No, I don't think it's silly. It remains entirely possible that simply by carefully studying the photons flying at Planet Earth from all directions, we will find clear evidence of an extraterrestrial civilization. However, as I have taken pains to point out, we really don't know what we're talking about when we use that phrase, so we're going to have quite a long (and I think, healthy) debate about that the evidence should be, and how best to find it.
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is a loose affiliation of scientific institutions funded by private donations, trying to find a way to search for other technological species in our galaxy. It's just one galaxy - doesn't sound too ambitious - but where to start?
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is a loose affiliation of scientific institutions funded by private donations, trying to find a way to search for other technological species in our galaxy. It's just one galaxy - doesn't sound too ambitious - but where to start?
