SETI: Is contact at all likely?

Probably, the most curious organism on the planet is the human race. That is what makes us also the most successful. As long as there are questions to be answered, Mankind will go on asking them. Yes, the odds against a meaningful conversation with an alien civilization is vanishingly small, but that is no reason not to try. The implications just of knowing we are NOT alone in the Universe would filter into every corner of our lives, and just knowing we have neighbors would make the Galaxy less lonely.