Interstellar Archaeology?
Posted in Unfounded Speculation
on February 5th, 2010 by
Stephen DeGrace
Topics:
Science Fiction
Randy McDonald posted a link to an interesting discussion about the idea of interstellar archaeology on his blog.
I have problems with the Drake equation :), and I'm not sure what I think about the possibility of encountering or detecting advanced civilizations.
I don't think intelligence in the way we think of it (a species capable of a high degree of adaptation, intellectual abstraction and use of technology) is a "goal" of evolution or in any sense inevitable no matter how long life exists on a planet, so I don't know necessarily if we should expect many civilizations like ours to arise.
Secondly, I think that the laws of physics and chemistry dictate that interstellar life is probably remarkably similar to life on earth. I also don't think humans are especially evil or flawed, comparatively speaking, I mean. The balance of nature is a myth - all species exploit their environment to the hilt and if not checked will radically alter it, causing as much damage as they absolutely can. I think we will find very recognizable flaws in other intelligent species, so the chances of species committing suicide or blasting themselves back to permanent hunter-gatherer status in an extremely short time after achieving the technology to do so are excellent.
Finally, I am of the view that science and technology are fundamentally limited. We haven't seen the limits yet, but I think the pace of progress is already beginning to slow and we will become more aware of the limits. I doubt a Dyson sphere is an achievable artifact, let alone capturing the energy of a galaxy.
While I can't prove anything, the deafening silence coming from the heavens after decades of careful searching is suggestive :)
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On February 5th, 2010 Stephen DeGrace
wrote:
And oh yeah, another thing. People writing on space travel seem to automatically assume that interstellar travel is a natural and inevitable goal of any civilization. However, no real utility has been demonstrated, in my opinion.
Since there is very little benefit to the overwhelming majority if a vanishingly tiny minority gets to use a huge portion of the planet's economic output to have a chance at passing on their genes in a distant star system, it is unclear why anyone would do it except for quasi-religious reasons or as a display of conspicuous consumption (must like displays such as sending men to the moon - they don't accomplish anything but to serve as a demonstration of a nation's glory to its competitors and as an inspirational act).
To me it's not clear at all that a civilization will necessarily make the attempt to seed the stars while it is a going concern, or that the attempt will yield anything even if undertaken.