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372 information because it advertises our vulnerabilities? If some humans transmit such information, would that be treason? The first message would be crucial. It could set the tone of the entire communications exchange, even determine if there will be an exchange. It could initiate a highly productive relationship, or it might generate suspi- cion and hostility where none was intended. There could be more subtle reactions. A message wholly made up of scientific and mathematical information could convey a one-dimensional impression of our culture as coldly technological, without other values. An overly simple message might even insult the intelligence of more sapient beings. In science fiction, intelligent aliens speak Earth languages or become easily intelligible when their statements pass through translating machines. Real contact is not likely to be that convenient. One might ask how many human languages extraterrestrials would know and use: one, such as English; several, such as the official languages of the United Nations; or all of the hundreds that exist on our planet? ens enneee Bn en dla ween nnn fn bandana me nnen ane aed Several people have proposed languages for interstellar messages, nearly all of them resting on basic concepts in science and mathematics. The most general approach is to present the basics of a communications language at the beginning of a message and develop it further as the transmission pro- ceeds. Although often clever, these languages still spring from our own cultural assumptions. se eT ed et en tnt Den nn More than a century ago, statistician and meteorologist Francis Galton suggested a language using dots, dashes, and lines. H.W. Nieman and C. Wells Nieman proposed a mathematical approach to building up a common language in their 1920 Scientific American article “What Shall We Say to Mars?” Mathematician Lancelot Hogben outlined an “Astroglossa” in 1952, basing his proposed communication language on the number concept and knowledge of celestial events; we would begin with symbols for mass, temperature, and distance, working toward more complex concepts.” The best known example may be mathematician Hans Freudenthal’s 1960 proposal for a mathematics-based Lingua Cosmica, using radio signals of different lengths and wavelengths. A year later, mathematician Solomon Golomb challenged earlier proposals for cosmic languages because they allare based on terrestrial logic. He recommended prime number sequences or arithmetic progressions.” By the time of the 1974 Arecibo message, thinking had migrated toward sending pictures that could be converted into two-dimensional images—if the recipient discerned the principle. The trouble with pictures, computer scientist Michael Arbib wrote 5 years later, is that they are too literal to Annex: Preparing How Should We Say It?