Extraterrestrials Should Be Sent Into Space

As debates rise over whether active SETI should be pursued, perhaps the debate should spend some time deciding what messages should be sent into space. Afterall, a large part of determining whether humans should actively seek for contact with extraterrestrials lies in deciding if the repercussions of such actions would be positive or negative to the human race; positive or negative that would be in large part due to the messages sent. The importance of the content of messages shows its significance when one considers how organisms on earth respond to different initial signals. For instance, when one person sees another on the street, saying “hello” or “get out of my way” would certainly have a large impact on the response that follows from
First, one must realize it is entirely possible that, if there extraterrestrial intelligence does exist, it may have already noticed the waves leaked into space by earth, if said extraterrestrials has advanced technologically as much as humans (Shostak). As a result, the human race must consider how a civilization might react to a more direct form of advancement from the earth, should the civilization have previously purposely abstained from contacting the earth even when they knew humans were there. One obvious answer: the other civilization will ignore a more direct advancement from the earth (transmitted to them by a policy of active SETI), in which case the content of the message sent by the earth is inconsequential. However, in the case that this other civilization was only staying silent because they were waiting for a more direct message from the earth, the human race must make every effort to ensure future interactions are cordial and friendly, at least until more information is known about the other civilization. Verbal messages, in the form of morse code are an impractical solution because a common language between earth and the other civilization would near impossible. That leaves the earth stuck with only one option, sending meaningless waves into space. There are a couple precautions the earth can take to make sure the other civilizations don’t see us as threatening, so they don’t decide to attack us. First, waves should be sent, not directly to planets the earth knows off, but in directions near other bodies. This way the other civilization might not mistake the waves as attempts to attack their planet. For, sending waves directly at any known objects would be like shining a laser in a human’s eye, constantly. One would not expect the human to politely ignore the laser, or think it anything less than an act of hostility. Still, waves should be sent