The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence(SETI)

Mike GarrettSir Bernard Lovell Chair, Prof. of Astrophysics. Director Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics

Can SETI expand Big History’s horizons?

Prof. Michael GarrettSir Bernard Lovell Chair of Astrophysics, Director Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (JBCA).

UNESCO World Heritage Site, 2019

History of the Universe (typical astronomers view):

History of the Universe (typical astronomers view):

Big History (BH) view:

• Starts off broad, compressed timeline that quickly focuses to life on Earth and human development.

ASTROBIOLOGY

• Simplifies the discussion, doesn’t fully recognise the limitations of our knowledge.

e.g. Modern Cosmology - “The pizza that nobody ordered…” - K. Kuijken

~ 5%%

• Simplifies the discussion, doesn’t fully recognise the limitations of our knowledge.

68%

27%

Everything else that we don’t understand!

e.g. Modern Cosmology - “The pizza that nobody ordered…” - K. Kuijken

~ 5%%

• Long list of things we don’t understand or know: - Dark matter

- Dark energy

- Inflation

- Ultimate fate of the Universe (Big Freeze v Big Crunch v Big rip etc)

- Origin of life (Abiogenesis)

- Life beyond Earth (Solar System, Milky Way etc)

- Propogation of life in the Universe (Panspermia)

- Universe => Multiverse

- …

- …

• Does it matter if we know or do not know these things?

• Is humankind’s future influenced by a deep knowledge of such things?

• An example: theories of the Universe…: Big Bang vs Steady-State theory

Steady State => We are not alone ?

• BH Focus on thresholds of complexity - mhhh…

9 Billion years of “Big History” where nothing much happe

• BH Misses some key points, potentially misleading…

e.g. Peak in cosmic star formation, a few billion years after the Big Bang.

What does SETI bring to the table?

What does SETI bring to the table?

Baryonic cosmic foundations (on which to build)

What does SETI bring to the table?

Baryonic cosmic foundations (on which to build)

What does SETI bring to the table?

LifeIntelligent Life

AI

Us

Baryonic cosmic foundations (on which to build)

What does SETI bring to the table?SETI puts the “BIG” back into Big History… Big History with the “large scale” perspective regained.

LifeIntelligent Life

AI

Us

What does SETI bring to the table?SETI puts the “BIG” back into Big History… Big History with the “large scale” perspective regained.

LifeIntelligent Life

AI

Us

Sharing BH between multiple galactic civilisations!

What can BH do for SETI?

What is the typical Lifetime of a technical civilisation? - Can humankind overcome contemporary challenges ?

Do all technical civilisations often enter a post-biological phase ?

What fraction of technical civilisations become truly space-faring? Is Galactic colonisation inevitable ?

“Studying history is the ultimate passport to the future” -A. Whitelock

• SETI success is proving to be difficult…

‣ So far no obvious SETI signals have been detected. ‣ Astronomical data in general show no signatures (so far) of

advanced civilisations.

‣ Solar system is pristine with no obvious evidence of visitations from advanced civilisations.

‣ Milky Way is big, old and the speed of light is finite.‣ Civilisations (or e.g. their “radio bright” phase) may have v.

short lifetimes…

‣ Intelligent life took a long time to arise on this planet, and may be universally “rare”.

Best case is that we are waiting for some kind of technical, intellectual or ethical breakthrough…

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek

Maybe humans are just not up to the job…?

What else does SETI bring to the table?SETI puts the “BIG” back into Big History… Big History with the “large scale” perspective regained.

LifeIntelligent Life

AI

Us

Sharing BH between multiple civilisations

Is this really all there is ?

LifeIntelligent Life

AI

Us

Cosmic foundations (on which to build)

“Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”- Sir. Arthur C. Clarke

We must take better care of our planet and each other…

and others…Damascus, Syria, September 2015

Thank you!

www.facebook.com/JodrellBankObservatory

@JodrellBankObservatory

@Mike_Garrett

http://www.facebook.com/JodrellBankObservatory

Summary

Astronomers can learn from BH - we shouldn’t only look

upwards and outwards.

SETI makes us think about our own future in order to understand the future of other civilisations.

There are many things we don’t understand - we shouldn’t pretend otherwise. But does it really matter?

Thinking about SETI can put the BIG back into Big History!

SETI expands our view of the Universe and all of its possibilities.

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