![aliencontactheadera40b8.jpg](http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/28/aliencontactheadera40b8.jpg)

In 1974, a bunch of scientists sent out a radio message to the cosmos, in an attempt to contact extraterrestrial intelligence. The message included information about numbers, then about chemical elements, about planets in our solar system, about human DNA.

They assumed that these data weren't anthropocentric - that they weren't grounded in human assumptions - because they're based in scientific knowledge. But it assumes so much about our new friends: that they use chemical elements, that they have something analogous to DNA, that they occupy a planet, even that they occupy physical space as we understand it. Or, to look at it another way, by sending data that most humans wouldn't be able to identify or relate to on a personal level, we are choosing data which is the least likely to be relatable by others.

# A reality bubble
The first thing that you have to understand when trying to contact aliens is: we live in a bubble. We live in a reality bubble. We were born in a reality bubble, and if it's accurate to say we evolved, then we evolved to adapt to this reality bubble. There's nothing wrong with living in a reality bubble per se - it's just that if we don't acknowledge that we're in a bubble, it's very unlikely that we'll ever contact anything that is without our bubble. We would be like elves in a snowglobe attempting to throw messages at the stars painted on the glass, with the hope that they'd get out. They'll never get out.

Fortunately, to get outside of the bubble, we don't have to do anything physically. To an extent, the bubble is purely "within our own minds". It exists entirely within our own perception. Sending messages off to the stars can't escape the bubble - not exactly. Those stars are only here, within our bubble.
# The kidnapping analogy
Imagine if you were kidnapped, and trapped inside a building, and you had a mobile phone calling to a friend, to help you escape. You were unconscious when you entered, so you've never seen the outside of the building - only the inside. How can you describe the building to your friend, so she can find you? It won't help very much if you talk about the things inside the building, describing the living room or the bathroom. You really have to describe it from the outside, or as close as you can get to the outside. If you can stick your head out of the window, whatever you see is going to be infinitely more useful in explaining where you are.

<center>![alienlookingatarecibomessage4b79c.jpg](http://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/12/28/alienlookingatarecibomessage4b79c.jpg)</center>

# The human experience
Just as we can't give an address to our friend by talking about the furniture, we can't give an address to our new friends by talking about elements, DNA or planets. What things could we use to describe our universe, our reality bubble? It's not an easy question. I would say we should start with things that are general to the human/earthling experience, not things that are specialised areas of knowledge. Those are the things that have more resonance - that is to say, are more identifiable - because those are the things that we live every day, the things which comprise our subjective experience, the things that are most likely to be recognisable to our new friends as they cruise through the informational record.

The first thing I would say is that we occupy three-dimensional space, that we experience life in 3D. This is a commonality among most of the earthling life which we are aware of. This is something so obvious to us experientially, and to many of us, intellectually, that we wouldn't think to mention it when introducing ourselves. Yet, to a being that travels across 6 dimensions, or to a being which has no concept of dimensionality, this could be a vital clue about how to find us.

Then, moving forward, we have to show something that not only identifies us, but presents the best parts of us. Every good salesman knows that you should never start a sales presentation with technical details about the product (which is what the Arecibo message did). Instead, you should lead with something exciting, funny, humourous, exceptional. Something that grabs their attention. We should show them symbols that resonate with human culture - that show the best of what we are, the signature of humanity. The things with which we identify most are likely to be the most identifiable. Lead with love.

Then, they will come.

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# About me

<center>[![kurt robinson in the mountains of puebla](https://www.steemimg.com/images/2016/08/26/pictureofmecroppedbdb8d.md.jpg)](https://www.steemimg.com/image/gsqzK)</center>

My name is Kurt Robinson. I grew up in Australia, but now I live in Guadalajara, Jalisco. I write interesting things about voluntaryism, futurism, science fiction, travelling Latin America, and psychedelics. Remember to press follow so you can stay up to date with all the cool shit I post, and follow our podcast where we talk about crazy ideas for open-minded people, here: @paradise-paradox, [like The Paradise Paradox on Facebook here](https://www.facebook.com/theparadiseparadox/), and [subscribe to The Paradise Paradox on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgk8SgqO1VkpvKJ8YaUIrBA), and [on iTunes](https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-paradise-paradox/id952951514?mt=2)