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 BBS: The Matrix BBS
Date: 02-16-98 (11:13)             Number: 195
From: JACK SARGEANT                Refer#: NONE
  To: ALL                           Recvd: NO
Subj: 2                     2/3      Conf: (195) UFO
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        life.'
Blather would agree, but would assume that in order to propose the
latter theory, one has to consider the former.
Reader Stephen Gallagher, on the chances of another lifeform
utilising radio.
        'If we're talking of life of a 'similar intelligence' to human,
        then it seems very likely that at some stage in their development
        that they would invent radio technology.
        'If they were any way intelligent then I don't think they would
        have made a decision like [deciding that radio was obsolete],
        I can't see how radio is going to go out of fashion any time
        soon.'
Blather stated that 'It's worth realising that our perception of
intelligence is potentially chauvinistic and very subjective -- if it
doesn't seem intelligent to us it's just not intelligent. The
perceived intelligence of another lifeform seems dependent on its
ability to communicate with us'.
To which Stephen responded:
        'So there is no such thing as some absolute measure of
        intelligence? I think we  can be fairly objective in this matter
        with regards to assessing the potential  'intelligence' behind
        something like a radio transmission. If we detect some signal
        that can't be attributed to already known radio sources like
        quasars etc. then we can investigate in more detail whether the
        signal has the necessary complexity to have an intelligent
        source.'
Derek Bell piped up with:
        'About two distinct intelligent species being unable to
        understand each others' language: this is quite plausible if
        Chomsky's linguistics is a good model of what happens in
        intelligent beings. Basically, Chomsky proposes that humans have
        a "meta-grammar" (my term) in our genes that describes the types
        of language that humans can speak/write/whatever. If another
        intelligent species appears with a quite different meta-grammar,
        there may be no common ground for them to communicate! (The two
        meta-grammars having no grammars in common.)'
And Pat Marren:
        'The real test of the feasibility of SETI is, how long is it
        likely to take before some superior civilization beams us an
        order for take-out Chinese?  That, of course, depends upon the
        density of "sun-like stars" in our neighborhood of the galaxy,
        and the probability that each might give rise to civilizations
        with a taste for Chinese food.
        'The earth began emitting a decent amount of human-broadcast
        radio waves about seventy-five years ago.  Assuming the speed of
        light is constant, that means we are at the center of an
        ever-expanding communications shell of a radius of seventy-five
        light years. Assuming further that our alien pals are hungry, and
        therefore prompt about sending out a reply, the "reply" radius is
        currently half of seventy-five light-years, or about 37 light
        years.
        'Carl Sagan states his belief that if one in a million sun-like
        stars foster intelligent life, then there are millions of
        instances of intelligent life in the galaxy.  Now I don't believe
        in UFOs, because if I were a superior being I would not be
        mucking around trailer parks in search of sexual experimentation.
        I'd go right to the center of the action -- the West Wing of the
        White House.  But Sagan was obviously right. There must be
        millions of civilizations-- it's just statistics.
        'So my question as a taxpayer must be, how many sun-like stars
        are there within 37 light years?   And how many sun-like stars is
        our ever-expanding sphere of radio emanations likely to encompass
        before I am out of the taxpayer role and in a trailer park?  A
        million?  If it's a million, then it's worth it.  If it's
        thirty-seven or fifteen, then the hell with it.
Blather reader Al Tepper is conducting a survey on subjectivity for
his masters at http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~tepper/survey.htm and
invites all readers to take part.
Arthur Goldstuck, in South Africa, has named Blather as this week's
Legendary Site of the Week. See the
listing at http://www.web.co.za/arthur/leglist.html and Arthur's
'Legends from a Small Country' site, at
http://www.web.co.za/arthur/welcome.html
ERRATA
No one, other than the fastidiously vigilant Paul (Archeire
http://www.archeire.com) Clerkin spotted the glaring mistake in last
weeks issue, where I appeared to claim that Carl Sagan's book
'Cosmos' was 'the best selling book in the English language'. What
Blather really meant was 'best selling science book'.
Dave (daev) Walsh
13th February 1998
Feedback and comments to 
Have your say: http://www.nua.ie/blather/blabber/
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