Reaction to extraterrestrial contact?

[Iroscato]

My question is simple; how would YOU react to a news report confirming a signal sent from another planet about 20 light years away was indeed created by advanced, sentient aliens? Would you raise an eyebrow and change the channel? Or whoop with glee, run out into the streets naked, and join the rioting taking place as a result?
Also, what kind of effects would such an event have on the economy? Religion? Society in general? The space exploration industry?
Would it create a huge boost in NASA funding, and a new golden age of space exploration, or destroy the fabric of society?

I personally would run over to my dad's (a fellow space nut) and hammer on the door, gibbering dementedly and happily. Then I'd collapse into joyous tears.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I created a thread like this about 6 nobths back. The conclusion was IIRC that there would be a brief spasm of celebrations and theological problems for those who care, followed by a "well, fine, they're ut there, but it'll take us twenty years to send a reply. and we'll never get to meet them. So what?"

[Panzersharkcat]

"Huh. Cool." Read up on the initial reports and then go back to my daily routine.

[Temujin]

I created a thread like this about 6 nobths back. The conclusion was IIRC that there would be a brief spasm of celebrations and theological problems for those who care, followed by a "well, fine, they're ut there, but it'll take us twenty years to send a reply. and we'll never get to meet them. So what?"

Yeah, unless the aliens themselves or one of their automated probes show up in our solar system, I don't see it being much different then this. Though if the signal was purposely sent to us and includes lots of juicy information, particularly of the scientific kind, it would probably generate more buzz and stay in the news longer as the information was routinely analyzed, with findings impacting our own understanding of science as well as technological applications.

[Eternal_Freedom]

If it's just a signal we pick up, even one detected at us, from 20 light years away, the long-term difference will be negligable. We'll have one "big question" answered conclusively (apart from the nutjobs claiming it's a hoax) - we are indeed not alone in the universe.

The only long-term difference will be that SETI transforms itself into a interstellar phone box, letting generations of scientists and philosophers bounce messages off the aliens.

This asumes of course we can understand the language.

[Modax]

I would be shocked. To detect an intelligent civilization only 20 lightyears away seems mindbogglingly unlikely. The implications would be staggering. Are they confined to their star system like us or are they a remote outpost of some pan-galactic civilization? If they are at the same level of development as us that is both an incredible coincedence and very worrying, because we would then rationally be contemplating a galaxy full of millions of such civilizations, and odds are that some of them are spamming up space with self-replicating machines. We would urgently need to find out more about our new neighbors.

[StarSword]

I would be shocked. To detect an intelligent civilization only 20 lightyears away seems mindbogglingly unlikely. The implications would be staggering. Are they confined to their star system like us or are they a remote outpost of some pan-galactic civilization?

Are there even any stars at 20 light years out? Only star I can think of which is that close is the Alpha Centauri system. (I say "system" because it's actually three stars orbiting each other.)

If they are at the same level of development as us that is both an incredible coincedence and very worrying, because we would then rationally be contemplating a galaxy full of millions of such civilizations, and odds are that some of them are spamming up space with self-replicating machines.

Self-replicating machines? Huh?

If they are at the same level of development as us, then they haven't developed self-replicating machines since we haven't.

We would urgently need to find out more about our new neighbors.

Absolutely.


My personal opinion? A lot of scientific and political discussion takes place, but nothing changes for the average Joe.

[Modax]

Are there even any stars at 20 light years out? Only star I can think of which is that close is the Alpha Centauri system. (I say "system" because it's actually three stars orbiting each other.)

Yeah, there's at least 18.
http://www.solstation.com/stars.htm

If they are at the same level of development as us, then they haven't developed self-replicating machines since we haven't.

We may be only decades away from making self replicating machines. If there are millions of civilizations in the galaxy someone surely will have made them.

My personal opinion? A lot of scientific and political discussion takes place, but nothing changes for the average Joe.

Most likely. But if our galaxy turns out to be literally swarming with life, it's anyone's guess when extraterrestrial artifacts might turn up in our solar system, that surely will change things.

[spooky spice]

I'd phone the woman who likes to mock me for being a Trekkie and say Nerrrrr really loudly.

[Iroscato]

I'd phone the woman who likes to mock me for being a Trekkie and say Nerrrrr really loudly.

Good on you
I think our radio transmissions have only extended about 100 lightyears into the milky way anyway, so I think our best chances of getting a signal back will come in several thousand years. But, for the love of God...100 billion stars or more...there HAS to be life out there.

[FaxModem1]

First, I'd wait a couple of hours to make sure that this isn't just bad reporting in the news, my belief in them getting facts right has really gone down in recent years.

Second, once I knew it was real, talk to my friends excitedly about this, as it changed everything, and hope NASA gets a lot more funding because of this.

Third, I go back to life as normal, because really, there's nothing more I can do to help or hinder this.

[NoXion]

How powerful is the signal likely to be? The stronger it is, the easier it will be to confirm by receivers across the Earth.

[Singular Intellect]

My jaw would hit the floor at the mind boggling statistical improbability of a sentient species capable of communicating with us within a radius of twenty lightyears, given the sheer scale of the universe and astronomical timeframes involved that species can evolve in.

The odds of just happening to contact a species that would virtually have had to evolve in a parallel time frame to us, at a comparable technological level to permit communications and within a insignificant handful of lightyears away from us really stretches credibility.

[Alyeska]

My jaw would hit the floor at the mind boggling statistical improbability of a sentient species capable of communicating with us within a radius of twenty lightyears, given the sheer scale of the universe and astronomical timeframes involved that species can evolve in.

The odds of just happening to contact a species that would virtually have had to evolve in a parallel time frame to us, at a comparable technological level to permit communications and within a insignificant handful of lightyears away from us really stretches credibility.

Not really. While the odds are long for a variety of reasons, the galaxy and the universe are huge. Its entirely possible statistically.

[Alerik the Fortunate]

If it were from an extremely ancient and advanced civilization, it's not unfeasible that they may have left outposts with mechanisms intended to communicate with societies nearer to our level. This vastly extends the timeframe over which communication is possible.