Sending signals into space continously into space in hopes of contact a good thing or a bad thing?

If the point is to make contact with aliens that have some capability to intepret these signals/intelligence.

How do we know they will be friendly. Why are we taking this chance? It could be hit or miss...they could be helpful or they could be hostile. Why take this chance? Is the reward worth the risk? Its similiar to putting your life's savings on the line and you could lose it all or double it. How many people would be willing to do this? And why is this being done without the public choosing if they want this or not?

Capuchin

Can you give any examples? I don't think that we ever have sent signals into space in the hopes of contact with other life forms.

Kamala55

Radio signals

Capuchin

Looking into it a little deeper, it seems the Cosmic Calls in 1999 and 2003 were aimed at more realistic targets than the Aricebo message, which is the only example I knew of, which almost certainly was not meant as an attempt at communication.

However these messages have been rare.

I think that any civilization advanced enough to engage with us with hostility over tens of lightyears will have the technology to know we are here, whether we send messages or not. I don't think that sending messages will increase the likelihood of being destroyed. Unless there is a nearby civilization that has overlooked us as primitive beings until now, but beaming high powered messages into space might make them think twice about how advanced we are becoming.

Do others have thoughts on this?

asking

I agree with Capuchin. The SETI project is all about listening. The great bulk of our signaling is ordinary broadcast--television and radio signals, such as Survivor, Battlestar Gallactica, CSPAN, Red Dwarf (pretty embarrassing stuff on the whole), which we've been sounding out for decades.

If a hostile civilization wanted to home in on us and wipe us out they probably would have got around to it by now, just out of sheer irritation. Or called the Galactic Police to tell us to turn it down. There's no particular reason to think that a civilization advanced enough to get here would care much about us except as a curiosity. They might keep a wary eye on us in case we attacked THEM.

0rphan

This whole thing fasinates me.I would love to meet someone from another civilization, ok there may be hostiles amongst them out there, but lets face it any being looking in on us wouldn't come within a hairs width of our planet.
The cruellty towards our fellow man is unbelievable.Parts of our race leave plenty to be desired,we kill and torcher,even let our own people die of hunger,serious diseases for want of sharing... fresh water ,food and alike, we are a very self centred race,an..i'm all right jack race... no i don't think for one minute any foreign being would want to join us.

However i do sometime think we are being watch, i have no concrete reason for this,but i do believe sincerely that there has to be life somewhere out there, more intelligent life than are own,and how i would love to contact them.

Just think what that might mean for this world....they could have cures for all are fatal deseases...cancer, ms, musc',to mention but a few, and who's to say because of their intelligence that they don't have some way of over coming disabilities.

I know it would take many years to get here but how do we know for definite, we have no idea of their capabilities are brain cannot comprehened such things of that enormaty.

Most of us are in contact with someone who has some kind of serious illness, in my own family we have a gene that picks us off one by one, 5 have gone instantly to date and there's nothing that the medical profession can do, if these beings from another planet have the knowledge to find earth then they have to have a superior brain and with that comes knowledge of all manner of things including medical cures.

I would welcome another life form in our world, although sadley probabley not in my life time......

Capuchin

And antimatter weaponry?

0rphan

Anti-matter weaponary....well that's all hypathetical at the moment, but lets hope it doesn't happen, such a huge power source in the wrong hands could lead to our distruction.

Don't know much more about it, other than that.....

albear

i like the fact that most people like to think that were looking for friends in the universe, and if any cantact with an alien race is made your all worried weather they'll be hostile towards us, if any do visit here they will be looking to see if they can live here, which is what were doing, looking for a place that we can live, if there are other species there we will attempt to integrate ourselves with them and see if our species can live peacefully and if not we will attack them, because it comes down to survival, eventually (ok yes its a heck of a way away) our species wont be able to live in this solar system anymore and we will have to find somewhere to live, and hence we will invade another planet if we find one and if its deemed neccesary for our survival eliminate them.

jrwild62

I think the answer is simple. Us humans, or shall I say scientific minded humans, have an over-whelming urgh to know our origin of the universe. Since religion provides absolutely no proof of anything, we are forced to seek a scientific logical answer. One that isn't so far fetched and just plain silly. So we will endless seek contact from anyone who will bother to contact us. This may take centuries for someone the see our signal. But we will never cease to try. It is human nature to know the truth about our being. Just like the subatomic particle accelerated in France. Billions of $ to simply crash to particles together in order to attempt to produce some sort of 'Mass' out of super charged energy. This would make Einstein very happy. We will never cease to know this ultimate question of why we are here. But of course, religion will always try to blow it up, just as in the movie, "Contact."