Does the fictional aspect of "Contact" provide non fictional facts?

[Michael Varn]

Of course Iam refering to the movie that was based on the Carl Sagan novel.

The concepts from this film may actually prove that we are the only intelligent beings in the Milky Way Galaxy, and possibly Andromeda and Triangulum as well.

It's all about those radio signals. Now, we have had radio signals that have been reported on recently in the form of FRB's and the WOW signals. But so far there have not been any decernable patterns with these signals so far.

But keep in mind, these signals are coming from galaxys that are billions of light years away. Now in my mind this proves something.

Any intelligent life form on our level or higher most certainly would have the ability to transmit radio signals.

And if these signals were comeing from inside the Milky Way, or a nearby galaxy, we would have received them by now! Just like the signal from Vega in "Contact".

There would be no doubt. Every single astronomy grade receiver of incoming radio waves from space would be on the exact same page, because these signals do not have that far to travel. And these radio tones would be transmitted in a clear and dicernable patterns, like prime numbers in "Contact". But this has not happend.

What this proves to me is that intelligent life like ourselves is extremly rare, let alone higher than us. Who knows, mabey the closest intelligent life to us is in the billions of light years.

But based on the statistics of the total number of stars and galaxys, we are not alone!

Now the nature of other intelligent life in the universe is pedictable because it doesn't matter where you are in the universe, everyone has to play by the same rules. Those rules are....

The periodic table of the éléments.

Yes, hydrogen is the most abundant élément in the universe, and no matter where you are in the universe, these same éléments on our table apply to them as well. So their lifeforms are probably organised in the same way as ours. Mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish.

So in conclusion, at SETI, there are two fundamental ideas about what lifeforms from outer space look like.

1) They look just like us, and ressemble everything we know about Earth.

2) The other side of the. conversation contends that they look completely alien to us, and they will look like nothing we are expecting.

 

[Catastrophe]

Why is it assumed that any intelligent species would want to broadcast its presence?

Why would an intelligent species have to be at approximately our level?
They might be so far in advance that they would not want to contact primitive radio users?

Also, when it comes to broadcasting prime numbers, what is to say that the aliens have ten digits and hence have their maths on base ten?

Cat

 

[Geomartian]

Contact did steal the Martian subway system . Looks like it is calibrated in for New Jersey.

That is why humans can't have advanced stuff.

 

[Catastrophe]

Does the fictional aspect of "Contact" provide non fictional facts?

Ideas, yes. Facts, no.

Cat

 

[toolmaker]

Why would intelligent life use radio signals?
They may use light to communicate , they use methods of communication we have not developed yet. They may be sending probes that are signaling us the last hundred years but we are not sufficiently advanced to understand them yet.

 

[Catastrophe]

EM signals are the most obvious, and we are aware of the enormous range of wavelengths.
There may be other options??

Cat

 

[Epiphany]

As @Catastrophe notes, why do we assume an advanced civilization would want to broadcast its presence? Do we all buy the idea that “advanced” beings would be kind, benevolent and cooperative just because they’re advanced?

I think Chinese sci-if writer Liu Cixin had the right idea in his “dark forest” books. Perhaps broadcasting our presence would be putting a target on our backs for any advanced species to shoot at. Look at human history. In 99 of 100 conflicts between “advanced” and more primitive cultures, the advanced one crushes or eliminates the less advanced one.

humans have empathy hardwired into us, as part of mammals raising young. Would an alien race similar to crocodiles, who don’t have parents and family relationships, care about humans, except to use us as food or eliminate us as threats?

Why would an alien race want to broadcast themselves? To what purpose? If aliens had a Multi-star system civilization, we could perhaps pick up EM communications between their systems, but wouldn’t these communications be highly narrow and collimated? In that case we would be very lucky to be in the communication path where we could listen in.

I think that while they may be advanced beings out there, they aren’t likely to broadcast their presence, and perhaps we should worry about broadcasting ours.

 

[Catastrophe]

I remember a detail of a SF story I read decades ago. Whatever the circumstances, no matter, some humans including a mother and child were trapped in restricted circumstances. Gradually the numbers decreased until the finale saw the mother pointing at the last remaining man, and saying "Look baby, food". It is not beyond possibility that our overpopulated planet might be regarded with joy by an 'advanced' species which regarded backward mammals as fit for consumption - even delicacies.

Cat

 

[Catastrophe]

Epiphany
If you want to consider inter stellar travel, click on:
Where would you travel to if you had an extrasolar spacecraft?

Cat

 

[Clovis]

Contact : The camera used on the mission. The sphere went through the machine in a split second, she must have been delusional. Then how did the camera record fourteen hours of static?

 

[Patreon]

Ideas, yes. Facts, no.