Hush, Hush: How to Talk to Aliens

If we ever meet extraterrestrials, scientists say we should keep our mouths shut. A recent study used game theory to figure out the best way to communicate with alien life. They found that saying less is better because it increases the chances that aliens will think we're similar to them and cooperate instead of attacking us. The study was published in the International Journal of Astrobiology by psychologists Ilan Fischer and Shacked Avrashi from the University of Haifa. To understand how this might work, imagine a game where two players can choose to cooperate or confront each other. If both confront, they lose points. If one cooperates and the other confronts, the one who confronts wins some points. If both cooperate, they both get more points. This game is like the Prisoner's Dilemma, and it shows that players are more likely to cooperate if they think the other player will make the same choice.

So, how does this apply to aliens? Well, if we want aliens to cooperate with us, we need to make them think we're similar. But since we know nothing about them, we should share as little information about ourselves as possible. This is because any detail we share could reveal that we're different, which might make aliens think we're not similar and lead to confrontation. Fischer and Avrashi suggest we follow three rules when contacting aliens. First, don't reveal our goals or intentions. Second, don't reveal anything about humanity, our biology, technology, or culture. Third, keep the message neutral and focus on similarity. They even provided some vague geometric symbols to help convey this idea. But things get tricky after the initial contact. Eventually, we'll need to build trust and have more meaningful interactions. This will require skills beyond game theory, tapping into our social, strategic, and cognitive abilities.

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