[anymouse]

I agree with Professor Basalla, the SETI crowd is more of a cult than science.

Logic dictates that if there were significantly intelligent life within a reasonable distance to Earth, they would have detected our electromagnetic signals and would have come here and colonized Earth. History shows that when 2 technologically different cultures clash, the lower tech culture loses. Given this historic evidence, it is foolish to purposefully announce our existence, without first developing our technology for interplanetary if not interstellar spaceflight radically greater than it currently exists.

Frankly if ET shows up, I want faster spaceships and bigger guns than he has, otherwise we are in big trouble.

[anymouse]

As a corollary, an intelligent ET would be smarter than to announce it's existence unless it knew it were the superior species. So if the SETI folks finally get an intelligible signal it like will be a "terms of surrender" demand message. So the SETI crowd, who believe that they will eventually get a message from above, should logically be the biggest human space travel and military spending advocates. The fact that they are not shows that they are either liars or fools.

[Pistolshot]

Frankly if ET shows up, I want faster spaceships and bigger guns than he has, otherwise we are in big trouble.

ET won't show up as long as we are a species bent on self destruction.

I too, am in the crowd that believe that God has a plan for the universe and to be naive to think we are alone is to put your head in the sand to the power and possibilities the power of God would have across the universe.

[SunkenCiv]

I agree with Basalla; however, I'd quibble about interstellar conquest. We've had radio for about a century (Tesla demonstrated radio controlled mini-subs in 1893's exposition in Chicago) and have been broadcasting commercially and militarily since the 1920s -- and haven't worried about whose ears our signals might reach.

If SETI were to succeed in finding a signal which is both generally accepted as the product of an intelligence, and its location could be determined, we'd have no way to achieve interstellar flight to go check 'em out. :') I'm not deterministic when it comes to technological and scientific developments, but I'd hazard a guess that radio etc precedes interstellar capability in any ET civilizations (if any are out there).

[Sarajevo]

Frankly if ET shows up, I want faster spaceships and bigger guns than he has, otherwise we are in big trouble.

Why? They probably just want us to turn down the volume on all those old Desi and Lucy reruns.