Send Yasmin_discussions mailing list submissions to
yasmin_discussions@ntlab.gr
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://ntlab.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions_ntlab.gr
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
yasmin_discussions-request@ntlab.gr
You can reach the person managing the list at
yasmin_discussions-owner@ntlab.gr
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of Yasmin_discussions digest..."
THIS IS THE YASMIN-DISCUSSIONS DIGEST
Today's Topics:
1. who has the right to reply to an extraterrestial civilisation
on behalf of all humans ? (YASMIN DISCUSSIONS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2021 14:02:43 -0600
From: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@ntlab.gr>
To: yasmin_discussions@ntlab.gr
Subject: [Yasmin_discussions] who has the right to reply to an
extraterrestial civilisation on behalf of all humans ?
Message-ID:
<mailman.1.1610211497.23175.yasmin_discussions_ntlab.gr@ntlab.gr>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Yasminers
Happy New
It is possible that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence has had a
first success:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/12/31/breakthrough-listen-seti-technosignatures/
The astronomical community is organising to figure out who/what has a right
to reply to his extraterrestrial
intelligence. There are NO international rules who who can reply on behalf
of humanity. Would you like your president to reply on behalf of human
civilisation ?
This may sound like science fiction or academic non sense, but if this is a
Breakthrough Listen BLC! then
the pandemic will be old news- i have signed the following statement which
has been submitted to the Washington Post and we would welcome a YASMIN
discussion.
Finally the YASMIN community is interested in knowing if you think we
should try and keep YASMIN going during the pandemic and if so, we are
looking for volunteers to help moderate and animate YASMIN
Roger Malina
Author's name:
John W. Traphagan, Anson Mount, William Alba, Carl DeVito, Jerome Barkow,
Jeffrey Lockwood, Roger F. Malina, Ian G. Roberts, Kelly Smith
Name of submitter:
John Traphagan
Contact email address:
jtrap@utexas.edu
Contact phone number:
737-222-1719
Subject:
BLC-1, astrobiology, SETI. Breakthrough Listen, social responsibility
Text of your submission:
Recent news about the detection of a candidate signal from an
extraterrestrial source relatively close to Earth has generated
considerable interest on the Internet.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/12/31/breakthrough-listen-seti-technosignatures/
In a Washington Post editorial, astrophysicist Adam Frank writes, somewhat
excitedly, about the possibility that Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1
(BLC-1, as the signal is known) actually might be the moment of First
Contact. He then announces that the age of technosignatures, meaning clear
indications of extraterrestrial technological civilizations, may finally be
upon us. The only reason we haven?t found life elsewhere, states Frank, is
because we just haven?t been looking hard enough.
Regardless of the level of technical challenges we face detecting
extraterrestrial life of any kind, we must also remember that the search is
not simply a technical endeavor. It?s also an event constructed in the
human imagination. News of BLC-1 leaked before the scientific team
analyzing the data had completed their work, which has led to a fair amount
of speculative writing in news and social media, but little in the way of
detail other than scientists reminding the public that it is unlikely BLC-1
represents an actual technosignature.
This underscores the need for a public discourse about how to handle
possible signal detection. In fact, although there is a robust history of
discussion among scientists involved with SETI (search for extraterrestrial
intelligence) about the need for post-detection protocols, and one was
developed in the 1980s intended to prevent leaks of unconfirmed detections,
the Internet has made control over news about signal detection essentially
impossible. In the 2000s, the International Academy of Astronautics? (IAA)
SETI committee revised the protocol, but the IAA board never approved the
revisions. To date, no government, nor international organization such as
the United Nations, has endorsed or pursued creation of any protocol or
legal framework to address issues related to technosignature detection and
there is no means for scientific bodies to control what is reported to the
public.
Because many astronomers treat detection of technosignatures as a technical
problem, the social and political ramifications of signal detection are
often overlooked in the media. On the surface, it seems that receiving a
signal from ET would be harmless. What could happen if ET is many light
years away? In the case of BLC-1, the source actually may be nearby at
Proxima Centauri, a mere 4.5 light years from Earth, and the Breakthrough
Starshot initiative is already working on technologies to send
nano-spacecraft to that star system. If ET were there, not only is radio
communication only a few years away, material interaction could happen in a
few decades.
But even if the source is much more distant, the history of competition
among great powers makes it clear that if an opportunity arises to gain an
advantage over global rivals, it will be taken. That advantage can be
military, economic, or political; and in the modern world, it may involve
access to and control over information, as we have seen through the furor
concerning Russian hacking of US government agencies.
As former Air Force General Ken Wisian and John Traphagan have argued, if
the information related to detection of a technosignature is deemed as
potentially advantageous, competing powers will vie for control over that
information?if there may be a perceived benefit, then governments will
likely attempt to monopolize access for national security reasons. And it
is not unreasonable to imagine a situation in which monopolization of
communication with an extraterrestrial civilization could lead to an
information-driven cold war.
Although the possibility of BLC-1 being an actual technosignature is low,
it piques the human imagination and there is something powerful captured in
the possibility that we may soon learn we are not alone in the universe.
However, scientists and the news media should be careful to avoid overly
optimistic musings about both the likelihood of detection and the possible
outcomes for human civilization should we find a technosignature. The
potential for human interest generated by leaks such as BLC-1 clearly
defines the responsibility that both scientists and the news media have to
be cautious and to carefully consider the unpredictable ways contact may
change our world.
Despite recent success in exoplanet hunting, the search for
extraterrestrial life faces hurdles and presents potential risk, even if
minor, for humans. Both the search for technosignatures and the societal
implications of that search require greater commitment to long-term
thinking and there has been insufficient public discussion about the
implications of First Contact. This should give us pause if we are at the
dawn of an era in which technosigatures of alien life become more than just
an imaginative exercise.
Of course, we could always shrug our collective shoulders and say that
contact is very unlikely to happen now or any time soon. But some people
used to say that about a global pandemic.
Comments:
The authors are all deeply engaged in research and thinking related to
social implications of astrobiology. John W. Traphagan is Professor of
Religious Studies and in the Program in Human Dimensions of Organization at
the University of Texas at Austin. Anson Mount is an actor, producer, and
podcaster. William Alba is Associate Teaching Professor of Chemistry at
Carnegie Mellon University. Carl DeVito is Associate Professor Emeritus of
Mathematics at the University of Arizona. Jerome H. Barkow is Professor
Emeritus of Social Anthropology at Dalhousie University. Jeffrey Lockwood
is Professor of Natural Sciences and Humanities in the Departments of
Philosophy & Religious Studies and Visual & Literary Arts at the University
of Wyoming. Roger F. Malina is Arts and Technology Distinguished Chair at
the University of Texas at Dallas. Ian G. Roberts is Professor of
Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. Kelly Smith is Professor of
Philosophy at Clemson University.
Roger in Dallas, please phone/txt/ +15108532007 if urgent
------------------------------
Subject: Digest Footer
_______________________________________________
Yasmin_discussions mailing list
Yasmin_discussions@ntlab.gr
http://ntlab.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions_ntlab.gr
------------------------------
End of Yasmin_discussions Digest, Vol 31, Issue 2
*************************************************
