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THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE Are we alone in the universe? Is the search for extraterrestrial intelligence a waste of resources or a genuine contribution to scientific research? And how should we communicate with other life-forms if we make contact? The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been given fresh impetus in recent years following developments in space science which go beyond speculation. The evidence that many stars are accompanied by planets; the detection of organic material in the circumstellar disks of which planets are created; and claims regarding microfossils on Martian meteorites have all led to many new empirical searches. Against the background of these dramatic new developments in science, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence: a philosophical inquiry critically evaluates claims concerning the status of SETI as a genuine scientific research programme and examines the attempts to establish contact with other intelligent life-forms of the past thirty years. David Lamb also assesses competing theories on the origin of life on Earth, discoveries of ex-solar planets and proposals for space colonies as well as the technical and ethical issues bound up with them. Most importantly, he considers the benefits and drawbacks of communication with new life-forms: how we should communicate and whether we could. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is an important contribution to a field which until now has not been critically examined by philosophers. David Lamb argues that current searches should continue and that space exploration and SETI are essential aspects of the transformative nature of science. David Lamb is honorary Reader in Philosophy and Bioethics at the University of Birmingham. THE SEARCH FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL INTELLIGENCE A philosophical inquiry David Lamb London and New York First published 2001 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor and Francis e-Library, 2005. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2001 David Lamb All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lamb, David, 1942– The search for extraterrestrial intelligence : a philosophical inquiry / David Lamb. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Life on other planets. I. Title. QB54 .L35 2001 999–dc21 00-062787 ISBN 0-203-99174-5 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0–415–24341–6 (hbk) ISBN 0–415–24342–4 (pbk) FOR ESMOND CONTENTS Acknowledgements viii List of abbreviations ix Introduction 1 1 Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence 5 2 The scientific status of SETI 39 3 Habitation, life and intelligence 61 4 Life in the solar system: terraforming and colonization 100 5 UFOs and space travel 125 6 Is anyone there? 152 7 Contact with advanced supercivilizations 182 8 Conclusion 195 Bibliography 199 Index 207 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank a number of people for their valuable assistance during the preparation of this book. Dr Doris Schroeder for finding those elusive sources which often turned out to be of immense value, and Dr Susan Easton who patiently read through at least two versions of the manuscript. My interest in SETI as a scientific inquiry emerged in the course of teaching the philoso- phy of science to university students during the 1990s. An earlier account of some of my thoughts on this subject can be found in a paper entitled ‘Communication with extraterrestrial intelligence: SETI and scientific methodology’, first published in D. Ginev and R.S. Cohen (eds) Issues and Images in the Philosophy of Science (1997: 223–51), a revised version of which is republished here with kind permission from Kluwer Academic Publishers. Special thanks to Richard Scothern, who shares my interest in the intelligence of non-human terrestrial beings, and who not only supplied me with valuable computer hardware but managed to bring me to a reasonable level of computer literacy. Thanks to my very good friend, Gonzalo Munévar, for his conversations, wisdom and wit, which I have been fortunate to enjoy over many years. Thank you also to the copy editor, Susan Dunsmore. Needless to say, I claim responsi- bility for any remaining errors. viii ABBREVIATIONS ASEPS astronomical studies of extrasolar planetary systems BUFORA British Unidentified Flying Object Research Association CAT consciousness-assisted technology CE close encounter CETI communication with extraterrestrial intelligence DUMAND Deep Underwater Muon and Neutrino Detector EBEs extraterrestrial biological entities EEG electroencephalogram ESA European Space Agency ETA extraterrestrial activity ETI extraterrestrial intelligence FRESIP frequency of Earth-sized planets FTL faster-than-light GAO Government Accounting Office GHz gigahertz GRBs Gamma-ray bursts HRMS High Resolution Microwave Survey IFO identified flying object IRAS infrared astronomical satellite LGM1 little green man 1 MCSA Multi-Channel Spectrum Analysers META Megachannel Extraterrestrial Assay MOP Microwave Observing Project NASA National Aeronautical and Space Administration NRAO National Radio Astronomy Observatory OBEs out of body experiences RFI radio frequency interference SCs supercivilizations SEP solar electric propulsion SETHI search for extraterrestrial human intelligence SETI search for extraterrestrial intelligence SF science fiction ix ABBREVIATIONS SLIME subsurface lithoautotrophic microbial ecosystem TAC technology-assisted consciousness TOPS Towards Other Planetary Systems UFO unidentified flying object USAAF United States of America Air Force UV ultraviolet VR virtual reality x INTRODUCTION I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more im- pressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space; but none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. (President John F. Kennedy, message to Congress, 25 May 1961) Despite a wealth of science fiction and scientific speculation on the origins of the universe and life itself, professional philosophers have shown little interest in space exploration. Our culture is very much an Earthbound one and provides little imaginative foothold for the exploration of space. Yet we stand on the threshold of space exploration. We may decide to refrain from further explor- ations and draw to a halt the expansion of our technological culture, or we may begin a project of exploration that will, one day in the far-off future, lead to the stars. For most of us, while space travel is scientific fact, communication with extraterrestrials is science fiction (SF). But the line between the two is not rigid. Why should we, it might be asked, be the only culture in the universe to contemplate exploration? This question leads directly to the subject matter of this book, the investigation of theories and beliefs concerning the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial forms of life and the proposals for making contact with them. The name given to scientific research into the search for extraterrestrial intelligent life is SETI, that is, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. One of the objectives of writing this book is to evaluate the respective claims that have been made about the status of SETI as a serious scientific enterprise and the variety of hypotheses which have emerged during the past three or four decades of SETI research. How does SETI research differ from science fiction? Both concern life on other worlds, conquest of space, communication with advance cultures and the possibility of a galactic community. There are many who would argue that science and SF are interchangeable, and that what is SF today could be routine science tomorrow. In this context SF prophets, such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells are often cited as visionaries who imagined what scientists would later 1 INTRODUCTION discover. But this obscures a very important distinction between the scientific imagination and the literary imagination. Whereas SF, like an entertainment magician, requires a suspension of our demand for an explanation, science even at its most speculative and imaginative, does not ignore or try to conceal the improbable. SF requires a massive leap of imagination, skilfully concealing the gaps in our knowledge; the better the tale, the better the gaps are concealed and the awkward questions remain unasked. This is partly why there is a mass market for UFO theories and accounts of alien abductions; good tales have the ability to drive out boring scientific truths. But SETI must face the requirement to present details and explanations at every stage. Of course, when reasoning in the context of discovery, not every claim has to be secured with hard evidence and impregnable theory, but the scientist must be
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