The golden records aboard Voyager spacecraft represent humanity's most ambitious attempt at cosmic communication—engraved diagrams of DNA, mathematical constants, and pulsar maps meant to transcend human language. Yet physicist Daniel Whiteson poses an unsettling question in his new book Do Aliens Speak Physics?: What if these symbols are as culturally opaque to extraterrestrials as undeciphered Etruscan scripts are to us?

"NASA gave Carl Sagan two weeks to design the Pioneer plaque," Whiteson told Ars Technica. "I showed it to physics grad students—biological humans sharing our culture—and none understood it. The fundamental problem is that language requires shared context. Symbols are arbitrary."

Beyond the Human Lens

Whiteson, a researcher on CERN's ATLAS collaboration, systematically dismantles assumptions that alien science would mirror ours:

  • The Myth of Universal Math: "We assume numbers are fundamental, but philosopher Hartry Field showed you can describe physics through relationships without numbers. Aliens might not 'count' at all—their cognition could emerge from fluid dynamics or electromagnetic sensing."
  • Perception Shapes Theory: Human physics emerged from biological senses limited to specific energy wavelengths. Aliens perceiving quantum superpositions directly might find wave-particle duality trivial—or our theories nonsensical. "What if they 'taste' electrons?" Whiteson muses. "Their intuitive language for reality would differ radically."
  • The Decoding Dilemma: Historical precedents like the Rosetta Stone required overlapping cultural knowledge. SETI's quest assumes alien messages contain decipherable patterns, but Whiteson warns: "How do you distinguish nonsense from concepts beyond your framework? Without shared biology or culture, it might be impossible."

When Narratives Collide

Even if aliens developed technology, their scientific "story" could be unrecognizable. "Physics isn't just equations; it's a narrative shaped by curiosity and bias," Whiteson explains. Human science prioritizes particle collisions and cosmic expansion—aliens might focus on plasma vortices or atmospheric resonances irrelevant to us.

This cognitive divergence extends to core concepts:

"How do aliens define 'self'? Is their identity bounded by skin like ours? Or are they atmospheric swirls with fuzzy edges? Our entire physics assumes discrete objects—that might be a philosophical choice, not cosmic truth."

The Ultimate Revelation

Whiteson’s conclusion reframes the search for alien knowledge: Contact wouldn’t just reveal new physics—it would expose humanity’s cognitive blind spots. "Our theories may reveal the patterns of our thoughts as much as the patterns of nature," he writes. The struggle to understand truly alien science could become the most profound mirror held to our own minds.

Source: Interview with Daniel Whiteson and analysis from "Do Aliens Speak Physics?" (Ars Technica, November 2025)