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0 pointsCamperBob22mo ago0 comments

And that's why they won't find anything, IMHO. Anyone who spends five minutes thinking about the consequences of deliberately transmitting interstellar beacon signals will conclude that the only safe, sane thing to do is STFU.

At the same time, no advanced civilizations will be using coherent RF communications that stand out from the noise floor, because it makes little sense to keep doing that once your civilization understands information theory.

Still, SETI was an undeniably cool thing to try, and I'm glad they did. Lots of other cooperative-computing tasks grew out of the same idea as the article mentions.

0 comments

abtinf2mo ago

Why not just credit the dark forest for this idea?

CamperBob2OP2mo ago

The idea wasn't Cixin's. E.g., https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan-Penny/publication/... refers to speculation as early as 1967 that it might not be a good idea to answer that particular phone.

Here's a later article from 2010: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00945...

detritus2mo ago

Perhaps because the concept's been knocking around for decades before it was published?

pavel_lishin2mo ago

Anyone who spends five minutes thinking about the consequences of deliberately leaving your house will conclude that the only safe, sane thing to do is stay the fuck inside.

traviswingo2mo ago

This reads like a Douglas Adams quote

dylan6042mo ago

We tried that in 2020. It didn't really work out that well as most people were physically unable to stay the fuck inside.

Sabinus2mo ago

Beyond ability to follow government direction, the amount of genuinely damaging social isolation experienced by many people during COVID indicates we shouldn't be doing it without good reason. People need people, in proximity, at length. We're a social species.

CamperBob2OP2mo ago

Heck, no. We need to go invade the systems that broadcast their presence. Where there's biology, there's probably oil!

bulbar2mo ago

Having it safe to go outside is the very point of a society.

Outside of this safety Bubble there's a strong tendency for conflict and war. Only after two cruel world wars and a prolonged cold war, the western world got their shit together and decided 'enough of that'. And even that doesn't seem to hold much longer, so it seems we will only have managed to live peaceful among each other without an immediate conflict with somebody (cold war) for roughly 30 years.

If aliens are remotely like us, they shouldn't know about us.

TheFuzzball2mo ago

We're like a paranoid child terrified that anyone that enters our room is going to steal our Lego, so we must be left alone!

Nobody wants our Lego.

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zardo2mo ago

> Anyone who spends five minutes thinking about the consequences of deliberately transmitting interstellar beacon signals will conclude that the only safe, sane thing to do is STFU.

Even if we credit the idea that it's unsafe to transmit, there are reasons to do it anyway, e.g. you have a holy text and a mission to share it with the universe.

CamperBob2OP2mo ago

Even if we credit the idea that it's unsafe to transmit, there are reasons to do it anyway, e.g. you have a holy text and a mission to share it with the universe.

Sounds like a great sci-fi premise. "Hey, there aren't enough knock-down, drag-out religious wars on Earth. Let's start beef with the nuclear-armed, FTL-capable sky wizard cult on Epsilon Eridani 4."

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abtinf2mo ago

Why not just credit the dark forest for this idea?

CamperBob2OP2mo ago

The idea wasn't Cixin's. E.g., https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alan-Penny/publication/... refers to speculation as early as 1967 that it might not be a good idea to answer that particular phone.

Here's a later article from 2010: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00945...

detritus2mo ago

Perhaps because the concept's been knocking around for decades before it was published?

pavel_lishin2mo ago

Anyone who spends five minutes thinking about the consequences of deliberately leaving your house will conclude that the only safe, sane thing to do is stay the fuck inside.

traviswingo2mo ago

This reads like a Douglas Adams quote

dylan6042mo ago

We tried that in 2020. It didn't really work out that well as most people were physically unable to stay the fuck inside.

Sabinus2mo ago

CamperBob2OP2mo ago

Heck, no. We need to go invade the systems that broadcast their presence. Where there's biology, there's probably oil!

bulbar2mo ago

Having it safe to go outside is the very point of a society.

If aliens are remotely like us, they shouldn't know about us.

TheFuzzball2mo ago

We're like a paranoid child terrified that anyone that enters our room is going to steal our Lego, so we must be left alone!

Nobody wants our Lego.

1 more reply

zardo2mo ago

> Anyone who spends five minutes thinking about the consequences of deliberately transmitting interstellar beacon signals will conclude that the only safe, sane thing to do is STFU.

Even if we credit the idea that it's unsafe to transmit, there are reasons to do it anyway, e.g. you have a holy text and a mission to share it with the universe.

CamperBob2OP2mo ago

Even if we credit the idea that it's unsafe to transmit, there are reasons to do it anyway, e.g. you have a holy text and a mission to share it with the universe.

Sounds like a great sci-fi premise. "Hey, there aren't enough knock-down, drag-out religious wars on Earth. Let's start beef with the nuclear-armed, FTL-capable sky wizard cult on Epsilon Eridani 4."

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse