SethHeartsAliens (1:22 PM): Well, that's a good point. Maybe they have no reason to be sending radio messages, for example, to Earth.
But on the other hand, perhaps we're just in the "beam" of a galactic broadcast... one that's not really intended for us.
We might pick up that.
Dave on Earth (1:24 PM): I see... so it's also an issue of why they would want/need to broadcast.
Do you think it's safe to assume that intelligent aliens would be curious as we are?
SethHeartsAliens (1:24 PM): Yes, and that requires reading their minds! I doubt that we can do that very well.
I'm sure curiosity is something that any intelligent being (even a machine) would have. It's a valuable trait.
It's not just a human trait. Plenty of animals exhibit curiosity... sometimes it pays off (for example, with a nice dinner!)
We're curious to know if there are Martians, even if you'd need a microscope to see them!
Dave on Earth (1:26 PM): So that means whatever, or whomever, is out there must have grown up as a species according to evolution?
SethHeartsAliens (1:27 PM): Well, in the beginning, I'm sure that any aliens that are out there began as biological beings.
Even if they've become machines...
Dave on Earth (1:27 PM): Their "thinking machines" would be different, right?
Let's hope they're a far cry from the ones we see in the Terminator series.
SethHeartsAliens (1:27 PM): Yes, well the Terminator guy looked a lot like ... us!
The machines might just look like a lot of circuitry and some solar cells, for all we know. Just floating in space.
Not very attractive, unless you're another machine!
Dave on Earth (1:29 PM): You brought up Martians.
How would finding a few microbes not native to Earth on the Red Planet change things?
SethHeartsAliens (1:29 PM): It would be a VERY big story.
Not because finding pond scum is in itself so remarkable; you can find pond scum in your neighborhood pond.
But finding MARTIAN pond scum would say, "Hey, life must be everywhere because, look, the next planet out from the Sun also has life!"
Dave on Earth (1:29 PM): Well, we've had plenty of false-alarms that were big stories
SethHeartsAliens (1:30 PM): Yes, well, science often produces false alarms.
Dave on Earth (1:30 PM): I see -- so it's not the life itself, but the fact that it's all over the place.
And that would mean more chances out there for finding beings at least a bit similar to us.
SethHeartsAliens (1:31 PM): Well, the life itself would also be interesting. But the really big part of the story is that it would tell us that lots of worlds probably have life.
Of course, the Martian life might NOT be very similar to us. Might not have DNA, for example.
Every biologist would want to know, "could you have life without DNA?"
Now there's one other possibility...
Dave on Earth (1:32 PM): Oh?
SethHeartsAliens (1:32 PM): ...and that is, Martian life infected Earth a long time ago.
So that we and the Martians might be relatives. But that's just an idea.
We'll only know if and when we find any Martians!
I kind of like the idea that I might be descended from Martians... but it's likeable, not likely!
What we would share with any alien is the fact that we both arose from stardust.
Dave on Earth (1:36 PM): Good point. To recap:
We have no idea what aliens would look like, but if we hear from anything it's probably going to be a machine -- they live longer and might be smarter than anything biological.
We also don't know if aliens would want to find us and, if they did, what they might do.
But whoever they are, they probably started out biologically and evolved on the same principles as everything on Earth.
And no matter where "they" are, we, like them -- even the machines -- are made of stardust.
SethHeartsAliens (1:37 PM): That's about the size of it!
Of course, we'll only know if this is true by picking up a signal or by finding aliens in some other way.
So that's why we keep looking!
Dave on Earth (1:38 PM): My final big question:
Why do you think humans should look? Or listen, for that matter?
SethHeartsAliens (1:38 PM): Well, there are a lot of reasons you could think of for listening for signals.
Maybe, if we heard anything, and could understand it, we could learn important things. That's one possibility.
We would also learn that Earth isn't so special, and that's interesting to know, too.
But I think the real reason we look is, as you mentioned before... curiosity.
We've already talked about that a bit. It's a human quality (although not just humans), and it's a great thing.
Why else would you want to know what's at the bottom of the oceans? Or on the far side of the Moon?
Curiosity drives us to explore. And exploration is a wonderful thing for us to do.
That's my take on it. We could just sit around and play solitaire forever. But exploration is the thing, in my opinion.
Let's find out what the universe has to offer.
Dave on Earth (1:41 PM): Thanks so much Seth
SethHeartsAliens (1:41 PM): It's been fun!
Article posted February 23, 2008.
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