Abstract
Is contact likely enough to hope for, or worry about? That depends on how probable we think other technological civilizations may be—and on what we think they might do.
The ancient covenant is in pieces: man at last knows that he is alone in the unfeeling immensity of the universe, out of which he has emerged only by chance. —Biologist Jacques Monod, 19711
An intrinsically improbable single event may become highly probable if the number of events is very great. —Astronomer Otto Struve, 19602
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References
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Michaud, M.A.G. (2007). Probabilities. In: Contact with Alien Civilizations. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68618-9_6
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