Reviewing METI: A Critical Analysis of the Arguments

John Gertz

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arXiv · 1605.05663

Reviewing METI: A Critical Analysis of the Arguments

John Gertz

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Abstract

There is an ongoing debate pertaining to the question of whether Earth should initiate intentional and powerful radio transmissions to putative extra-terrestrial (ET) civilizations in the hope of attracting ET's attention. This practice is known as METI (Messaging to ET Intelligence) or Active SETI. The debate has recently taken on a sense of urgency, as additional proponents have announced their intention to commence de novo transmissions as soon as they become funded and acquire the needed time on a powerful transmitter such as Arecibo. Arguments in favor of METI are reviewed. It is concluded that METI is unwise, unscientific, potentially catastrophic, and unethical.

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John Gertz. 2016-05-18. Reviewing METI: A Critical Analysis of the Arguments. https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.05663

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