I must be smart, because when I first heard about us transmitting messages into space I had the same thought as Stephen Hawking. Basically, any alien life form capable of picking up our broadcasts would be at least as powerful as we are. And, if they could travel vast distances in space, they’d clearly be more powerful than we are. Why would we want to meet such life forms? Hawking compared it to Columbus and the Native Americans. Didn’t work out too well for the Natives. Of course, they didn’t have William Shatner.
