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From: bilbo@pnet02.cts.com (Bill Daggett)
Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.astro,sci.philosophy.tech
Subject: Re: DNA for interstellar messages
Message-ID: <4790@gryphon.CTS.COM>
Date: 9 Jul 88 18:20:16 GMT
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bs_wab@ux63.bath.ac.uk (Bains) writes:
>i) The interstallar grains that Hoyle was concerned about were meant to be
>the remains of entire organisms (if I understand Hoyle's ideas right,
>which I quite possibly do not), not of 'pure' message. If you use an entire
>organism as a messenger, then you have the problem of how to stop your
>message evolving into meaningless garbage. (The same problem attends the
>idea put forward in a previous posting (sorry, I don't have it in front
>of me) that such a message exists and 'we are that message'. Apart from
>anything else, which 'we'? There is about 1% genetic difference between
>different individuals, so which 'us' is the right message? But I digress.)
Nothing is perfect.  I mean some message is better then no message and so far
we have no message.  The DNA transmitter may not be "intelligent" and it would
include ALL life and not just some "special" sentient creature dreaming of a
way to communicate with anther planet.  The point is you do not stop the
message from  evolving into menaingless garbage.  Meaningless garbage is
exactly what has created us for 5 billion years (or so).  If it is TRUE, does
the human species resemble the original DNA message transported through time
and space from so many distant places?  This is what I meant by WE (may be)
are the message.  It can't be whole.

As far as how a planet would transmit all its DNA stuff through space perhaps
when its star dies and novas the explosion rather then consuming the third
planet from the sun would break it up and spew it out into the cosmos to land
a tiny portion someday on another planet?  This was never the way I thought of
communicating with other life in the universe.  It sort of ruins Star Trek.

Bill

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