Cosmic Irony: SETI Optimism from Catastrophes?

Abstract

Classical arguments for skepticism regarding the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) are critically examined. It is suggested that the emerging class of "phase transition" astrobiological models can simultaneously account for all available astrophysical and biological evidence, explain several unresolved puzzle in Earth sciences, and rationally justify current and future SETI projects. In particular, the hypothesis of Annis that local gamma-ray bursts drive the astrobiological phase transition deserves to be further quantitatively elucidated. Some epistemological and ethical ramifications of such a model are briefly discussed.

8 pages, no figures

References in corpus (8)

• The Galactic Habitable Zone I. Galactic Chemical Evolution
• The Spiral Structure of the Milky Way, Cosmic Rays, and Ice Age Epochs on Earth
• An Estimate of the Age Distribution of Terrestrial Planets in the Universe: Quantifying Metallicity as a Selection Effect
• Astrophysical and Astrobiological Implications of Gamma-Ray Burst Properties
• Terrestrial Implications of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Burst Models
• A Resource Letter on Physical Eschatology
• Biological Effects of Stellar Collapse Neutrinos
• Persistence solves Fermi Paradox but challenges SETI projects