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Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication

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Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication
The Earth superimposed on a background of stars, surrounded by green circles. White text over it reading "Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication"; smaller white text on one of the circles reading "Edited by "Douglas A. Vankoch" (sic).
EditorDouglas Vakoch
PublisherNASA
Publication date
2014
Pages300
ISBN978-1-62683-013-4
999

Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication is a 2014 essay collection edited by SETI researcher Douglas Vakoch and published by NASA. The book is focused on the role that the humanities and social sciences, in particular anthropology and archaeology, play in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. The seventeen essays explore issues such as the evolutionary and cultural prerequisites of interstellar civilizations communicating with one another; the difficulties of understanding signs and symbols developed by vastly different societies, whether terrestrial or extraterrestrial; and issues faced by new societies making first contact with one another.

Upon its release, Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication received widespread media coverage. In addition to generally positive reviews, the book was at the centre of controversy regarding misinterpretation of one of its essays. A quote about ancient terrestrial stone carvings, noting that they "might have been made by aliens"[1] for all that they were understood by modern anthropologists, was picked up by publications such as TheBlaze, The Huffington Post, and Artnet and misreported in headlines.

Though it was originally scheduled for publication in June 2014, a PDF of Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication was accidentally released a month prior to the intended date and reviewed by Gizmodo. The significant positive response to the book inspired NASA to bring forward the e-book release, making it freely available on their website from May of that year.

Synopsis

Historically, research into extraterrestrial intelligence has fallen within natural science and focused primarily on the technological obstacles to alien communication, such as processing the data encoded in signals received from potential extraterrestrial civilizations. Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication was written as part of an expansion of the field to humanities and social sciences, focusing on the role archaeologists and anthropologists play in extraterrestrial intelligence research. The difficulties of studying ancient societies on Earth, editor Douglas Vakoch argues, are applicable to those of studying potential societies outside Earth.[2]

Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication is a collection of essays exploring the roles archaeology and anthropology play in extraterrestrial research, focusing on both historical and modern perspectives.[3] The book consists of seventeen essays, with an introduction and epilogue by Vakoch and fifteen chapters by various researchers in the relevant fields;[4] contributing authors include John Traphagan, Albert Harrison, Ben Finney, Steven J. Dick, John Billingham, and Dominique Lestel [fr].[5] Issues discussed in the essays include the evolutionary and cultural prerequisites for interstellar communication,[6] the challenges for semiotics in decoding alien signs and symbols,[7] and the complexities of cross-cultural communication with aliens by analogy to anthropological first contact experiences.[8]

Publication history

NASA intended to publish Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication in both print and e-book form on 10 June 2014. On 21 May, a PDF was accidentally published and picked up by Gizmodo. The website hosting the PDF was rapidly taken down, with the expectation of re-releasing it on the originally intended date; however, the demand for copies was so high that the publication was accelerated, with MOBI, EPUB, and PDF versions officially released several days later. Print copies were published that summer.[9] The electronic version is available for free download through NASA's website.[10]

Cultural impact and reception

"Perhaps all this attention towards a misinterpretation of a single sentence of this book—be it from negligence by bloggers rushing to meet a daily quota of posts, or a deliberate effort to drive traffic and advertising dollars—is instructive. At the very least, it helped publicize an interesting book to an audience that might otherwise never have head of it. Moreover, it unwittingly demonstrates the challenges of interstellar communications: what hope do we have of deciphering any signal from an extraterrestrial intelligence if we can’t clearly communicate with each other in our own language?"

Jeff Foust, The Space Review[11]

Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication was picked up by Gizmodo shortly prior to its intended publication and positively reviewed, described as "truly fascinating stuff" that managed to be both complex and accessible.[9] The Gizmodo review began with an out-of-context quote from William Edmondson's essay on how mysterious stone carvings "might have been made by aliens"[1] as a metaphor for the difficulties in researching long-lost ancient societies; though the review went on to note that this should not be interpreted as a literal statement, the quote was picked up by publications such as Artnet, TheBlaze, and The Huffington Post as a clickbait headline.[11] Some of these articles noted that the statement was not representative of the essay's content,[12] while others did not.[13] Jeff Foust decried the phenomenon in his review, but said it "unwittingly demonstrates the challenges of interstellar communications" by highlighting how difficult even communication between human beings of similar cultures can be.[11]

Upon the book's official release, it received mostly positive reviews. Emily Gertz, writing for Popular Science, found it "refreshing" and compared the issues it raised to those explored by science fiction works such as The Sparrow.[14] Michael Franco of CNET lauded its comprehensiveness,[15] while Jolene Creighton of From Quarks to Quasars called it "a fantastic text to save for a rainy day".[16] Writing for the Daily Dot, Aja Romano commented that the book came from a thoroughly optimistic point of view about both the existence and benevolence of extraterrestrial intelligence, but that it provided thorough investigation into SETI and had a strong backing in the fields it investigated.[17]

In June 2014, one month after the book's official release, Joshua Rothman interviewed Vakoch for The New Yorker about the struggles of extraterrestrial communication. Vakoch explicated the book's purpose further, discussing the integral role archaeologists and anthropologists play in extraterrestrial research. He referred to the conclusions made by essayists, such as Lestel's discussion of the implications involved in being unable to understand or decode potential alien messages. Vakoch described the humanities perspective on extraterrestrial communication as increasingly "skeptical and critical", but "a criticism that engages, as opposed to a criticism that dismisses"; he noted that although bridging the communication gap with an extraterrestrial civilization would be a difficult ask, the rapid discovery of exoplanets in the past decades increased the likelihood extraterrestrial intelligence would be identified.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Edmondson, William (2014). "Constraints on Message Construction for Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence". In Vakoch, Douglas (ed.). Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. Washington, DC: NASA. p. 242. ISBN 978-1-62683-013-4.
  2. ^ a b Rothman, Joshua (10 June 2014). "The Man Who Speaks For Earth". New Yorker. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  3. ^ Jackson, Gerald (17 November 2020). "Archeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication". Chicago Society for Space Studies. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  4. ^ Vakoch, Douglas, ed. (2014). Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. Washington, DC: NASA. pp. v–vii. ISBN 978-1-62683-013-4.
  5. ^ Vakoch, Douglas, ed. (2014). Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. Washington, DC: NASA. pp. 253–257. ISBN 978-1-62683-013-4.
  6. ^ Chick, Garry (2014). "Biocultural Prerequisites for the Development of Interstellar Communication". In Vakoch, Douglas (ed.). Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. Washington, DC: NASA. pp. 203–226. ISBN 978-1-62683-013-4.
  7. ^ Saint-Gelais, Richard (2014). "Beyond Linear B: The Metasemiotic Challenge of Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence". In Vakoch, Douglas (ed.). Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. Washington, DC: NASA. pp. 78–93. ISBN 978-1-62683-013-4.
  8. ^ Raybeck, Douglas (2014). "Contact Considerations: A Cross-Cultural Perspective". In Vakoch, Douglas (ed.). Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication. Washington, DC: NASA. pp. 142–158. ISBN 978-1-62683-013-4.
  9. ^ a b Diaz, Jesus (21 May 2014). "NASA is getting ready to communicate with aliens". Gizmodo. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  10. ^ Steele, Dylan (7 August 2017). "Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication". NASA. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Foust, Jeff (30 June 2014). "Review: Archaeology, Anthropology, and Interstellar Communication". The Space Review. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  12. ^ Staff writer (21 May 2014). "Nasa: Strange Markings Across The Globe 'Might Have Been Made By Aliens'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  13. ^ Cascone, Sarah (24 May 2014). "NASA Suggests Aliens May Be Behind Ancient Rock Art". Artnet News. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  14. ^ Gertz, Emily (27 May 2014). "How We'll Talk To Aliens". Popular Science. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  15. ^ Franco, Michael (28 May 2014). "Language barrier? Free NASA guide delves into talk with aliens". CNET. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  16. ^ Creighton, Jolene (26 May 2014). "NASA Releases Free eBook About Communicating With Aliens". From Quarks to Quasars. Archived from the original on 25 October 2015.
  17. ^ Romano, Aja (26 May 2014). "Read NASA's free ebook about communicating with aliens". Daily Dot. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
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