A Game of Stars: Active SETI, radical translation and the Hobbesian trap

摘要

Among scholars dedicated to Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI), the risks and possibilities of actively contacting extra-terrestrials (Active SETI) have been widely discussed. Yet, some fundamental philosophical problems concerning the possibility of translating an alien language have hardly been raised in this context. The proponents of Active SETI assume that, abswould an extra-terrestrial intelligent (ETI) entity choose to contact us, they would use radio signals to convey a coded message that would be possible for us to decode and translate. Furthermore, they argue, were we to transmit a message, then this message would also be possible to translate. However, any interstellar message would, for obvious reasons, be conveyed without context and without the possibility of meaningful interaction over timescales relevant to us.