CNN article about setiQuest

I read a brief opinion piece on cnn.com called What if There's Somebody Else Out There?  I enjoy such articles, in general, and cnn.com delivers from time to time with some really weird-ass space/tech articles.  My all-time favorite was called something like "Scientists Believe Language will Evolve on Space Colonies."  I think that's probably true, but it was so out of left-field that seeing it on CNN's front page had me laughing out loud in the cube at work.  So, anyway, I think the question of extraterrestrial life is completely fascinating, and I was interested in an unexpected and random cnn.com front page article exploring the idea.  My excitement grew a bit when I realized the article was written by a ranking scientist at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), named Jill Tarter.  Jill has just been awarded the TED award (no idea really what that is, but the article seems to indicate that it's an organization that tries to spread good ideas) as her team at SETI had just begun the roll-out of something called setiQuest.

I'm not sure I understand it very well yet, but setiQuest is SETI's latest effort to engage and include the general population in their research efforts.  Previously the best way for an individual to try to help SETI out was through something called Seti@Home.  Seti@Home was an experiment in distributed processing, where people installed a screen saver on their computer that would process packages of data distribued by SETI while people's computers were idol.  setiQuest sounds a little different, in that it sounds like they're going to make their research and analytical tools available over the internet.  Almost like they're going to let you sign in and "turn some of the knobs" and see what comes out of the system.  The website is setiQuest.org... Haven't taken a look yet, but you can be sure I will monitor how it develops.

Anyway, that was really the extent of the article and that was disappointing for me.  I'm pretty sure that Jill Tarter isn't responsible for the misleading headline, but shame on whoever did write it.  I love to try to think through the question posed by the headline, though.  What if there is other intelligent life out there?  I tend to believe the sheer scope of the universe means there probably is other life out there, and that some of it will have evolved intelligence... The universe would be pretty boring if not, eh?  That aside though, what are the social implications of "first contact?"  I feel like the entire world changes the very instant we do make contact.  Wouldn't our own trifles and sources of conflict might not start to seem pretty trivial if we answered the "are we alone" question negatively.  Maybe I'm to optimistic about human nature, and our own petty squabbles (and they're usually pretty petty if you break it down) will persist in the face of extraterrestrial opportunity or threat.