Extraterrestrial intelligence and the decoding problem
Karim Jebari
Royal Institute of Technology
outline of my argument
1. Interstellar information gathering is not trivial
2. Decontextualized radical translation is impossible
3. Therefore, SETI is useless and METI is dangerous
WE cannot (yet) discard the possibility of an ETI in our stellar NEIGHBORHOOD
-
15 000 stars within 100 ly
- Terrestrial exoplanets are common
An encounter with an eti could have disastrous consequences
Some strategic considerations are therefore warranted
An assumption: THe ETI is a type 1 on the kardashev scale
Why? Because, if we encounter a type II or III civilization we are at their mercy.
INterstellar information gathering: some proposed technologies:
1. Current technologies
transit method
space based telescopes
solar occulters
spectroscopy
FAncy stuff possible for type I civilizations
1. Space-based interferometers
More stuff
2. Solar lensing
what do they know?
size
orbit
eccentricity
atospheric composition
(pollution)
city lights
rough map pf earth
no extraplanetary settlemants
What about 'I love lucy?'
No. They wont get it. This is implied by "the decoding problem"
Philosophy of language: meaning is ecological
Any sentence in a language, whether natural or constructed, derives its meaning from the way it is used in a context where its user can be observed.
THis is not the (infamous) Incunsumerability thesis
Two speakers can still understand each other, given that they are allowed to interact in a context.
Why?
Beacuse any means of communication has an infinite amount of possible meanings.
What about mathematics?
It's impossible to derive "we come in peace" from a list of natural numbers and rules for aritmethic operations.
What about pictures?
What about science?
Some possible alien ideas
1. communication=behavior
2. B-series time
3. Fact=fiction
4. non-numerical identity
5. Elatic school (Parmenides)
Problem: interstellar weapons of mass destruction
Extraterrestrial intelligence and the decoding problem
By Karim Jebari
