“I’m just really sad I won’t get to have an interstellar pen-pal”

I’ve been watching all the movies I should have seen in my childhood but didn’t. Yesterday I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ((The much anticipated sequel to Distant Encounters of the Third Kind)) I saw it because I had this thought pop into my head this week that made me sad.

Here’s the prologue to my thought: we have had signals going out into space for the past 75 years. The movie Contact was based on the idea that one of these signals reached an alien civilization that had perfected instantaneous interstellar travel, but still had no idea how to do that with communication.  Humanity has only been able to send signals into space for 75 years and probably won’t be able to get off this planet or solve all its problems before the Zombie Apocalypse. ((Or global warming or economic crash or… whatever.)) So in the best case scenario, we get to send signals out into space for the next 200-500 years.

These signals will probably reach planets across the galaxy. But even if they make it to these planets without significant degradation, they probably won’t make it to planets that have life. But even if they make it to planets that have life, they probably won’t be planets that have intelligent life. But even if these planets have intelligent life, they probably won’t be able to/know how to/consider interpreting these signals as proof of intelligent life elsewhere. But even if they manage to figure it out and decide to communicate with out, we probably won’t be around to answer back.

… I have nothing more to say about this. I’m just really sad I won’t get to have an interstellar pen-pal.

I’ve been watching all the movies I should have seen in my childhood but didn’t. Yesterday I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind. ((The much anticipated sequel to Distant Encounters of the Third Kind)) I saw it because I had this thought pop into my head this week that made me sad. Here’s the…