"Donald Moffitt - Genesis Quest" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moffitt Donald)

And then the director linked with assistants and with data input devices and became very busy. The
visitor discreetly withdrew a short distance.

Several hours later, when the excitement had died down somewhat and matters could be safely left to
the scribes and the mechanical recorders, the director belatedly remembered his patiently waiting
visitor тАФ remembered, too, that every conceivable touch group on the Father World would soon be
vying for a say in the allocation of resources тАФ and apologetically groped for contact again.

тАЬWeтАЩve only begun the job, of course. We astronomers will go on recording as long as the message lasts
and continue refining our techniques in case weтАЩre missing anything. And weтАЩll try to learn more about the
 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html




signal source itself тАФ its orbital motion and so forth тАФ through Doppler analysis and other methods. But
now it will be the task of others тАФ our greatest group minds тАФ to interpret this gift from the
stars.тАЭ

тАЬWhat can you tell so far?тАЭ

тАЬThey must be a very advanced race. Our entire civilization does not generate enough power to
broadcast such a signal across so great a distance and with so high an information rate.тАЭ

тАЬBut what are theylike ?тАЭ

The director thought it over. тАЬTo begin with, their arithmetic is to the base ten, so they must have ten
limbs like ourselves.тАЭ

тАЬThat much is obvious,тАЭ the visitor said with a trace of impatience. тАЬAny intelligent life form would
necessarily resemble us more or less.тАЭ

Not wanting to give offense, the director said cautiously, тАЬIтАЩve heard religious people advance the
argument that sentience cannot exist except in the image of the Father-of-All.тАЭ

тАЬNo, no, IтАЩm talking about the scientific argument. That whatever evolutionary path life takes to arrive at
intelligence, it will need tool-handling limbs, vision, a sense of touch for cooperative communication. And
an efficient body plan presupposes radial symmetry and a diffuse neural network with most of the brain at
the center of the body, where itтАЩs well protected and where it can send impulses to all the extremities with
minimum delay.тАЭ

тАЬYes, IтАЩm familiar with the thesis.тАЭ

тАЬA similar case is made for the evolution of Language. Certain it is that Language seems to be inborn in
children тАФ itтАЩs found even in those unfortunates who somehow escape the harvesting nets and grow in
isolation before they can be ingathered тАФ though of course they need to catch up to their new touch
brothers.тАЭ

The director used a lee eye to steal a glance at the field of antennae. тАЬI doubt that the message will turn
out to be in anything as complex as Language. Across intergalactic distances, the information density

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238