Quote:
Originally Posted by renormalised
Problem is, would you be able to make any sense with the implements you were using, given that you'd have no common set of experiences with which to make sense of any communications. You could eventually communicate with one another but it'd take a bit of time and a lot of stuff ups. For very old societies, trying to communicate with us would be very difficult, especially if they were so far beyond us that radio became completely unfamiliar to them. We're so young that we cannot conceive being isolated from a younger culture so totally that we couldn't communicate, but imagine a civilisation that's been around for a couple of billion years (or even only several million years). They'd could be so remote from our level of experience in all respects that they may find it difficult just trying to start a conversation. Funnily enough, the best way they could communicate with us is through symbols. Things such as archetypes, mathematical constructs and the like. Communicated primarily telepathically or by creating the symbols in some fashion so that everyone could see them (crop circles???!!!!). Hoping that we were sufficiently intelligent enough to be able to make some sense of the pictograms and symbols they were creating, they may try to impress us with their messages in that way. All we have to do is to be open minded enough to realise what was occuring and try to decypher what was being said.
I don't like their chances of success!!.
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It's an deeply intriguing thought, particularly on a cloudy night like tonight. What would we try to communicate? I suspect you're right about archetypes and symbols and mathematical constructs would be most logical.
Assuming they are using basic EMR of some type (presumably the simplest form of communication, as you said), we'd have to assume they were just trying to broadcast their existence and perhaps give us some sort of universal message, maybe about the value of peace, perhaps about the importance of conserving each planet's rare natural resources, and perhaps they'd try to broadcast advanced scientific principles that they think we might find useful.
As for the language they would use, it's a tantalising thought. Even our digital binary systems use agreed-upon codes (eg ASCII). Presumably you'd have to start at first principles - using geometry and geometric patterns - and try to construct some semblance of meaning from that.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to think about this - amazing stuff!
- DSB