CONSTRUCTING MESSAGES TO EXTRATERRESTRIALS - AN EXOSEMIOTIC PERSPECTIVE

Discussions of constructing messages for communication with extraterre strials have tended to fall into one of two extremes. The dominant pos ition among astronomers and physicists is that conveying information b etween two civilizations will be relatively straightforward because bo th species will share basic conceptions of mathematics and science. Sc holars in the humanities and social sciences typically contend the opp osite: that even mathematics and science as we know them may be specif ic to humans, and that it may be impossible to develop systems of comm unication across species. A position between these two extremes is adv anced in this paper. The ''Incommensurability Problem'' might be overc ome by sending transmissions simulating natural phenomena themselves, rather than particular models of these phenomena. A semiotic analysis of the various possibilities for representing these phenomena suggests that icons, which bear physical resemblances to what they represent, will be superior to symbols, which are purely arbitrary. The implicati ons of this intermediate position include the need for;more intensive investigations of the linguistic aspects of SETI before a message is r eceived, as well as the advantages of transmitting in addition to sear ching for signals. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.