JoeSP wrote:

I don't mean to be an enemy of SETI, I find it fascinating to say the least, but an increasing number of scientific minds are growing more and more critical of the project.  I was severely chastised in these groups for merely stating the somewhat obvious.

I said that it was highly unlikely that efficient radio communication would contain repeating elements, which is what SETI is mainly searching for. Our own communications use a type of compression that takes out repeating elements, thus making it appear more and more like random noise.

I guess I don't understand how you came to the conclusion that an advanced alien race might eliminate repeating elements  just because humans did ?  So anything humans do changes an advanced civilization toward "highly unlikely" that they will do the same ? I would think the wording would be "slightly unlikely" ?

I also questioned the logic of an advanced civilization using radio broadcasts into space as an efficient means of communication.  Particle-beam signals would be vastly more efficient, but much harder to detect by third parties such as ourselves.

I think the whole science of alien advanced civilizations is vastly limited to human limitations.  You say that particle beam signals would be vastly more efficient, but it is also possible that perhaps
an advanced alien civilization might include nostalgia.  Nostalgia for
radio waves.  It is posible that a religion formed around radio waves and even though it was less efficient, it was workable.  It could also be possible that a religion was formed around particle beams, but that
religion was too greedy and effiecient to survive.  You see in the inter-stellar war way back when, the radio waves destroyed the particle beam followers.  Or in a happier scenario, both religions prospered and assisted each other in many topics, but chose to agree to disagree on the topic of deep space communications.  (^:

Organisms in nature rarely broadcast their presence to the surroundings. Organisms on other planets presumably follow the same laws of nature too. Remaining incognito is what most organisms make great efforts to do. Exceptions are those who want to mate, and take the calculated risk, but I don't think any alien intelligence would be broadcasting radio signals into space for such a purpose.

Actually organizms on earth are broadcasting lots of things for other creatures.  Blue frogs and newts broadcast their poison qualities to as far as some eye can see it.  Most all animals broadcast electricity that many other animals can pick up.  larger animals can sometimes hone in on that electrical information and smaller ones can use it to stay away and recognize danger.  Peacocks broadcast their intention to mate and many animals like moose and whales broadcast vast distances to anyone who can understand them.  Many mamals broadcast pheromones for a huge variety of purposes and distance is only relied on the sensitivity of the receiving nose.  And if we are to include humans in the earthly organizms that broadcast, I would say that missionaries of many religions broadcast far and wide to convert others.  And human scientist sometimes run experiments in long distance communication just for the pure scientific curiosity (with no real tangible reason to do it, but just to fulfil a curiosity).  So any advanced civilization could there send our explorers or missionaries signals in a vast variety of beams or waves, so as to reach more converts or to reach more curosity parts of their brains.

And perhaps most important of all is the tiny window in the vastness of time and space that any intelligent civilization would be able to attempt to communicate with others in the universe.  The chances of finding a similar civilization to ours, beaming out friendship signals in hopes of connecting with another are probably as remote as two bullets colliding in the air, shot from different sides of a mountain, on any given day in a millenium.

Yes, it might be rare indeed when one thinks of the vastness of time.  But it is also possible that a transmitted message might be automated and placed some protected place and basically run on solar energy.  It could possibly be broadcasting something long after the advanced civilization died out.

Jonathan Melusky