Look, I get the appeal. Hijack the sky with geometric light tricks and hope the neighbors are friendly. But reading this? I am unsettled.
We are not just whispering into the void anymore. We are throwing up neon signs in every direction and hoping no one answers with a hammer. The whole premise reads like we skipped over the part where we ask, "Should we?," and went straight to "Wouldn’t it be cool if…?"
If the Dark Forest theory is even half right, then turning the Sun into a billboard feels like a dare. We are gambling that any civilization advanced enough to see this will be curious, kind, and interested in chatting.
History does not suggest that is a safe bet.
Interesting idea to go through though!!! Did you double check all your sources are real?
The METI project is all about letting our neighbors know we are here. The current version of METI is broadcasting a message to interstellar space and hoping someone hears it. The chances are very small, and if they did hear it, by the time they answered- the earliest we'd ever hear a response is 2040- ish. The Voyager missions were a version of METI.
My proposal could cut that time in half, as these messages would technically be at the speed of light.
In one of David Kipping's videos, he mentions the idea that any advanced civilization - already knows we're here. They can see our satellites and carbon output.
This guy at the METI project seems pretty optimistic.
"In any case, the folks most up for engaging with us are probably [...] like us, can communicate with other star systems but can't yet travel to them. They, too, would likely be more advanced than we are since anyone less advanced wouldn't be able to talk across cosmic distances. But they would not be able to come here and harm us, whatever their desires, any more than we could do the same to them."
Look, I get the appeal. Hijack the sky with geometric light tricks and hope the neighbors are friendly. But reading this? I am unsettled.
We are not just whispering into the void anymore. We are throwing up neon signs in every direction and hoping no one answers with a hammer. The whole premise reads like we skipped over the part where we ask, "Should we?," and went straight to "Wouldn’t it be cool if…?"
If the Dark Forest theory is even half right, then turning the Sun into a billboard feels like a dare. We are gambling that any civilization advanced enough to see this will be curious, kind, and interested in chatting.
History does not suggest that is a safe bet.
Interesting idea to go through though!!! Did you double check all your sources are real?
The METI project is all about letting our neighbors know we are here. The current version of METI is broadcasting a message to interstellar space and hoping someone hears it. The chances are very small, and if they did hear it, by the time they answered- the earliest we'd ever hear a response is 2040- ish. The Voyager missions were a version of METI.
My proposal could cut that time in half, as these messages would technically be at the speed of light.
In one of David Kipping's videos, he mentions the idea that any advanced civilization - already knows we're here. They can see our satellites and carbon output.
This guy at the METI project seems pretty optimistic.
"In any case, the folks most up for engaging with us are probably [...] like us, can communicate with other star systems but can't yet travel to them. They, too, would likely be more advanced than we are since anyone less advanced wouldn't be able to talk across cosmic distances. But they would not be able to come here and harm us, whatever their desires, any more than we could do the same to them."
https://meti.org/en/blog/messaging-extraterrestrials-too-risky
We most likely don't have to worry about it.