Should we look for E.T.?

The prospect of finding alien life is exciting, but... like the writer Arthur C. Clarke said:

Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.

All depends on what we find - if we find anything at all. 

Stephen Hawking opened the can of fear. He was fine with listening and looking from the shadows; not much with telling where we are in the universe. 

There are risks in meeting other civilizations no matter how intelligent they are. In 2010, Hawking reminded:

We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.

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