[net.origins] SETI

ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac) (07/12/85)

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Just some brief comments about SETI.

No one has been able to think of a way that free electromagnetic fields
could acquire organization through natural selection.  Therefore we
assume that an organized signal must be the product of an intelligent,
material being.  Whether the transmitter is a machine or an organism
is irrelevant.  Recognizing what constitutes an "organized signal" is
a nontrivial topic over which people have agonized at length.

If the assumption is wrong then SETI will still have discovered something
of fundamental interest.

People have been able to think of ways in which organisms can evolve.
Therefore the analogy between DNA and radio waves is incorrect.

-- 

"Don't argue with a fool.      Ethan Vishniac
 Borrow his money."            {charm,ut-sally,ut-ngp,noao}!utastro!ethan
                               Department of Astronomy
                               University of Texas