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Humans have a habit of endowing the unknown with familiar traits. When we think of aliens, our imagination often paints them as humanoid beings with understandable emotions and motives. It’s natural—otherwise, empathy and comprehension become difficult. But in encountering a radically alien consciousness, this projection becomes a dangerous trap. Anthropomorphism—attributing human qualities to the non-human—can lead to profound misconceptions.

Imagine we receive a signal from a distant civilization. Instinctively, we seek meaning in it—familiar rhythms, tones: perhaps it’s a “hello” or a plea for help? But if the sender’s mode of thought is entirely different, our reading between the lines will deceive us. What we send as a greeting might be interpreted as a threat or unbearable noise—and vice versa. A gesture of goodwill (say, a bright light pulse toward their planet) could be seen as aggression. Their response might seem like a natural phenomenon until we learn to distinguish intentional signals from random ones.