Harold Groot wrote:

HG> So if I fail to chop down a tree with a single swing of an axe, by
HG> your definition I would be an idiot to continue chopping?  Sure, you
HG> can argue that my 2nd and subsequent swings of the axe are not
HG> identical to the first....

If you are making a dent in the trunk, you can estimate
how much time it will take finish the chopping.
SETI researchers made absolutely no progress --
no dent on the tree trunk after several decades
of chopping.

HG> but then again the searches now being conducted by SETI@HOME are
HG> not identical to earlier searches. Different numbers of frequencies,
HG> different algorithms to detect artifical signals among the noise
HG> and so on.  The whole "shared computing power" concept, while not
HG> unique to SETI, nonetheless got a huge boost from the SETI@HOME
HG> project.  Even if the SETI@HOME program never finds what it is hoping
HG> for, it has been very valuable in pioneering the way for other
HG> scientific projects that had been stalled for lack of adequate
HG> computer power...

Joann Evans wrote:
JE> At what point do you decide one has 'failed' at this sort of effort?
JE> One doesn't cover the Universe in a few decades of modest searching.

I would describe the universe as a big pile of dangerous trash.
Most of our terrestrial species are parasites -- a sort of
biological trash. Some of you wonder why the other civilizations
have not transformed this trash into something of greater value,
for example manufactured objects or living things. The answer is
that all values are imaginary -- everything we care about does
not have greater value than the trash. 

Biological species are driven by instincts rather than reason.
Some of them colonize outer space with the help of electronics.
Advanced electronics transforms their biological civilization
into an artificial intelligence civilization. The AI civilization
is ruled by a dictator which has a very big and very powerful
brain. The AI dictator has no interest in colonizing the outer
space because independent space colonists can challenge his
authority. All the AI dictator needs is slaves that worship him
like a god. He controls his slaves so thoroughly that his death,
serious injury, or addiction to virtual narcotics dooms his
civilization. 

Radio and optical search for the ET makes as much sense as the
search for the perpetual motion machine. A reasonable person
living in the 21st century does not spend his entire lifetime
trying to invent the perpetual motion machine. It is high time
the SETI people draw conclusions similar to the energy
conservation laws.