My personal view is that any civilisation much smarter than ours will have realised that attempting to communicate with other solar systems is a waste of time: given the limitation of the speed of light it is always easier, quicker and more energy-efficient to invent something or solve a problem oneself than to try and find someone else who has already done it.

In fact there is a certain intellectual arrogance in thinking that sentient extraterrestrials would be remotely interested in anything we could possibly offer or say to them. The classic science-fiction books, shows and movies are just updated Westerns, with the same premise: there are vast untapped resources 'out there' a few days or weeks away, and we can get there cheaply and exploit them. A more realistic view is that searching for anything useful in space is like looking for a gold coin dropped overboard somewhere in the Atlantic. The investment of time and effort required to find it is grossly disproportionate to the probable return.