On: What if the aliens we are seeking are AI?

[watermoose]

> Suppose an octopus stacked rocks in piles of prime numbers (not including unity). Would we care beyond possibly putting it on display in an aquarium?

Considering that a lot of research is done on animal communication, I think that's a poor example.

[trentlott → watermoose]

It would just be considered a mating ritual, with some reference to the fact that numerical artifacts in uncommunicative life aren't uncommon (sunflower spirals and Fibonacci).

Then we'd start studying its anatomy for its prime calculator.

[CodeMage → trentlott]

> Then we'd start studying its anatomy for its prime calculator.

Well, that explains all the stories about people being anally probed during alien abductions.

[uxcn → watermoose]

This is a really good point. There has been a lot of research into this area lately, as well as animal intelligence in general.

My point is still that life less intelligent than us has nothing to communicate to us that we would care to respond to.