> Eliezer S. Yudkowsky thinks: that the idea of intercepting and decoding
> communications
> between ETCs is fundamentally misguided. ...so looking for unguarded
> information is like searching
> for 20 dollar bills on the streets of Manhatten.
SETI is searching for religious leaflets being handed out on the streets of Manhattan. We know that when two societies come into contact whose technological levels differ greatly, the less advanced civilization is always greatly destabilized, as the younger and more forward thinking in the less advanced society begin to urge the others to give up the old traditional ways. Specifically they seek extinction of superstitions, since the more advanced seem to be doing fine without them.
SETI is seeking signals that were intentionally made easy to detect and decode, sent by the orginators in the hope that we may give up our superstitious and warlike ways, thereby becoming safer and saner citizens of the galaxy. spike