Groping In The Dark

The search for life beyond Earth takes many forms.  We send out probes to the planets of the Solar System, looking for traces of life.  We use telescopes to study nearby stars, looking for planets which might be good candidates to have native life.  And we listen for radio signals from other technological civilizations.

For a lot of people, this seems like the height of pointlessness.  Who cares if there are single-celled organisms in the icy soil of Mars, or algae in the oceans of Europa, or little green men on a planet of Tau Ceti?  Finding out won't put food on anyone's table here on Earth.

This view may be narrow-minded, but it isn't wrong.  But humans do things for reasons other than personal gain.  As I've mentioned before, fear and conviction are as important as greed.  So let's look at the motivations for looking for life beyond Earth, and how they fit into that tripartite scheme.

CONVICTION
    People often do things not for any perceived practical reason but for reasons of moral conviction -- because they believe it's the right thing to do.
    So far, this one has been the biggie for SETI and space exploration both.  Our destiny, higher purpose, human adventure is just beginning, yadda yadda.  I've mentioned that contact with other intelligence would validate the whole existence of the human species.
    Unfortunately, this kind of argument just doesn't cut much ice with a lot of people.  Sure, we should look for other life in the Universe.  We should also help the sick, feed the hungry, and fight against oppression.  None of them are exactly in short supply -- the Universe can get in line, way at the back.
    If you rely on conviction, then unfortunately it becomes a matter of opinion, and I doubt that even a large minority of people will ever consider searching for life beyond Earth to be as important as concerns closer to home.  We need other reasons.

GREED
    If discovering life beyond Earth had obvious practical benefits, then NASA and the various SETI projects wouldn't be necessary -- you'd have private space exploration companies and for-profit radiotelescope operations.
    What possible payoffs are there?
    Finding life in the Solar System would be a tremendous boost to the study of genetics and biotechnology in general.  I should think any biotech company would go ape over the prospect of studying totally alien genetic codes and proteins.  But Glaxo and Johnson & Johnson aren't sending sample-return missions to Europa because of the incredible expense involved.  Sure, the potential payoff is big, but the cost and risk are even bigger.  So greed won't launch any space probes.
    Making contact with an alien civilization by radio would be an equally huge boost to the study of, well, just about everything.  Even if (by some fantastic coincidence) the aliens are no more advanced than we are, you'd still get valuable insights and discoveries just by comparing how they do things to our own methods.
    And SETI isn't very expensive.  Radiotelescopes are just big dish antennas, and any telecom company owns a few of those.  Add some cheap computers and some open-source software, and you've got a SETI program.  All you need are investors willing to fund a project for a decade or more with low probability of success but absolutely fantastic potential payoff.  High risk, high gain.  There are people willing to risk money on things like that.  Instead of going the nonprofit route, why aren't any SETI enthusiasts forming corporations and looking for investors?

FEAR
    Well, if the potential benefits of finding life beyond Earth don't grab you, what about the risks?
    To which the natural reply is, what risks?  We've gotten by for about 10,000 years with no contact with extraterrestrial life and nothing bad has happened.
    It's true.  There isn't much danger in not looking for life in the Universe.  As long as nobody else is looking, that is.  But if, say, the Chinese got first crack at organisms from Europa, or the French were covertly listening to transmissions from a distant civilization, there would be consequences for other nations on Earth.
    So any country which wants to remain competitive technologically had better remain a "player" in space exploration and SETI projects -- just to make sure nobody else gets some goodies and won't share.
    This argument hearkens back to the old Cold War worries about losing the "high ground" of space to a rival power.  Space advocates back then fanned the flames of US-Soviet rivalry in space for their own ends.  Maybe it wasn't strictly ethical, but it got humans to the Moon.
    Serious space and SETI advocates should start getting politicians worried about the Radiotelescope Race.  Imagine how quickly all the nearby stars could get surveyed if governments thought of it as a vital national priority instead of a crackpot scientific boondoggle.

So:  if you want more resources involved in the search for life beyond Earth, here are two strategies which look promising.

1.  Write your Congressman (or your Despotic Overlord) and complain that your country is falling behind in the race to explore space, and that this can have dire economic effects.  Try not to sound crazy.

2.  Find investors for a for-profit SETI project.  (If you don't, you'll have to watch Zygote Games LLC grow fat on alien technology patents.)  Try not to sound unprofitably crazy.



      

Comments

[Thom H.]

Don't stop writing. I love checking in here once or twice a week for your great commentaries and insights.

I've been running the SETI at home software since 1999. Haven't found an alien yet but the chance is always there, and it costs me nothing.

tjh