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| Arecibo Observatory (NASA photo) |
If you’re feeling a bit hopeless after listening to Stephen Hawking’s dire predictions, perhaps it’s time for an “Active SETI” perspective.
Although Hawking warns that humans may soon be hoisted upon their own technological petards, Former SETI director Jill Tarter is more optimistic. She believes that “aliens advanced enough to skip across star systems and reach Earth will be friendly, not aggressive.”
Why? Because such advancement
would indicate that these aliens have been around for a long, long time.
Therefore, they’ve probably figured out ways to overcome disaster-provoking aggression.
Tarter thinks that such civilizations might be far kinder and gentler than Hawking supposes. She points
out that even humans continue “to evolve into something that’s cooperative and take on global scale problems.”
An “Active SETI” approach would therefore reach out to such aliens by sending messages into space. Rather
than just listening for their communications, we would proactively invite them into our own media frenzy.
Resources
http://www.businessinsider.com/jill-tarter-says-stephen-hawking-is-wrong-about-aliens-2016-1
Copyright January 20, 2016 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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