Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!amdcad!sun!pitstop!sundc!seismo!uunet!mcvax!ukc!reading!cf-cm!cybaswan!iiit-sh
From: iiit-sh@cybaswan.UUCP (Steve Hosgood)
Newsgroups: sci.space
Subject: Re: Seti
Summary: We can't even talk to the dolphins
Keywords: aliens, comms, dolphins
Message-ID: <60@cybaswan.UUCP>
Date: 25 Aug 88 11:09:52 GMT
References: <20315@cornell.UUCP> <1988Aug19.212807.24175@utzoo.uucp>
Reply-To: iiit-sh@cybaswan.UUCP (Steve Hosgood)
Organization: Institute for Industrial Information Technology
Lines: 14

I've been reading the discussions about SETI, the silence we seem to be 
receiving, etc. It seems, however, that we're up against some pretty stiff
problems dealing with ETs, partly technological and partly due to the fact
that we may not be able to comprehend an ET's message if we *did* receive
such a thing.

Wouldn't it be sensible to spend some effort looking nearer to home? The seas
contain several species of (presumed) intelligent life, yet I don't know of
any sucess at communicating with them short of training dolphins to poke
messages into computers on giant keyboards! This can hardly be regarded as
communicating with the creatures can it?

I would suggest that we have little chance at dealing with ETs until we can
talk to the other intelligent life on *this* planet. Comments, anyone?