Are we alone?

[Yellowtulip]

Originally Posted by geoleo

Where do I find the crackpot thread? This must be close. My wife wants to join.

Just take any thread after page two.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Of course, none of this is new for humanity. This is how we got ghost, goblins, demons, leprechauns and of course the pantheon of gods, or the one Big God. It seems the human brain abhors an explanation-vacuum, so in the absence of an actual explanation, we invent one.


"I don't know" does in deed turn out to be one the hardest things for any of us to say.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by geoleo

Where do I find the crackpot thread? This must be close. My wife wants to join.

With the current clampdowns and bans following this little contretemps... there's a little bit less internet love for crackpots at the moment. Maybe your wife could look into joining something else.

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Of course, none of this is new for humanity. This is how we got ghost, goblins, demons, leprechauns and of course the pantheon of gods, or the one Big God. It seems the human brain abhors an explanation-vacuum, so in the absence of an actual explanation, we invent one.


"I don't know" does in deed turn out to be one the hardest things for any of us to say.

I dunno about that..

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Tellie

I dunno about that..

Touché [emoji6].

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Tellie

I dunno about that..

you left out Ancient Aliens

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

With the current clampdowns and bans following this little contretemps... there's a little bit less internet love for crackpots at the moment. Maybe your wife could look into joining something else.

Why do you need 'internet love'??

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Yellowtulip

It took 4billion years for life to evolve on Earth, but the Universe is three times that age. So there’s been more than enough time for other life forms to appear (and disappear) in that time. Since there are billions of planets similar to Earth it’s highly likely that Earth-like life has evolved somewhere else first, let alone non-Earth like life.

Dont you really really want it to be so??

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Tellie

Ya know, only one planet can claim to be the first to have life in the universe. Why can't it simply be us? Or "It's a cook book"

Well it is "SO" but many many peeps want it to be "NOT SO". They hunger 'not to be alone'. I suppose they are inherently lonely. ?

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by GordMay

On the other hand:
“Our Improbable Existence Is No Evidence for a Multiverse” ~ by Philip Goff
Experts in probability have spotted a logical flaw in theorists’ reasoning
“We exist, and we are living creatures. It follows that the universe we live in must be compatible with the existence of life. However, as scientists have studied the fundamental principles that govern our universe, they have discovered that the odds of a universe like ours being compatible with life are astronomically low ...”
More ➥ https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...-a-multiverse/

HMMM the We arent alone crowd will not like this.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

Yes, Fermis's Paradox is the problem.

It's a pretty simple idea, really. If there are so many habitable planets, and so much life around, where is it ?

Unless there is already a "galactic governing body" of some sort waiting for us to get to a certain level before they introduce themselves, I see only a couple of choices left.

If there was an "Independence Day" type species, we probably wouldn't be here anymore.

Or there is nothing but us. Or perhaps it is so rare, and long distance space travel so impossible, that we'll never know.

I don't see many other possibilities.

Do you enjoy Sci Fi hollywood movies?

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by GordMay

I don’t know about you, but the things (possibilities) I don’t know, would represent the vast majority of current human knowledge, which, itself, may be (or not)*, but a small fraction of the “knowable”.

* This would be among the things, I don’t know (I’m a veritable cornucopia of ignorance).
In, fact, I don’t even know if there is anything “unknowable” (wouldn’t it be a paradox, to know of something unknowable?).
"what I do not know I do not think I know", often paraphrased as "I know that I know nothing." ~ the Socratic Paradox, from Plato

Would that Tolstoy were right:
“The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of a doubt, what is laid before him.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

Jose Ortega y Gasset delved into this in his "History as a system".

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by CaptTom

I see nothing but possibilities. "Unknown unknowns" if you will.

I don't "believe" or disbelieve anything not adequately proven. With a sample size of one and a profound ignorance about an incomprehensibly vast universe, it's just not possible to form a reasonable opinion.

People sometimes forget that we're not obligated to pick sides. To paraphrase Red Green, it's OK to say those three little words men hate to say: "I don't Know."

That said, in the face of uncertainty one can only play the odds. The odds are pretty good that this little speck we inhabit is not unique in the universe.

not unique means there are comparable earths with life . So do you wish "not to be alone"? Is that your desire?

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by JimmyDarci

Long day cruising, at anchor, pitch dark above and beautiful starry night. We spend many evenings up on the bow gazing at the stars having conversations about things such as life out there. IMHO, we are not alone - in having such discussions while sailing. Maybe we are not alone, so relevant post for this sailing site. As relevant as how to tie a monkey fist or bantering about composting toilets versus using pump out system (or a plain old bucket) .... but do the aliens appreciate sailing as a mode of transportation or an activity. Boating requires a romantic affinity for the water. Sailing brings out the poet, the dreamer, the adventurer in each of us. Why the hell do it otherwise? It is slower, more expensive and more cumbersome than most other modes of travel. Yet here we are, each of us loving boat cruising enough to subscribe to a site where we can wax nostalgic and trade knowledge about the subject as the winter stove shines a cherry red glow on the wall through the early evening twilight. I think the real question is do aliens have the capacity to appreciate boating? Cause if they do, we have more competition for the prime anchorage spots.

Wouldnt be just dandy if a tiny lil ufo with some tiny greys landed on your foredeck and started dancing? Would you record them on your iphone?

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Special Relatively doesn't actually preclude faster-than-light travel. What is impossible is to accelerate a mass to the speed of light. At that point everything goes to infinite (infinite energy, infinite mass, zero time).

But if you push the calculations beyond C (the speed of light) the equations shift into imaginary numbers, but without infinites. It makes no physical sense; afterall, what's an imaginary number? But this is where the concept of tachyon particles comes from in sci-fi.

My pet notion is that all we need to do is get as close to C as physically possible, then use quantum tunneling to simply skip over the speed of light.

Maybe all we need is a really big sail .

If it is impossible then how do you know it goes infinity? How can we know the results of something "impossible" if it cannot occur?