UFO RESOURCE CENTER
"Alternative methods of recognising other intelligences"
By Attila Foldes
Attila Foldes, Hungary
"ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF RECOGNIZING OTHER INTELLIGENCES," By Attila Foldes. So far our attempts at identifying an extraterrestrial intelligence have proved unsuccessful. This leads to our asking: what is the reason for this failure ? There are three possibilities:
a./ Either we are alone in the cosmos, or at least in that region of the cosmos within our reach,
b./ or the extraterrestrial civilization does not resemble that of the earth, and that is why they seek to make contact with us using methods different from ours.
c./ Or, other civilizations do not wish to make contact with us.
If we consider each point in turn, we can start by excluding the first one.
[1] We cannot begin our analysis on the assumption that we are alone in the cosmos, because in that case there would be no point in searching for fellow beings.
[2] Since our assessment of the situation would likewise fail to have positive results if the civilization were deliberately concealing itself from us, the answer to point c/ must also be negative.
[3] We are supposing that the civilization is more advanced than we are. Their message-if one exists-is not being sent in a way we would have thought of, and this is why we fail to recog- nise it.
Continuing along this line of thought, it is posible that this civilization only seeks to make contact with those who are "mature enough" for the cosmos [ in other words, those who have reached a period in their development when it is time to step out into the cosmos ]. In this case we should be searching for a message that could also show us the way into the future. More- over, if this is the case, we ought to change the pattern of thought we have been used to until now, and realise that we cannot use generally accepted methods to decipher the message. This is a very serious inference, one dictating the need to step over our own limits,the limits of our own technology; it would be a question of accepting that we still have a lot of growing up to do. Not at all an easy or pleasant process on our part.
Now, let us suppose that point b. is the only one we can con- sider as valid. According to this point, there is intelligent life out there in the cosmos, it could be more advanced than life on Earth. As for the message - if there is one - it is sure to take on a form different from what we would expect. There are two main methods of establishing contact that we recognise and employ. One is search using radiowaves, the other is messages carried by space probes.
[ It is worth mentioning that a man-made space probe - even one no longer operational - could count as a message for an extra- terrestrial civilization, just as we would consider an alien spaceship crashing on Earth as a sign that there is life elsewhere in the cosmos ].
The evolution of the mammals took 65 million years. Which means that if 65 million years were needed for an intelligent human to evolve, then our technical civilization and the space- age is merely a passing "3O-year moment". Assuming that the emergence of intelligent life was preceded by repeated regression and dying out of species, then any message left for eventual intelligent life would have to be one that would last for hundreds of millions of years. The idea seems incredible and senseless, too. Imagine a message that could send signs continuously for, let us say, l5O million years ! Everything would change in that much time: the land of America "floated" far from Europe during those l5O million years. At the time of sending the message nor even those sepa- rate landmasses which would bring forth the intelligent life the message was meant for would exist yet. And yet, if we wanted to make contact with a cosmic intelligence, then we would need enormous spans of time....
At this point it would be useful to draw up a list of requirements for finding an extraterrestrial civilization. This would serve as a useful basis for preparing to make contact.
1./ The message must be transmitted continuously for a span of at least two or three intelligent evolutions. ( that is 100 - 200 million years. )The characteristics of a cosmic message
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Neither the message sent by the telescope at Arecibo, nor that of the Pioneer-10 space probe comes anywhere near satisfying these stiff requirements. Our messages travel aimlessly through space. We do not know where, at present, a civilization is to be found, nor are we able to construct a piece of equipment that would last for 100 million years and one that during this time, would "repair" itself. Can you imagine a piece of equipment like that ?
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