Do Extraterrestrials Have Original Sin?

In its issue of January 7, 2011, the National Catholic Reporter had an interview with Douglas Vakoch, a psychologist who is “director of interstellar message composition” at the SETI Institute (a job description prone to produce ecstasy in any teenage consumer of science-fiction). SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and is located in Mountain View, California. Its purpose is “to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe”. This may sound like a project to sum up and unify all existing sciences and philosophies. SETI’s website suggests a somewhat more modest agenda: “Planet hunting”—that is, looking for solar systems with planets comparable to earth—on the assumption (correct, no doubt) that life could only emerge in such a location. SETI also surfs for electromagnetic communications originating in outer space.  If telescopes cannot show us where these aliens may live, radio receivers may catch some message from them. Other than simple curiosity, the underlying motive for this enterprise is eloquently expressed by a question on the website: “Tell us what you think—Are we alone in the universe?”