What May Not be Ours to Know

Man, it seems, has always wanted to know.

Even things that may be unknowable.

Especially those, to some.

As British poet Robert Browning (1812–1889) articulated in his poem, ‘Andrea del Sarto,’ published in 1855: “Ah, a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?

Browning may have been speaking of something else, but I don’t think I need apologize for interpreting broadly.

Dr. Frank Drake of Cornell U. launched the 1st SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) probe in 1960 from WV; it was called Project Ozma after L Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz.”

To date there has been no response to this inquiry shot into space.

The universe has been silent in the 65 years since launch.

We do not know the reason for this.

Is there no intelligent life out there?

Or might there be, but we may not recognize it because its life forms may be unfamiliar to us?

Or have extraterrestrials chosen not to respond?

Of the over 7000 languages on Earth, theirs might be one we don’t recognize.

Dolphins, whale, and other animal species, such as the great apes, communicate with one another, but we…