Interpreting the Signal

Notice that most popular depictions of contact by alien intelligence assume that we will be able to figure out how to communicate. But it is possible that we might receive a signal that is clearly of intelligent origin, but not be able to decipher its content because it is too advanced for us.

Since we are mere infants as a technological civilization, we may expect that any civilization contacting us is likely to be far more advanced than us. We can only hope that they will expect that we may be technological infants and send us a simple initial message!