Is Messaging Exoplanet A Good Idea?

Glenn Reynolds links to an item on our sending messages to a far off water-covered exoplanet and asks if it's a good idea.

"It may be covered by a large and deep ocean and is the first serious ‘waterworld’ candidate discovered beyond our Solar System". Is this a good idea?

While unsure of how productive an exercise it might be, I think it's pretty cool to do. If there's a down side to eventually making contact with anything out there, they probably already know more about us, than we do of them. But under the particular circumstances in this case, I know what one of the text messages should be.

"You folks must have some kick ass swimmers up there. We have this little thing called the Olympics you might be interested in. There is a drug test, but it pays pretty good these days. If there's any interest, please just let us know" - USOC.

Comments

[Lisa Graas]

LOL!! Logic rules, man. Logic rules. hahaha Thanks for the laugh.

[Lisa Graas]

Seriously, I will be laughing about this for a full day. LOL!

[SacTownMan]

What if it's a planet of moonbats?

[tim maguire]

If they have the ability to understand our signals, then they've been watching our television for decades.

[KingShamus]

Olympic swimming: One more job Americans...I mean...Earthlings won't do anymore.

This'll put Michael Phelps right out of work, Dan.

[WAHOO WILLIE]

"What if it's a planet of moonbats?"

SACtown: Maybe it's the utopia they dream of and we can start loading ship fulls of them

[Dan Riehl]

Actually, I believe it's a planet of "ex-O-bats". Even worse than moonbats, I hear. We're already seeing them pop up around the country. ;)

[WAHOO WILLIE]

"ex-O-bats" Yep, some were here two days ago...sharing their intellictual superiority

[Adjoran]

There has been a long discussion of the wisdom of such signals which presume, without a single shred of evidence, that whoever receives them would only do us benefit. How can this be deduced? We can't even know they would even recognize our concepts of benign, neutral, and malign, much less give a rat's patootie what we thought or tweeted about them.

The only thing of which we could be certain is that if they can reach us, they are more technologically advanced than we are by orders of magnitude. But sure, what the heck, it would probably be okay if they are drawn here by our signals. I'm almost optimistic about it, even.