Open AccessBiosemiotic knowledge — a prerequisite for valid explorations of extraterrestrial intelligent life
Author(s) -
Elling Ulvestad
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
sign systems studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.17
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 1736-7409
pISSN - 1406-4243
DOI - 10.12697/sss.2002.30.1.18
Subject(s) - search for extraterrestrial intelligence , extraterrestrial life , relevance (law) , epistemology , subject (documents) , semiotics , astrobiology , cognitive science , psychology , computer science , philosophy , political science , biology , library science , law
The scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligent life is probably one of the most ambitious projects ever taken in biology. The article discusses methodological problems associated with the search. It is emphasized that investigators of extraterrestrial intelligence, in contrast to investigators of terrestrial matters, have no valid pre-understanding of their subject matter. In this barren setting, utilization of semiotic knowledge is shown to be a prerequisite for achievement of valid data. Owing to methodological shortcomings, it is concluded that the NASA funded project SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has little if any relevance for the detection of intelligent life in other worlds.