Is Searching for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Irrational? Is It Immoral?

Chelsea Haramia
PSETI Seminar
October 7, 2021

Abstract:
The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) attempts to answer the question: Are we alone in the universe? I show that the nature of the search itself requires committing to an irrational choice. I then show that, by extension, this search raises questions regarding our moral obligations to future generations. Though all such searches involve some degree of irrationality, one method of searching—passive SETI—is more compatible with our moral obligations to future generations. Its alternative—METI (Messaging ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) has four features that, taken together, entail that it is both less rational to pursue than passive SETI, and that it is also less morally justified. These features are: transformativeness, irreversibility, independence, and opacity. I conclude that passive SETI is the only morally defensible method of searching for extraterrestrial intelligence, and that it is reasonable to pursue it insofar as we wish to discover who we as humans will become.