of seeking contact. My argument is that one of these systems ought to be easily discerned.

[scowi3]

My guess is that we dont get a signal because the power required to send a detectable signal over many light years is just too great.

If we cant detect light reflected off planets round other stars, surely that means that any signal would need an intensity greater than all the sunlight reflected off earth or even jupiter?

[Uberware]

Why do people trust SETI? I dont get it....

[benthemiester]

SETI is a very interesting endeavor however, if were going to be honest, it realty is a faith based modern tower of babel. The person or things being sought may be different, but the method is the same. Keeping your head towards the sky and searching for something that's unknown, except that pound for pound, SETI is much more expensive and requires much mote faith.

[endlessnameless16]

Hmmm... although I do go along with the fact that life, and so much life, on Earth is proof of life existing elsewhere under similar circumstances and conditions, this argument that intelligent creative lifeforms will eventually destroy themselves or die out in some random natural event is VERY plausible. Artificial signals are easily discerned from natural ones... makes you think. =p

[malignantpoodle]

I've left the SETI program because of the issues with secrecy. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, and I'm not saying that they're sitting on a signal. For a better explanation, I'll copy my message that I wrote to the community and send it to you in a private message.

[malignantpoodle]

Not necessarily.

Can we communicate with slugs? How about relay complex information like language or abstract ideas to rabbits?

Is it because we can't? Possibly. It might also be because we haven't tried, or simply don't want to. That's without considering the political and ideological problems that have the current SETI programs being EXTREMELY well guarded in the information they publish. They're not even releasing candidate information any more.

[malignantpoodle]

Well, simply put our own existence is evidence that there is life in the universe. True it is not evidence that there is life elsewhere, but it is enough substantiation to look elsewhere.

Even if we found nothing out there at all, the search is worth it. Finding life, or not finding life, either prospect is a profound discovery.