Douglas Vakoch
| Douglas Vakoch | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | June 16, 1961 Minnesota, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater |
B.A., Carleton College |
| Known for | METI, SETI, Astrobiology |
| Website | http://meti.org/board/douglas-vakoch |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | SETI, Interstellar message composition, Psychology, Ecocriticism |
| Influences | Frank Drake |
B.A., Carleton College
M.A., University of Notre Dame
Douglas Vakoch (born June 16, 1961) is an American search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) researcher, psychologist, and president of METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence), a nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to transmitting intentional signals to extraterrestrial civilizations. On February 13, 2015 he engaged in a debate at the annual convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) on whether humankind should send signals to other worlds in hope of reply. Vakoch advocates ongoing transmission projects, arguing that this does not increase risks of an alien invasion as suggested by British cosmologist Stephen Hawking. He has participated in several SETI observation programs, and after sixteen years at the SETI Institute, where he was director of Interstellar Message Composition, Vakoch founded METI International. He has edited over a dozen books in SETI, astrobiology, the psychology of space exploration, and ecocriticism. He is general editor of two book series in ecocriticism and in the intersection of space and society. Vakoch has appeared widely on television and radio as a commentator on SETI and astrobiology. He is a professor of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).
Douglas Vakoch grew up in rural Minnesota. He created his first interstellar message as a high school student—a series of two-dimensional pictures that built upon a message transmitted from Arecibo Observatory in 1974. He earned a bachelor's degree in comparative religion from Carleton College, a master's degree in history and philosophy of science from the University of Notre Dame, and a PhD in psychology from Stony Brook University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University before he accepted a position at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.
Vakoch argues that in order to make contact, humankind may need to take the initiative in transmitting, a project called active SETI. He has been called "a prominent voice in favor of active SETI," "the most prominent METI [messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence] proponent," and "the man who speaks for Earth." On February 13, 2015 he argued in favor of initiating transmission projects at a debate hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) at its annual convention, held in San Jose, California. "[W]e should expand our strategies, so we are not only passively listening, but also transmitting intentional, information-rich signals," Vakoch said at the AAAS meeting, adding that "[w]ith recent detections of Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of other stars, we have natural targets for such transmission projects." Vakoch argued that transmitting intentional signals does not increase the risk of an alien invasion, contrary to concerns raised by British cosmologist Stephen Hawking, because "[a]ny civilization that has the ability to travel between the stars can already pick up our accidental radio and TV leakage.” At the same AAAS meeting, astrophysicist and science fiction writer David Brin argued against this "barn door excuse" and Brin contended that there should be no transmissions without international discussion. Vakoch and Brin had a second debate at the annual ideacity conference in 2016, held in Toronto. Vakoch also questions the logic of extraterrestrials traversing interstellar space to secure resources from Earth. Vakoch told the Associated Press that active SETI is an “attempt to join the galactic club,” and he argues that "it’s a reflection of the natural growth that you see in the science" and "a reflection of SETI growing up as a discipline."
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