Reagent Wrote:
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> Agreed. . . Not to mention thousands of
> technicians, engineers, and life science staff.
> Are there jobs waiting in cross disciplinary
> fields, or what, eh? A few months or years in
> training could well exceed expectations not
> dreamed of before – To say little about
> establishing some meaningful purpose filled goals
> across the board of possibilities.

Absolutely!

Governments across the world underestimate just how interested people are in this subject. A couple of years ago, the University of Edinburgh held an MOOC called Astrobiology and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life. It was a huge success. Thousands of people from all over the world and from all walks of life, from the uneducated to PhDs participated. They've made it permanent.

[www.ed.ac.uk]

> I tend to agree with Col Corso, ‘Let the kids
> have it – know about it – they’re not
> stupid.’ I would add, they need to know what do
> and learn how to interact toward establishing a
> dialogue with some of the others for future
> survival matters as well as how to utilize
> resources even if they’re currently ignorant of
> the specifics. . . .

Well...communication with our own is hard enough. How are we going to communicate with beings so different and so much more technologically advanced than we are?