"Victor" <victor@com.com> wrote in message
news:bg8di3$d1$1@ctb-nnrp2.saix.net...

This has been a very interesting thread, probably the best in the last 6
months.

My opinions:

1. we should never assume something is impossible to do - not for our
race or another.  With the required willpower and resources, no project
is too fantastic.

Hear Hear!!

2. we should not only think radio waves - consider optical SETI too.

Amendment to this:  We have 5 senses (6 according to many (not most!!!)). We
may want to explore more options than just sight & sound.
While I don't have any theories on how to.... We can't just explore just 2
possible avenues of detecting other species & expect to get all or some/all
of the answers.

As an afterthought, there are probably many 'other' ways of detecting other
species outside of our Human/Terran sensory range.

3. it 'seems' the galaxy is not as crowded as we would like to think -
it is not as busy as town square market.  We have been listening for 40
years, nothing - except for the 'WOW' signal.  That says something.

Could it be the the 'WOW' was real?
Could it be that we only heard the tail end of an attempted comunication?
Could it be that they are/were sending a direct message to us & they only
have/had a certain time period to send it? (Thinking of their plantary
orbit/rotation & telescope time for their project. Not unlike SETI?).
Or could it be that they have a similar philosophy as us & only send 1 (or
only a few) deliberate comunications out with basic information, & would
prefere to just listen incase we were hostile & were able to visit them?
(Not that we are able to, but they don't know that!) Just like like us.
Mind you, the 'WOW' could have been artificial, such as a spy saterlite
retasked & not expected or reported to be in that position when the signal
was detected.

We are special but maybe not unique.  If we detect another civilization
or other life - so what?  The universe is geared for life to exist.

Vic

Brian
3874 units (not much, but a contribution)