General / Off-Topic Should we reply to the WOW! Signal?

Hello,

I recently wrote a paper (which I present here) suggesting which star has the highest probability of being the source of the WOW! Signal.

Do you think that we should reply to the WOW! Signal or not?
 
A reply was sent in 2012 IIRC.

So if Hawking was right and it's a very bad idea to do that we've got 86 years before they get our reply and set off to annihilate us.

The reply was compiled from tweets submitted by the public to the national geographic channel, so they'll probably conclude we need to be eradicated even if they are peaceful and enlightened.
 
A reply was sent in 2012 IIRC.

So if Hawking was right and it's a very bad idea to do that we've got 86 years before they get our reply and set off to annihilate us.

The reply was compiled from tweets submitted by the public to the national geographic channel, so they'll probably conclude we need to be eradicated even if they are peaceful and enlightened.
Aye, they Arecibo’d the message at the three nearest systems to the projected message origin, ten thousand tweets with the hashtag #ChasingUFOs and some video messages from “various celebrities” 😳

Whilst the worst case scenario is indeed sapient sterilisation of Earth, I’m hoping we just get another “WOW!” signal, finally decoded after many years of hard study by the finest minds:

“LOL! #dontthinkwewillbother”
 
Aye, they Arecibo’d the message at the three nearest systems to the projected message origin, ten thousand tweets with the hashtag #ChasingUFOs and some video messages from “various celebrities” 😳

Whilst the worst case scenario is indeed sapient sterilisation of Earth, I’m hoping we just get another “WOW!” signal, finally decoded after many years of hard study by the finest minds:

“LOL! #dontthinkwewillbother”

It's like the opening scene of a really cheap sci-fi channel movie. The fact we did it in real life makes me embarrassed to be human.

Nobody at the galactic federation will object if the Vogons decide to build a hyperspace bypass through our system.
 
It's like the opening scene of a really cheap sci-fi channel movie. The fact we did it in real life makes me embarrassed to be human.

Nobody at the galactic federation will object if the Vogons decide to build a hyperspace bypass through our system.
Wasn't there a group of scientists/Sci fi writers that warned the top brass about all this in the 60s?
Memory fails me.
 
Wasn't there a group of scientists/Sci fi writers that warned the top brass about all this in the 60s?
Memory fails me.

It's impossible to be sure.

Douglas Adams thought it was funny to mess with his own fans by repeatedly releasing wildly different versions of his books under the same titles and tell anyone who ever asked that the version they preferred was the official version no matter which version they had.
 
It's like the opening scene of a really cheap sci-fi channel movie...
(Booming voice from massive UFO floating above Washington DC)

Morons of the Earth: we demand you release the higher beings who sent us the Golden Records upon the Voyager probes - or we will unleash the Disintegronulator!
 
(Booming voice from massive UFO floating above Washington DC)

Morons of the Earth: we demand you release the higher beings who sent us the Golden Records upon the Voyager probes - or we will unleash the Disintegronulator!

Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: The Voyage Home. Idea already taken, sorry!
 
Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek: The Voyage Home. Idea already taken, sorry!
😁 I’d rate those a little bit higher than “a really cheap sci-fi channel movie” (especially the Director’s cut version of The Motion Picture).

I want something Filmed In Technicolor with reused props from other (much better) films and visible wires on the UFO!
 
In general, that's the truth everywhere on Earth.
It's not all completely black and white though, there may be some rare exceptions to that rule around, at least to a degree.
You'r assuming that the "aliens" got it right the first time. Like they didn't make mistakes. Like humans are the only species in the galaxy that were ever racist or violent or destroyed their enviroment.
 
No one really implied anything about earthlings either, but what is a forum thread without arguing for the sake of arguing, uh?
 
Oh right I forgot the narrative, humans are the bad guys......
It's quite easy to paint humans as the stuff of alien horror stories, we breathe toxic gases (O2 could potentially be toxic to some life forms), we are mostly made up a polar solvent (water), we can be quite relentless (for example persistence hunting), we can survive serious injury and still keep going. I could go on, but you get the idea. Humans are potentially very scary.
 
It's quite easy to paint humans as the stuff of alien horror stories

Humans are the stuff of my horror stories.

I always assume that in human alien encounters that humans are the bad guys, but in any speculative near future encounter, I also assume that the aliens are 'worse', usually by simple virtue of being more powerful.

I don't really believe there are 'good guys', just a side that it might be in my best interest to see prevail.
 
I’m hoping we just get another “WOW!” signal, finally decoded after many years of hard study by the finest minds:

The reply message will say...

“Hi, Sorry we missed your call. We're especially busy today, but if you leave us your name, number, and a brief message, we'll get back to you within the next 1/4 Cosmic Year"
 
Hello,

I recently wrote a paper (which I present here) suggesting which star has the highest probability of being the source of the WOW! Signal.

Do you think that we should reply to the WOW! Signal or not?
Press 1: To leave a review.
Press 2: To make a complaint.
Press 3: To make a suggestion.
Press 4: To speak to a person. You will need to wait a very long time and anticipate that, it may never happen.

As to making contact, with others, waiting out there?

The simple question should be: Would you be happy to reveal, your location, to a species that is exactly the same as human beings?
 
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