SETI, Cultural Evolution, and the Star Trek Imaginary

This paper explores the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) as a practice of imagination expressed via an evolutionary eschatology where intelligent species are saved through the process of technological and social progress. I discuss a social imaginary associated with Star Trek which has significantly shaped the manner in which SETI scientists have thought about and justified their research. I show how a collection of sociotechnical entities such as scientists, fictional representations, and ideological tropes intertwine in the SETI context to form a coherent body of practice that is employed to justify and legitimize scientific practices related to SETI.