Posthuman Blues

Listening for ET: Two Decades

"The SETI Institute predicts that we'll detect an extraterrestrial transmission within twenty years."

Here we go again. I've been hearing the "twenty year" prediction since at least junior high now. Contact is always just around the corner with the gang at SETI, just as extraterrestrial "disclosure" is always imminent among UFO/crash-retrieval theorists. Personally, I perceive little difference between the two camps -- except that the professional "skeptics" who grace our news-stands and TV screens maintain a convenient amnesia regarding SETI's claims while never failing to attack UFO claims with the subtlety of rabid dogs.

I'm perfectly willing to support radio-SETI. Indeed, I've been crunching numbers for Shostak and company since I bought my computer. But enough with the empty promises. I've had it with the hope-mongering.