Since way back when man has always tired to reason that there is or is not life elsewhere. Why? Today science is obsessed with the search for life elsewhere. Why are we not content to accept what is? What could change if man became convinced there is life elsewhere? Nothing, right? With the universe expanding and space travel already immensely difficult what the heck is the reason for this psychotic obsession? It would be lie striking gold somewhere where they know how to make it in a laboratory. Why not just stay in our back yard and mow the lawn and plant trees and flowers every so often to make it a nice place to live? If it is in our genes then our genes are stupid.
Why Does Mankind Insist In Seeking Life Elsewhere?
- Thread starter fmdog44
- Start date
ScienceRocks
Democrat all the way!
- Banned
- #3
Our species seeks knowledge. Knowledge and understanding = power.
We wouldn't rule this planet if we didn't. Why not a dozen planets?
We wouldn't rule this planet if we didn't. Why not a dozen planets?
Luddly Neddite
Diamond Member
- Sep 14, 2011
- 63,957
- 9,983
- 2,040
How can we not look up and wonder what's out there, where we came from and where we're going?
This image covers approximately 2.5 arc minutes of the sky, the equivalent area of a tennis ball at 100 meters from your eyes, or 1/24 millionth of the sky. Virtually every object shown on the image is a galaxy. Each spec of 'red dust' that you see, is a galaxy. The exposure time for this image was 23 days.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Hubble_Extreme_Deep_Field_(full_resolution).png
This image covers approximately 2.5 arc minutes of the sky, the equivalent area of a tennis ball at 100 meters from your eyes, or 1/24 millionth of the sky. Virtually every object shown on the image is a galaxy. Each spec of 'red dust' that you see, is a galaxy. The exposure time for this image was 23 days.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Hubble_Extreme_Deep_Field_(full_resolution).png
Luddly Neddite
Diamond Member
- Sep 14, 2011
- 63,957
- 9,983
- 2,040
ABikerSailor
Diamond Member
Why? Because at our current rate of growth on this planet, we're going to run out of room and resources.
Me personally? If it was possible for me to go to another planet to check it out and possibly colonize, I'd go.
Me personally? If it was possible for me to go to another planet to check it out and possibly colonize, I'd go.
Nutz
Gold Member
- Feb 27, 2014
- 14,814
- 1,810
- 265
- Banned
- #8
If you think hmans rule this planet...you are dumber thn I originally thought. Ever since when has man ruled nature. All it takes is a good hurricane, earthquake, volcano...flood and humans are destroyed. It is pretty arrogant to think that humans rule this planet.
Luddly Neddite
Diamond Member
- Sep 14, 2011
- 63,957
- 9,983
- 2,040
Fun to consider, isn't it?
If you had a chance to go to another planet, such as Cocoon, Star Trek, your own imagination ...
Would you go?
I think I would and I hope I would.
Of course, it really would be where no man had gone before.
Would it be the ultimate adventure? Or would you be part of the cook book "To Serve Man"?
Worst case scenario, wouldn't it still be the ultimate adventure?
Don't know, can never know and that's why its fun to consider.
Boss
Take a Memo:
It's our human curiosity which makes us ponder what is beyond our planet and solar system. In terms of our knowledge compared to all the available knowledge of the universe, we're like small infants in a crib located in the middle of a dark room. We strain to see objects within the room, we are aware of things outside the room, we may even be familiar with the things closest to us, both in the crib and from outside. We sometimes foolishly believe we have the whole thing figured out, but we are mere infants in a dark crib. We know virtually nothing, and even things we think we know are proven wrong all the time.
I love to tease my "Science" friends with this... Did you know, most physics textbooks in print are wrong? They state the universe is mostly comprised of atoms and this is incorrect. The universe is mostly comprised of dark energy and dark matter, of which we know very little about. There is no atomic structure but it has gravity... it's there, but it's not there. Quantum physics reveals things that less than 100 years ago would have been considered scientifically impossible. So much so, it wouldn't have even been viewed as legitimate science fiction. It would have been much more like Alice in Wonderland. Today, it is being confirmed at CERN and other large hadron colliders around the globe.
We are literally discovering that the basic fundamental laws of physics as we know them, seem to break down at the subatomic level and at the speed of light. The impossible becomes possible. We can throw Logic out the window because it may not apply. The upside is, this can open the imaginations of the human mind and science has a course. Man exists in his own paradox... We exist but we do not know WHY.
Everything man does, boils down to that one basic fundamental truth.
I love to tease my "Science" friends with this... Did you know, most physics textbooks in print are wrong? They state the universe is mostly comprised of atoms and this is incorrect. The universe is mostly comprised of dark energy and dark matter, of which we know very little about. There is no atomic structure but it has gravity... it's there, but it's not there. Quantum physics reveals things that less than 100 years ago would have been considered scientifically impossible. So much so, it wouldn't have even been viewed as legitimate science fiction. It would have been much more like Alice in Wonderland. Today, it is being confirmed at CERN and other large hadron colliders around the globe.
We are literally discovering that the basic fundamental laws of physics as we know them, seem to break down at the subatomic level and at the speed of light. The impossible becomes possible. We can throw Logic out the window because it may not apply. The upside is, this can open the imaginations of the human mind and science has a course. Man exists in his own paradox... We exist but we do not know WHY.
Everything man does, boils down to that one basic fundamental truth.
LuckyDuck01!
Platinum Member
As "ABikerSailor" said, we are running out of room (because of our refusal to control our population) and are running out of resources (because of the population issue, as well as the fact that our planet has a finite amount that cannot be expanded upon.
There's also the fact that eventually, this planet will die and our descendants along with it if we can't find a way to go faster than light, or at least as fast as light in a state of suspended animation.
There's also the fact that eventually, this planet will die and our descendants along with it if we can't find a way to go faster than light, or at least as fast as light in a state of suspended animation.
Boss
Take a Memo:
We have a way to go before we run out of room. One thing you have to consider is Earth is a self-cleaning planet. We know at least 4 times there have been mass extinction events where almost everything was basically wiped out and started over. That's going to happen again, in fact, some say we're about 50k years overdue for such an event.
We can't ever go faster than the speed of light because time stops at the speed of light. We don't even know if we can construct a craft that could withstand the heat of traveling near the speed of light. This is all science fiction at this time. But even IF such a thing were possible, the closest solar system with potential earth-like planets is about 60 years away, traveling at a max near speed of light. Meaning, whoever designs this mission is probably not going to live to see it completed.
There is currently a wormhole theory which predicts there are places in the fabric of time where you can 'shortcut' to a different space and time. Something like this would not require travel at speed of light but the theory is still very new and untested.
- Thread starter
- #14
I might be dumb but I can spell "than" better THAN you!!
- Thread starter
- #15
What will happen if we do make contact? Someone in any meeting takes the upper hand and that is also in our genetic make up. Since it appear man has the need to rule or conquer what is the next step after contact, send preachers, scientists or the military?!
Roadrunner
Roadrunner
If people thought like you, humanity would have died out in the Rift Valley eons ago.
It IS in the DNA of at least some of us, that urge just to get up and move with no particular place to go, just to see something you have never seen.
- Thread starter
- #17
You mean like someone from Freeport, Connecticut going to the Grand Canyon in their Hummer is the same as the challenge of traveling the span of the universe over the span of a trillion years and the moral dilemma of confronting alien life is on the same level as deciding a Holiday in or Motel 6?
Apparently, you are a fucking idiot if you don't realize that was a typo.
Boss
Take a Memo:
It is interesting how humans contemplate this possibility and has always been a fascination of mine. I love the old 1950s science fiction shows because of all the imaginative assumptions we tend to make in absence of real scientific answers. It seems we are inclined to believe, if life exists elsewhere, it is much like our own, the living beings are similar to us, maybe they look different, maybe they have different technology, but basically they are like us. I find this a rather vain assumption.
Because our rational minds operate on logic, we often try to keep our imagination in check when pondering this question. We dismiss possibilities which may appear illogical to us because we can't imagine that we don't already know everything. What we imagine life elsewhere to be like, has to comfortably fit in the confines of what we understand and can relate to. It might be comfortable but is it realistic? Do we even have the capacity of imagination to comprehend another life form? Would we even recognize it if we ran across it?
It's a very distinct possibility that life elsewhere might be millions of years more advanced than us. I often wonder how this would work out for us, if we discovered life more advanced than our own. Would our fragile egos be able to handle being the "dumb animals" of the universe? Forget about ideas of destroying them, could we avoid becoming beasts of burden to them? It is hard to imagine because we've always been top dogs, we've never been the horse or mule. Faced with an entity exponentially more mentally advanced, what would become of us?
No, it's not as 'romantic' as the thought of us making contact with another intelligence on par with our own. But our answers are often not what we expect them to be.
Uncensored2008
Libertarian Radical
Well, we can't find intelligent life in the democratic party, so we might as well try another planet....
Similar threads
New Topics
-
BBC guy [Lineker] promotes Nazi "palestine" lobby Goebbeles cartoon- Started by Pastelli
- Replies: 1
-
-
FBI Arrests Islamic State's Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said, accused of plotting mass shooting at Detroit...- Started by Sayaras
- Replies: 4
-
Arab "palestine" shoots pregnant woman, murders her.. allah akbar
- Started by Sayaras
- Replies: 1
-
I can understand now rather that Mortimer is accussed of revival of nazism- Started by Mortimer
- Replies: 0
