https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_SETI

Even if you don’t subscribe to the Dark Forest Hypothesis it’s extraordinarily unethical to violate the cosmic privacy of the entire human race without their consent- at worst it’s essentially summoning the obliteration of all life on Earth; at best it’s scientifically experimenting on the entire human race present and future without our consent.

We should be locking up people who do this or conspire to do this for life so they don’t do any more damage.

  • @ConTheLibrarianEnglish
    0•1 year ago

    Double comment in case you’re already replying:

    Also from a legal standpoint life imprisonment for this activity would undermine some fundamental laws/freedoms.

    For instance;

    'Culpae poenae par esto. ’ Let the punishment fit the crime.

    In order to justify a life sentence or capital punishment, there must be a victim who has been injured to a degree that justifies such sentences.

    Likewise;

    “Ei incumbit, probatio qui dicit, non qui negat,” or “the burden of proof is on he who declares, not on he who denies,” aka innocent until proven guilty.

    It would be up to the prosecution to demonstrate there was a victim… which in all liklihood an alien response wouldn’t occur until well after the alleged perpetrator had already died.

    The simple fact that there is no evidence that METI absolutely presents a threat to humans very much precludes it from being a crime. Buut, as such you’re definitely on point for bringing this up because we’ll never know until after it happens.