Sending and Searching for Interstellar Messages

Got a link from Alexander Zaitsev about his earlier work called Sending and Searching for Interstellar Messages. (Thanks to Alexander Zaitsev for the link.)

"There is a close interrelation between Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) and Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI). For example, the answers to the questions "Where to search" and "Where to send" are equivalent, in that both require an identical selection from the same target star lists. Similar considerations lead to a strategy of time synchronization between sending and searching. Both SETI and METI use large reflectors. The concept of "magic frequencies" may be applicable to both SETI and METI. Efforts to understand an alien civilization's Interstellar Messages (IMs), and efforts to compose our own IMs so they will be easily understood by unfamiliar Extraterrestrials, are mutually complementary. Furthermore, the METI-question: "How can we benefit from sending IMs, if a response may come only thousands of years later?" begs an equivalent SETI-question: "How can we benefit from searching, if it is impossible now to perceive the motivations and feelings of those who may have sent messages in the distant past?" A joint consideration of the theoretical and the practical aspects of both sending and searching for IMs, in the framework of a unified, disciplined scientific approach, can be quite fruitful. We seek to resolve the cultural disconnect between those who advocate sending interstellar messages, and others who anathematize those who would transmit."

The comment ... a joint consideration of the theoretical and the practical aspects of both sending and searching for IMs, in the framework of a unified, disciplined scientific approach, can be quite fruitful... sounds interesting. Good point there. If a set of scientific ground rules exist, you don't have to worry about rogue transmitters. Think of it as a mellow version of uploading material on youtube - communication is open to all and you know what you can and cannot upload.

Any work done in this regard contributes to progress for SETI & METI in the future and scientific advancement in general. What was that famous phrase ... from the shoulders of giants?