Why try to go into space? Why not build a device that can communicate with other universes instead?
It's expensive to build rockets. Also it's not a decentralized endeavour.
Therefore, why don't we focus on building Carl Sagan style communication devices instead that can send messages back and forth to other universes?
SETI is not a communications device it is hoping to get a signal intended for others to receive it. Their promoters stated from the beginning that we lack the capacity to produce a strong enough focused enough signal to be received (in time anyway) across the galaxy.
So the hope is to "catch something" only if another sentient race has purposefully left such beacon for others to find.
They themselves, Sagan et al, knew that casually catching things not explicitly intended to be found in the first place, is unrealistic. Also you may seem to ignore the fact the Voyagers probes contain a gold record (as in vinyl, but made of gold) with imagery and sounds of Earth, so this was his attempt to "communicate". At the speed these things travel, it is unlikely anyone will find them before this solar system goes extinct (Sol goes supernova in a billion years or so).
You should also know that the speed of light is too slow for interstellar communications. Astronomers measure distances in light years, so this is the amount of earth years you need to wait for a dot of light to reach. Closest place is 4LY away, all the others are even farther.
You could argue the privatization of the field is decentralizing it. Sure, until recently, it was only a couple of State run agencies, but know in addition to a few more State run agencies, we have private startups successfully moving things from/to space. Besides, what did you think, that radio telescopes are free? No they are not, they are expensive.
