Please excuse me if this question has been discussed before, but I am
new to this group.

Undoubtedly, the most frustrating part of the SETI program to most of
us is its failure to detect any form of intelligence. What I am
wondering is, if the reason for the apparent lack of intelligent
signals might have more to do with the nature of alien communications
than with a shortage of intelligent species.

If other civilizations progressed at all like we did, then they would
have gone through an extremely brief period in which signals were
openly broadcast that could be picked up from great distances.

I don't think there is much doubt, that by the end of this century,
our own broadcast television and radio will be a thing of the past.
Already, we can get a much larger and better selection of radio
stations on the Internet, and television isn't far behind. 

But the internet is a combination of cables, tightly beamed laser
signals, and very short range wifi. Correct me if I'm wrong, but none
of our Internet communications could never be heard in other solar
systems, will they?

So, why would we expect alien civilizations to use such primitive and
inefficient technology? If like us, they only used open broadcasting
for about a century, then the odds of us hearing them during such a
tiny window, are astronomically small. 




Robert Harris
The JFK History Page
http://jfkhistory.com/