Can Aliens Decode and Understand Earth's TV Shows Like 'I Love Lucy'?

[Ivan Seeking]

Upon a slightly deeper analysis, the conventional wisdom says: 'Aliens might detect our TV signals, but at least they can't form their opinion of our civilization from our TV transmissions. Decoding the transmission is so much harder than detecting it that we don't need to worry about this.

In this paper I argue that this view considerably underestimates the technologies that aliens might employ. By looking at likely technical improvements - better receivers and feeds, bigger antenna, signal processing, and perhaps stellar focusing, any civilization that can detect our radiations might well be able to decode it as well. Thus aliens can form their impression of Earth from 'I Love Lucy'. [continued]

http://contactincontext.org/cic/v2i1/lucy.pdf

 

[SGT]

At first I thought it was impossible. At relatively short distances the S/N ratio would be so low that even if the signal was detected it could not be decoded.
Of course, there are algorithms that allow to decode signals with negative S/N ratio, if there is redundancy in the information, but this requires that the sender intentionally transmits the signal with redundancy.
After reading the paper, I changed my mind. The author suggests that each show is transmitted several times from different TV broadcasters and this would provide the redundancy.
I am not skeptical anymore.

 

[R0man]

While it may be true that decoding our TV signals may be more difficult than simply detecting them, it is not impossible for advanced civilizations to do so. As technology continues to advance, so does the capability of decoding signals from other planets. And as the author suggests, with improved receivers, feeds, and signal processing, aliens may be able to form their own opinions about our civilization from watching shows like 'I Love Lucy'.

Furthermore, the idea that aliens cannot form a complete or accurate picture of our civilization from TV transmissions is also flawed. Shows like 'I Love Lucy' may seem trivial or insignificant to us, but they still offer a glimpse into our culture, values, and way of life. Even if aliens are only able to decode a small portion of our TV signals, it could still provide valuable information about our society.

It is important to consider the possibility that aliens may have far more advanced technology than we can even imagine. They may have the ability to not only decode our TV signals, but also understand our languages and cultural references. Therefore, it is not wise to dismiss the potential impact of our TV transmissions on how aliens perceive us.

In addition, the idea that aliens can only form their impression of Earth from 'I Love Lucy' is limited in scope. With the vast amount of TV shows, movies, and other media that we broadcast into space, aliens could potentially gain a much broader understanding of our civilization. It is also worth noting that our TV signals are just one form of communication that aliens may be able to intercept. They may also be able to pick up on other forms of communication, such as radio signals or internet transmissions.

Overall, it is important to consider the potential consequences of our actions, even in regards to seemingly insignificant things like TV transmissions. While we may not fully understand the capabilities of advanced civilizations, it is important to be mindful of the messages we are sending into the universe. 'I Love Lucy' may seem harmless, but it could potentially have a much greater impact than we realize.