Asked on Quora. My answer.
I am not sure how likely it is on an absolute level however it does seem to be the best approach of all the avenues open to us in the SETI quest. The problem though is that we aren’t even sure if intelligent life exists beyond Earth to receive, process and then reply to such a radio signal.
The Drake Equation seems to suggest that there is a strong possibility but the Fermi Paradox (which isn’t really a paradox) throws cold water on this. There are so many unknowns underpinning Drake’s approximation.
It could indeed be the case that we are alone - an accident in the biological and evolutionary numbers game. I would like to think that this is not the case (being somewhat of a Carl Sagan fan) but I am cognizant of a wishful thinking element here.
Having said that if we are to engage in contact, communication via radio waves, with their high velocity of transmission, offers the best methodology in our outreach arsenal. We have the technology available so we might as well go for it.
Hopefully the recipients will be more Vulcan than Klingon.
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