[Paper Review] Recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on SETI Nomenclature

Jason T. Wright, Sofia Z. Sheikh+4 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Sep 18, 2018

Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life13 citations

TL;DR

This paper presents standardized terminology for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) to resolve inconsistencies in scientific literature. The Ad Hoc Committee on SETI Nomenclature recommends precise, consistent, and widely compatible definitions for key terms, deprecating ambiguous or misleading ones, with the goal of enhancing clarity and coherence in SETI research and communication.

ABSTRACT

The Ad Hoc Committee on SETI Nomenclature was convened at the suggestion of Frank Drake after the Decoding Alien Intelligence Workshop at the SETI Institute in March 2018. The purpose of the committee was to recommend standardized definitions for terms, especially those that are used inconsistently in the literature and the scientific community. The committee sought to recommend definitions and terms that are a compromise among several desirable but occasionally inconsistent properties for such terms: 1) Consistency with the historical literature and common use in the field; 2) Consistency with the present literature and common use in the field; 3) Precision of meaning; 4) Consistency with the natural (i.e. everyday, non-jargon) meanings of terms; 5) Compatibility with non-English terms and definitions. The definitions in this report are restricted to technical, SETI contexts, where they may have jargon senses different from their everyday senses. In many cases we include terms only to deprecate them (in the sense of "to withdraw official support for or discourage the use of...in favor of a newer or better alternative", Merriam-Webster sense 4). This is a consensus document that the committee members all endorse; however, in many cases the individual members have (or have expressed in the past) more nuanced opinions on these terms that are not fully reflected here, for instance Almár (2008, Acta Astronautica, 68, 351), Denning (2008, NASA-SP-2009-4802 Ch. 3 pp.63-124), and Wright (2018, arXiv:1803.06972).

Motivation & Objective

• Address long-standing inconsistencies in SETI terminology across scientific literature and community practice.
• Establish a standardized nomenclature that balances historical usage, precision, and everyday language meanings.
• Ensure compatibility with non-English terms and definitions to support global scientific collaboration.
• Deprecate ambiguous or misleading terms in favor of clearer, more precise alternatives.
• Provide a consensus framework endorsed by leading SETI researchers to unify terminology in the field.

Proposed method

• Convened an interdisciplinary committee of prominent SETI researchers to deliberate on term usage.
• Evaluated terms based on five criteria: historical consistency, current usage, precision, natural language meaning, and multilingual compatibility.
• Prioritized definitions that minimize ambiguity while preserving scientific accuracy and accessibility.
• Explicitly deprecated certain terms using the formal sense of 'deprecate' as 'to discourage use in favor of a better alternative'.
• Produced a consensus document with standardized definitions and usage guidelines.
• Focused on technical SETI contexts, acknowledging that some terms may have different jargon senses than everyday meanings.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What criteria should guide the standardization of SETI terminology to balance scientific rigor and practical usability?
• RQ2 How can terminology be standardized to reflect both historical usage and current scientific practice?
• RQ3 In what ways can SETI terms be made consistent with natural language meanings without sacrificing precision?
• RQ4 How can non-English terms and definitions be integrated into a globally applicable SETI nomenclature?
• RQ5 Which existing terms are most problematic and should be deprecated in favor of clearer alternatives?

Key findings

• The committee produced a consensus document recommending standardized definitions for key SETI terms to resolve long-standing inconsistencies.
• Several terms were formally deprecated due to ambiguity or misleading connotations, with preferred alternatives proposed.
• The definitions prioritize precision and consistency while respecting historical and current usage in the field.
• The nomenclature is designed to be compatible with non-English scientific terminology, supporting international collaboration.
• The document is endorsed by all committee members, though individual nuances in opinion are acknowledged as not fully captured.
• The recommendations are intended for use in scientific literature, conferences, and educational materials to improve clarity in SETI discourse.