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Hi,
Do have a read in "The Eerie Silence" by Prof Paul Davies, an Australian heavily involved in SETI considerations.
The title refers to the Fermi Paradox, which can be expressed in Enrico Fermi's own words "Where is everybody?"
Davies makes many good points, which can be summarised as saying that we just don't know enough about anything, and that the whole SETI listening and signalling program could easily be a complete waste of time and money.
We don't even know how or where life arose here (or on Mars originally maybe?), and therefore whether life on an Earth-like planet (never mind other kinds of planets) is inevitable or just a rare accident. Then, we don't know if the evolution of technological intelligence is inevitable after life arises, or is another possibly unique, accident.
All the methodology we are using now supposes to some degree that intelligent life out there will be sort of like us to some degree, in that we would recognise their signals, and they ours. We don't have any evidence that is the case at all. We may be completely unable to recognise ET's communications, in the way that the ancient Egyptians could not have coped with a Facebook message.
So, I think we are jumping the gun looking and listening right now. I'd spend all the money in investigating Mars and researching the origins of life first.
Cheers
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