Keep SETI Alive

Saturday, September 01, 2007 | 17:57 CEST

This article was originally published on May 1, 2001; my old writings are being moved to my blog.

Should the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project be allowed to continue, or should it be shut down and the money spent on projects more down-to-earth? Though I can understand people that argue for the latter, I would like to see the SETI project operational as long as possible. SETI should be government-supported, and preferably its efforts increased.

SETI is no doubt one of the most important endeavors we have ever embarked on. The question whether or not we are the only intelligent beings in the universe has been in the minds of people for a very long time, and will continue be there until a final answer has been reached. The emphasis doesn't lie on communication with intelligent civilizations should they exist, but rather on a simple "Yes" or "No" to the question "Are we alone in the universe?" This question has to be answered with complete certainty. When the question has been settled—if ever—we can go on with appropriate actions in order for us to deal with the answer.

I'm quite certain that new ways of searching for intelligent life "out there" will be discovered or developed, and our current methods will be improved for better accuracy and efficiency. When this occurs, adopting the new technology will go much smoother, be easier, and take less time than it would if there were no active SETI project.

So if we sometime are able to say with 100% certainty that no extraterrestrial intelligence exists—which I don't think we ever will be—has the SETI project been a huge waste of money? Of course not, because if it had not existed we would not have been able to say for sure that there are no intelligent extraterrestrial beings in the universe other than ourselves. We would have gotten the answer to the question we set out to answer. This argument requires that the SETI project be the way through which we find the answer, something that is likely to be the case if you ask me. A negative answer is in my opinion not desirable, but I would most likely accept it if there were no doubts as to how the results were attained, or with the results themselves. The important thing right now is that we get an answer.

I strongly believe life exists in various forms in the universe, and I find it difficult to accept the idea that no intelligent beings have developed among the extraterrestrial life I take for granted. I refuse to believe that the inhabitants of planet earth are the only intelligent civilization in the whole universe.

Given commitment of the people involved, front-line knowledge and technology, time, and a big portion of luck I think we have a small possibility of actually finding evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. It may not be a very big chance, but nonetheless it is a chance.

Because of this ever-so-little yet existing possibility the SETI project must be kept alive and operational. If we are to detect extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI is a highly probable way of detection. We cannot cease our search for an answer that will have great and profound impact on humankind. To know for certain is better than to believe that you know.