I agree with Stephan Hawking that our signals (especially SETI) may be foolhardy messages to superior civilizations of hostile nature to come stomp us.
Just as mankind is presumptive to believe it's actions are permanently damaging Earth's atmosphere it presumes the concept of life solely belongs to carbon life forms. Too bad exploration has been curtailed and entrenched bureaucrats protect their fiefdoms declaring areas of science are "settled".
When looking down at agricultural land in the middle of the US, you see from 35,000 feet a patchy texture of fields, pastures and forests, interrupted occasionally by the bullseye pattern of pivot irrigation.
I’ve thought that if the dog looked like that, I’d treat it for mange.
I wonder whether aliens would have the same reaction?