What We Know About Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Foundations of Xenology

Authors: Ashkenazi, Michael



Establishes a systematic and holistic approach to the foundations of communicating with extraterrestrial intelligences on the basis of modern social and other science

Describes concepts of life and intelligence, as well as the emergence of concepts such as culture

Discusses why contestations over these ideas are important in general and specifically for the discussion of ETI

Have you ever wondered what could happen when we discover another communicating species outside the Earth? This book addresses this question in all its complexity. In addition to the physical barriers for communication, such as the enormous distances where a message can take centuries to reach its recipient, the book also examines the biological problems of communicating between species, the problems of identifying a non-Terrestrial intelligence, and the ethical, religious, legal and other problems of conducting discussions across light years.

Most of the book is concerned with issues that could impinge on your life: how do we share experiences with ETI? Can we make shared laws? Could we trade? Would they have religion? The book addresses these and related issues, identifying potential barriers to communication and suggesting ways we can overcome them. The book explores this topic through reference to human experience, through analogy and thought experiment, while relying on what is known to-date about ourselves, our world, and the cosmos we live in.