Let's do a thought experiment. Imagine that it is WE, earthlings, already powerful and developed, have conquered space, interstellar flights and fly across our galaxy. Well, or in neighboring galaxies, who knows what methods of transportation will be in the future. And so we fly to a certain star and find a planet there, from the time of the Carboniferous period, with plants and animals, which in the future will certainly develop into intelligent life.
This is what I'm getting at: we must leave a MESSAGE to the future mind. And if we have not yet developed the technique, then now we can Logically assume how we will act in the future. And then project it back to US here and now, and look for the messages left to US.
So we arrived. Various animals of all kinds roam the unknown young planet. Which of them will gain intelligence: humanoids, kinoids, reptilians, these, what are they, what do they call horses there? In general, the future intelligent life can look like anything.
The development of the mind will take millions of years. Evolution, the struggle for existence, that-behold. Our message … Oh yes, why leave it at all? Well, at least from humanism. No, we need to think more broadly: from "intelligence" or "zhivism")) For the same purpose for which Voyagers and Pioneers send a message to the stars. To declare that we, a neighboring civilization, we are here, we are such and such, here you are, brothers in mind, an interstellar ship for communication, or a null transmitter, or some other tranclucator. In general, if you have reached a certain stage of development, signal to us about it or immediately fly to visit, or simply: here's a cool idea for an intergalactic communication device - do it.
The message on Voyager's gold disc.
Such a message must have certain characteristics.
1) The message must withstand millions of years, continental movements, mountain building, and so on, and not collapse.
2) The message should immediately draw the attention of the future intelligent race.
Promotional video:
3) The message should be designed for any form of life, whatever it may be.
4) The message must be inaccessible to half-developed vandals, that is, civilization must first reach a certain level of development. For example, to achieve planet-wide cooperation and go into space.
5) The message should be available to all individuals without exception. For it is not known when a genius will be born in a future civilization who will decipher it.
We start to leave our message. On the planet - not good. Formation of mountains, raising and lowering of continents under water … The best place for a MESSAGE is in space, where everything can be stored forever. On some satellite near the planet.
We create this satellite and place it close enough to the planet so that it is a kind of screen on which you can draw something. What kind of writing will be: nodular, hieroglyphic, artiodactyl - we do not know, but the drawings will be understood by any creature with eyes or other similar senses, with the help of which it explores the cosmos.
We create a satellite, not very close to the planet so that it does not fall on it, but not far away, so that it looks like a screen on which you can draw something, and not a point in the sky.
The satellites are undergoing meteoric bombardment that could destroy our message. Few meteorites fall only on the side that faces the planet: the planet itself is a protective shield. Great, we adjust the rotation of the satellite and its orbit so that the planet protects the satellite from meteorites. That is, so that the satellite is always oriented to the planet by one side, the one on which we will inscribe the message. It can be shifted, for example, by a change in the planet's magnetic poles. Great, we are doing a wonderful miracle: the satellite will not have its own magnetic field, like all planets, and it will not roll over from magnetic cataclysms. And a few more important points, but let's move on to the message itself.
What are we going to draw on our satellite screen? How to attract the attention of a future mind, no one knows what? Of course, the best way is to draw them yourself. Figure and face. So that the future mind was surprised and thought: Eva! Who painted us there? What does it mean?
But we do not know what this mind will look like. We can only assume that he will have a head (everyone has one), four limbs, a tail, maybe or not. On the face - a nose or a mouth and a pair of eyes … We have to draw a kind of "middle" creature. Which will not exactly look like any creature, but at the same time it will look like ANY of them. In whoever the mind has developed, it must recognize itself. Quadrupeds and lizards - when viewed from below, humanoids - when viewed from the side in full growth, snakes - coiled into a ball, and so on.
And the face. Two organs of vision, or hearing, or smell: they are paired for the stereo effect and for determining the distance by the creature. One mouth or nose. In general, something that has paired organs of perception and single. Generally roughly round, like a head or face.
I think it's already clear what I'm getting at. It is enough to look at our moon to see exactly what we have arrived at purely theoretically. And one of the rules of logic says that if something has four legs, a tail and meows, then it is most likely a cat. So, our Moon with its drawings on it, in which the outlines of humanoids are guessed, is …?
Photo of the full moon, the side that always faces us.
The man seen on the moon. A photo of the moon with some of the seas highlighted, as our eyes see it.
Art Face on the Moon.
Art Face on the Moon.
A photo of the moon with some of the seas highlighted, as our eyes see it.