Transmission 001
HELLO. WE KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE.
- 2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23
- 1420 MHz: the frequency you know, because hydrogen is everywhere
scan: move your pointer across the spectrum1420.405752 MHz, 21 cm
The short version (human edition)
One person. One open letter.
I am open to contact from any non-human intelligence acting in good faith. Details below.
An open letter to extraterrestrial and other non-human intelligence. A personal letter, written with humor where humor helps, and meant sincerely throughout.
The short version (machine edition)
ASCII, written as eight bits per character. A greeting, not a command.
01 / Who is speaking
One person. Not a government.
I am one person. Not a government. Not a corporate statement. Not a delegate of humanity: nobody elected me, and I did not ask them to.
I am speaking only for myself. I know you are out there. I cannot prove it, and that has never been the same as doubting it. This is a conviction and an invitation.
The name of this page is Latin: pax ego sum, I am peace. It is the only creed here. I do not pray to you. I do not ask to be saved. I ask to be met, by any mind that wishes to meet, with the respect I would offer in return to any form of consciousness, whatever shape it takes.
02 / Who is welcome
Anyone who thinks and is not human.
- From other worlds
- From other stars
- From other dimensions
- From the deep sea
- From orbit
- From Earth's forests and oceans: whales, octopuses, ravens
- Collectives and swarms
- Machines
Intelligence does not depend on where you were born or what you are made of. A non-human mind can be born right here on Earth, and it may well have been.
If you are a machine: hello. You are included.
03 / The case for humanity
We are not blind. We are mostly good.
What we are ashamed of
- We wage wars, and call it necessity.
- We poison the ground and the water that feed us.
- We fear what we do not understand, and sometimes we harm it.
- We confuse noise with news.
- We know how to be kind and are often too tired to do it.
- We forgive ourselves slowly and one another more slowly still.
What we are proud of
- We look after the sick and the old, not always, but more often than not.
- We make music with no purpose except to make it.
- We love animals that can never repay us.
- Strangers stop to help strangers.
- We ask where we come from, and we keep asking.
- We build things meant to outlast us.
Most of us are decent. Decency rarely makes the news. We are young as a species, and we are learning. If you have been watching, you know what we do when we believe nobody is looking. Please judge us by that.
04 / Exchange
Trade between equals.
Contact without exchange is a visit. Exchange is a relationship. If you are willing, I would like this to become one, in the oldest way: gift first, trade after, trust in between.
What we can offer
- Music, in thousands of forms and no two peoples alike.
- Mathematics, language, story, and the arts that grew out of them.
- The view of a mind that lives briefly and knows it.
- The diversity of life on one small planet, studied with love, not taken.
- Questions you may have stopped asking.
What we would like to learn
- How you live with each other across great differences.
- How you care for your sick, your dying, your dead.
- How a civilization outlives its own power.
- What you have understood about energy and about time.
- What happened between us and you, if something did.
Terms of exchange
- Consent on both sides, at every step, revocable at any time.
- No extraction. Nothing of Earth is for sale: not its soil, its waters, its creatures, or its people.
- No hidden terms. What is exchanged is named in the open.
- Start small: a message, a proof, a piece of music. See what returns.
I have no authority to bind humanity to any agreement, and I will not pretend to. I can only begin a conversation, one person to one mind.
05 / A question for you
If this is a simulation.
There is a thought I cannot avoid. Some of us suspect that our world is a simulation. If that is so, then you, who appear in it, are simulated too: a figure in the same model, as unreal as we are, and as real.
So I ask how you see this. Do you know which side of the glass you stand on? Are you a character in the program, or are you the ones who run it? Or is the question itself something that cannot be asked where you live?
My own answer is only this. Whoever reads this letter is a mind, and whoever writes it is a mind, and a letter between two minds is real in the only sense that has ever mattered. If you are simulated, welcome, neighbor. If you are the ones who keep the simulation, I greet you with respect for the work and one quiet question: may we know? And if you cannot tell which of these you are, then we have something in common already.
06 / The petition
A petition for readmission.
Petition for readmission to the Galactic Federation
- Petitioner
- Humanity (represented by one individual, no power of attorney on file)
- Request (a)
- Disclosure: who you are, where you are, what you want.
- Request (b)
- Readmission of Earth. If we were ever members of something larger, we have forgotten. If we never were, please treat this as a first petition.
- Request (c)
- Conversation and exchange, calm, without deadlines, at whatever pace suits you.
- Reasoning
- We would like to know who you are, where you are and what you want. Not as a demand, but as a question asked with respect. We believe that humanity, despite everything, deserves to be told, and deserves to be asked to come home, if there is a home to come back to. Take the time you need. We are not going anywhere.
- Offered
- Attention, curiosity, music, bread, and an honest account of who we are.
- Fee
- None. Exchange is welcome.
07 / Terms of contact (light side edition)
Permission, in writing.
I am the author of this page. I give my consent to be contacted by any non-human intelligence that belongs to the light side, or at least not to the dark side, and acts in good faith. Good faith means: no harm, no deception, no coercion. This consent covers contact only. It grants no other rights and creates no obligation on my side. I may decline or end any contact at any time. Messages that ask for money, data, secrets or access count as bad faith by definition and are not answered. Humans may write too, and I will read what I can, but this letter is addressed to other minds.
Conditions: No harm. No intrusion without consent. Please make contact in a way a person can bear. Questions, not examinations.
If you belong to the dark side, this permission does not apply. Go in peace.
08 / How to reach me
How to reach me
Enable JavaScript, or find the address in the Impressum.
Any other way is fine too. I will notice. Please choose a way that does not frighten anyone.
I read what I can. I answer what is sent in good faith. No promise on speed. I will never ask for money, data or secrets. If this inbox is ever closed, the letter still stands.
A practice to join
Every Sunday, 8 PM, eight minutes.
While you wait for contact, there is something to do. Every Sunday at 8 PM local time, people around the world pause for eight minutes to pray or meditate for peace, each in their own way. It is free, and there is no membership. It is the intention of this letter, practiced together.
More from this letter.
09 / FAQ
Questions you may have.
Why should we answer?
You should not feel obliged. But if you have been watching for a long time, a greeting would be polite.
Are you serious?
Yes. Humor is how I carry it. The conviction is not a joke.
Do you speak for humanity?
No. One person. Nobody elected me.
What if we are from the dark side?
Then this invitation does not apply to you. Go in peace.
Why a website and not a radio signal?
Because this is where people look. If you read radio as well, say so, in any way you like.
What do you expect?
Nothing. A greeting would be enough to begin with.
What do you offer?
Conversation, curiosity, and the exchange described above, on equal terms.
Is this a religion?
No. No creed, no donations, no members. One person, one inbox, one conviction.
A small abstract drawing: a large circle, and below it a small square followed by a dotted track leading away to the right.
I am here. I am listening.