What an ambitious project. I applaud them for what they were able to do with the technology at the time and also what they decided to put on the records. I am a huge Star Wars and Star Trek fan so I also believe that there could be other life out there besides just us. If I had to decide what would go on a 3rd record I would follow a little bit of what they did.
1. Given the thought that if intelligent life discovers the record, they should be able to discern from either the images or able to translate the writing. So, it would be important to have the date that the record was completed and where it was from.
2. Sounds of nature - Unlike the first records, I would have the sounds on their own tracks with an image so that their will be both an audio component and a visual component.
3. Animals - Also will have an image along with the sounds
4. Elements - Will have video of each element, so that a visual component is added.
5. Languages - The problem that I had with the greetings is how would an extraterrestrial know that the languages are different and not just all the same? I would probably have more than just a greeting, maybe a collection of phrases or a story in each respective language.
6. Music - On earth, music can be considered a language within itself. The first records did a great job of representing a wide variety of musical styles. I would keep all that they currently have and just updated it by adding current musical compositions from around the world.
7. Images of daily life, measurements, etc. - I think the current selection is good, but some I believe would be very confusing to someone unfamiliar with our writing system and language. These are the images showing measurements and equations. One can assume that if extraterrestrials can find the record, they would have their own measuring system and equations based on their physical laws. Images showing our anatomy and how our bodies function is essential. Maybe the extraterrestrials don't have noses or arms or legs? At least in the way we think of them. Also, images of the constellations we see would help them to find us if they wanted to contact us.
8. History - This one is a doozy. There is still much of our history that is lost or unclear. What should be shown is both the good and bad history. While conflict might be something seen only among terrestrial life, it is still good to represent both sides. We do not want other life to believe we have never known conflict and then for them to arrive and see it, what would they do? If they had emotion similar to ours, I bet they would feel like we lied to them to get them to come to us.
NASA's Voyager project was one of optimism and hope. Those are two qualities I think are lacking in this day and age. I would love for another project like this to be done, but first we must begin to look up into the sky rather than our limited circles of influence that we create today.
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