Visions of Human Futures in Space and SETI

TL;DR

This paper explores how science fiction and language influence visions of humanity's future in space and SETI, affecting funding, perceptions, and the development of related fields.

Contribution

It highlights the impact of science fiction and terminology on shaping perceptions and funding of space settlement and SETI, offering recommendations to improve discourse and public understanding.

Findings

Science fiction contributes to the 'giggle factor' hindering serious SETI efforts.

Language choices influence perceptions and funding of space settlement.

Analogies with dark matter searches suggest perception is key to SETI funding.

Abstract

We discuss how visions for the futures of humanity in space and SETI are intertwined, and are shaped by prior work in the fields and by science fiction. This appears in the language used in the fields, and in the sometimes implicit assumptions made in discussions of them. We give examples from articulations of the so-called Fermi Paradox, discussions of the settlement of the Solar System (in the near future) and the Galaxy (in the far future), and METI. We argue that science fiction, especially the campy variety, is a significant contributor to the "giggle factor" that hinders serious discussion and funding for SETI and Solar System settlement projects. We argue that humanity's long-term future in space will be shaped by our short-term visions for who goes there and how. Because of the way they entered the fields, we recommend avoiding the term "colony" and its cognates when discussing the settlement of space, as well as other terms with similar pedigrees. We offer examples of science fiction and other writing that broaden and challenge our visions of human futures in space and SETI. In an appendix, we use an analogy with the well-funded and relatively uncontroversial searches for the dark matter particle to argue that SETI's lack of funding in the national science portfolio is primarily a problem of perception, not inherent merit.