General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The universe is much bigger than big [View all]> If we encounter any civilizations using radio to transmit data, then they're almost exactly as far along technologically as we are. I believe if we're actually to receive signals from alien life, it would be from life far more advanced than our own.
That's a secondary point of my main point. It's hinted at in the movie "Contact" where the alien who is impersonating Jodie Foster's father is so different from us that it has no way to communicate with the "lesser species" (us) than by creating a situation that you could create with recreational drugs.
IOW, we really wouldn't be able to learn anything from aliens that are too advanced (or the opposite) from us. Sure we would know that we're "not alone", but so what?
So perhaps there are plenty of aliens out there, but they are on such a different evolutionary path that contacting them would make no real difference to us.
But the idea of "how different could aliens be?" has been addressed by astro-anthropologists (I guess that's what they are) who have stated that any kind of life would *kind of* resemble ourselves because of limits imposed by physical laws.
But - another but - then who knows if physical constraints (like Planck's Constant) are subtly different in remote sections of the universe?
Lotsa food for thought. It's all yummy.