Paper detail

Habitability of M dwarfs is a problem for the traditional SETI

We consider some implications of the much-discussed circumstellar habitable zones around M-dwarf stars for the conventionally understood radio SETI. We argue that the flaring nature of these stars would further adversely impact local development of radio communication and that, therefore, their circumstellar habitable zones should be preferentially studied by other methods. This is a clear example how diversity of astrobiological habitats is introducing contingency into the cultural evolution, thus undermining the universality of cultural convergence as one of the major premises of the traditional SETI. This is yet another example of how specifics of the physical environment strongly shape cultural evolution taken in the broadest, most inclusive sense.