The decoding problem: do we need to search for extra terrestrial intelligence in order to search for extraterrestrial intelligence?

Neil W. Tennant

doi:10.1117/12.150127

6 August 1993 The decoding problem: do we need to search for extra terrestrial intelligence in order to search for extraterrestrial intelligence?

Neil W. Tennant

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 1867, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.150127
Event: OE/LASE'93: Optics, Electro-Optics, and Laser Applications in Scienceand Engineering, 1993, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

There is a widespread and perhaps uncritically accepted assumption on the part of SETI researchers and popularizers that we could tell what an ETI might be trying to tell us. We raise difficulties for this assumption. If the assumption is abandoned, a lot follows. We might even be able to argue, in a novel way, that SETI will be utterly futile.

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Neil W. Tennant "The decoding problem: do we need to search for extra terrestrial intelligence in order to search for extraterrestrial intelligence?", Proc. SPIE 1867, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) in the Optical Spectrum, (6 August 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.150127

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