If the cosmic speed limit of electromagnetic waves is $c$ then is there any reason to use this to communicate as over long (interstellar) distances? Can this be an effective means of communication? Even between Earth and Mars the lag is problematic.
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Light speed does make it more difficult to have a conversation. It doesn't make it impossible though.
But SETI is about one question: are we alone in the universe? We don't need to be able to communicate to answer that.
A comment asked for 'other options than EM' for communications, assuming there are ways to communicate faster than light speed (FTL). The problem with that is, we don't even have a theoretical idea of how that might work, let alone a working FTL communications device. So we use what we have, which is EM.
Hobbes
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agreed but will any civilisation use EM to communicate if there are better options available while we are listening for EM waves? – Gobabis Dec 04 '16 at 19:46
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I've amended my answer. – Hobbes Dec 05 '16 at 09:35