The Golden Records [1] seem like astonishing, singular undertakings to me. Like the Svalbard seed bank, or the LHC, or the Prado. Their existence inspires me because they remind me of what we're capable of.
The book Murmours of Earth by Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, and Ann Druyan is an interesting commentary on the ideas and choices behind the production of the Golden Records. Published in 1978, but there are copies available from the usual aources.
Genuine question: what is so great about the Golden Record?
I understand the Svalbard seed bank. That can come very handy in a bad situation. May we never need it. I have visited the LHC and it is seriously impressive. Works in the Prado are amazing.
But the Golden Record feel just like someone made a mixtape and then chucked it far away. The music on it of course is great. But will anyone ever find it? And even if anyone ever finds it, will they have the anatomy to listen to it? If we received a similar record could we do anything with it?
For example the recorded greatings. A few sentences in many languages. There is something there. Presumably an interested alien could use it kind of like a Rosetta Stone to learn the structure of our languages. But for that to realistically work they would need a lot more recording in each language and the speakers should be saying the same thing!
Similarly the “brain recording”. An hour long recording, “compressed” somehow and then bandwidth gated so it can be etched into a disk. How is that supposed to contain any usefull information? It is like you want to transmit the content of a book, so you take a blurry underexposed image of the book’s spine as it is reflected in a foggy mirror. Even if the aliens are brilliant there is not much they can do with that “brain recording”.
The whole thing is so vibes based, but on the rational level it doesn’t add up to much.
Your skepticism about the Golden Record is understandable, but its value goes beyond mere practicality—it's a powerful symbol of humanity's hopes, dreams, and curiosity.
Sure, the odds of another civilization discovering and fully decoding it are slim. But the Record was never simply meant as a practical tool, like the Svalbard seed bank or the LHC. Instead, it's an intentional gesture of optimism, an attempt to capture and communicate the essence of who we are at this unique moment in our history.
Importantly, the Golden Record was carefully designed using universal scientific principles—binary notation, hydrogen atom properties, and pulsar maps—ensuring that any intelligent civilization might realistically decode it. The instructions etched onto its cover rely on fundamental concepts universally understandable across the cosmos.
The greetings, music, and even brainwave recordings aren't strict instructions but rather snapshots showcasing humanity’s diversity, creativity, and complexity. Even partial understanding by an advanced civilization would provide profound insights into human emotion, ingenuity, and our deep desire for connection.
In the end, the Golden Record is NOT just about practical outcomes; it's about reflecting humanity’s best qualities back to ourselves and inspiring us to strive toward the ideals we've shared with the universe.
> Importantly, the Golden Record was carefully designed using universal scientific principles—binary notation, hydrogen atom properties, and pulsar maps—ensuring that any intelligent civilization might realistically decode it. The instructions etched onto its cover rely on fundamental concepts universally understandable across the cosmos.
Both the Golden Record and the Pioneer Plaque were carefully crafted with universality in mind, drawing on fundamental scientific principles understandable by any intelligent civilization. They both shared many similarities. [1][2]
> Some images contain indications of chemical composition. All measures used on the pictures are defined in the first few images using physical references that are likely to be consistent anywhere in the universe.
> The pulsar map and hydrogen molecule diagram are shared in common with the Pioneer plaque.
[1] Explanation of the Voyager record cover diagram, as provided by NASA
The book Murmours of Earth by Carl Sagan, Frank Drake, and Ann Druyan is an interesting commentary on the ideas and choices behind the production of the Golden Records. Published in 1978, but there are copies available from the usual aources.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record