“If we discover intelligent life beyond Earth, should we reply, and if so, what

[savant365]

If one landed in my back yard all I would say is "Nice ride, can I take it for a spin?"

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[Seamuss]

If one landed in my back yard all I would say is "Nice ride, can I take it for a spin?"

Beem me up Scotty. I'm outta here.

 

[Shortstack]

“If we discover intelligent life beyond Earth, should we reply, and if so, what should we say?"

"You ain't from around here, are you, boy?"

That's better than "come over here and pull my finger."

Nooooooo it AIN'T.

 

[G.I.B.]

Mathematically, it is a certainty that there is other life in the universe.

There is more intelligent life out there, and probably some less intelligent.

Any species with the intelligence and technology to arrive here would be highly superior to us. We would appear as a warlike self absorbed psychotic infant species not worth the effort to stop. They only need to intercept an episode of Jerry Springer, The Duke's of Hazard, or Bill O'Reilly to get a great first impression of the human race.



They wouldn't bother asking us anything. They would be too busy laughing.

 

[Minstrel]

Mathematically, it is a certainty that there is other life in the universe.

There is more intelligent life out there, and probably some less intelligent.

Any species with the intelligence and technology to arrive here would be highly superior to us. We would appear as a warlike self absorbed psychotic infant species not worth the effort to stop. They only need to intercept an episode of Jerry Springer, The Duke's of Hazard, or Bill O'Reilly to get a great first impression of the human race.



They wouldn't bother asking us anything. They would be too busy laughing.

Now all of the above is the truest statement on here.
Min

 

[baspinall]

"get me outta here!"

 

[G.I.B.]

Don't forget that the civilization must cross not only distance, but also time. In the midst of "billions and billions" of years, the two civilizations must exist at the same time, and be close enough to reach each other during that time.

I cannot see any civilization capable of making it to Earth in the first place really wanting to come here. Not unless they needed oil or a petting zoo.

Distance, time... they only hold meaning to us in our limited perspective of life, the universe, and everything. We can not limit possibilities based on our understanding and logic.

Think back to the time any one of a number of explorers who were discovering new world in the 1500's.

Not too terribly long ago. A subatomic particle of time in the expanse of the universe. Lifetimes ago for us.

What would they think if they saw today's technology for a few hours. How alien and impossible would we be to them?

300 years from now ~ how impossible and alien are they from us?


We see in such a limited and short wavelength of reality...


(except for the oily petting zoo - I can picture that)

 

[Seamuss]

Beam me up Scotty. Scotty are you their. Scotty, Sco-o-ottiiieee.

But captain, we're running out of di-lithium crystals. I told you we should have stopped at Uranus.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: “If we discover intelligent life beyond Earth, should we reply, and if so, what

Don't forget that the civilization must cross not only distance, but also time. In the midst of "billions and billions" of years, the two civilizations must exist at the same time, and be close enough to reach each other during that time.

I cannot see any civilization capable of making it to Earth in the first place really wanting to come here. Not unless they needed oil or a petting zoo.

Distance, time... they only hold meaning to us in our limited perspective of life, the universe, and everything. We can not limit possibilities based on our understanding and logic.

Think back to the time any one of a number of explorers who were discovering new world in the 1500's.

Not too terribly long ago. A subatomic particle of time in the expanse of the universe. Lifetimes ago for us.

What would they think if they saw today's technology for a few hours. How alien and impossible would we be to them?

300 years from now ~ how impossible and alien are they from us?


We see in such a limited and short wavelength of reality...


(except for the oily petting zoo - I can picture that)

I can accept your statement on the basis of a wide-eyed enthusiasm and wonderment. But the speed of light is a limitation from which there is no escape. When we look at the vast spaces, and the amount of time it would take to travel somewhere--even at the speed of light (which is impossible, and will always be)--perhaps Carl Sagan's wasn't so crazy about the pale blue dot.

 

[G.I.B.]

I can accept your statement on the basis of a wide-eyed enthusiasm and wonderment. But the speed of light is a limitation from which there is no escape. When we look at the vast spaces, and the amount of time--even at the speed of light (which is impossible, and will always be)--perhaps Carl Sagan's wasn't so crazy about the pale blue dot.

Who said the speed of light is impossible and always will be? Do we believe it and never attempt to surpass that limitation?

Before 1947, it was believed that the speed of sound represented a physical barrier for aircraft and pilots. As airplanes approach the speed of sound, a shock wave forms and the aircraft encounters sharply increased drag, violent shaking, loss of lift, and loss of control. In attempting to break the barrier, several planes went out of control and crashed, injuring many pilots and killing some. The barrier was eventually shown to be mythical, however, when Chuck Yeager surpassed the speed of sound in the X-1

Discovery consists in seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought.

Albert Szent-Györgyi


Scientific American: 1954

This certainly proved true in 2004.... it was after all said by highly respected scientists from the Rand Corp. If they don't know, for sure who does?

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: “If we discover intelligent life beyond Earth, should we reply, and if so, what

I can accept your statement on the basis of a wide-eyed enthusiasm and wonderment. But the speed of light is a limitation from which there is no escape. When we look at the vast spaces, and the amount of time--even at the speed of light (which is impossible, and will always be)--perhaps Carl Sagan's wasn't so crazy about the pale blue dot.

Who said the speed of light is impossible and always will be? Do we believe it and never attempt to surpass that limitation?

Before 1947, it was believed that the speed of sound represented a physical barrier for aircraft and pilots. As airplanes approach the speed of sound, a shock wave forms and the aircraft encounters sharply increased drag, violent shaking, loss of lift, and loss of control. In attempting to break the barrier, several planes went out of control and crashed, injuring many pilots and killing some. The barrier was eventually shown to be mythical, however, when Chuck Yeager surpassed the speed of sound in the X-1

Discovery consists in seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought.

Albert Szent-Györgyi


Scientific American: 1954

This certainly proved true in 2004.... it was after all said by highly respected scientists from the Rand Corp. If they don't know, for sure who does?

Yes, but approaching the speed of light is another can of worms. It is a million times greater than the speed of sound in air. The speed of light took centuries to measure, and another century to understand.

It is not a problem with technology. It's simple math.

As velocity approaches the speed of light, the mass approaches infinity.

 

[G.I.B.]

Yes, but approaching the speed of light is another can of worms. It is a million times greater than the speed of sound in air. The speed of light took centuries to measure, and another century to understand.

It is not a problem with technology. It's simple math.

As velocity approaches the speed of light, the mass approaches infinity.

I agree with you. According to what we know today, the speed of light is unattainable.

That in and of itself, does not make it impossible to surpass. With our technology, yes. With our simple math, okay. What we understand infinity to be... yes.

My point is this:

Because it is what we understand, it does not necessarily make something finite.

If the human race thought that way, we would still be simple hunters and gatherers.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Yes, but approaching the speed of light is another can of worms. It is a million times greater than the speed of sound in air. The speed of light took centuries to measure, and another century to understand.

It is not a problem with technology. It's simple math.

As velocity approaches the speed of light, the mass approaches infinity.

I agree with you. According to what we know today, the speed of light is unattainable.

That in and of itself, does not make it impossible to surpass. With our technology, yes. With our simple math, okay. What we understand infinity to be... yes.

My point is this:

Because it is what we understand, it does not necessarily make something finite.

If the human race thought that way, we would still be simple hunters and gatherers.

There was no equation that said that breaking the sound "barrier" was impossible. There is one that says that we cannot break the speed of light.

And its derivation is far from simple.

 

[jeff of pa]

just send them this song

 

[BuckleBoy]

The band Klaatu has already taken the liberty of composing an anthem for "World Contact Day." Takes a few seconds for the song to start:

 

[G.I.B.]

A pair of German physicists claim to have broken the speed of light - an achievement that would undermine our entire understanding of space and time.

According to Einstein's special theory of relativity, it would require an infinite amount of energy to propel an object at more than 186,000 miles per second.

However, Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory.

The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart.

Being able to travel faster than the speed of light would lead to a wide variety of bizarre consequences.

For instance, an astronaut moving faster than it would theoretically arrive at a destination before leaving.

The scientists were investigating a phenomenon called quantum tunnelling, which allows sub-atomic particles to break apparently unbreakable laws.

Dr Nimtz told New Scientist magazine: "For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that I know of."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sciencea...ws/3303699/We-have-broken-speed-of-light.html


I'm happy that they are ignoring generally accepted logic, and still trying!

 

[BuckleBoy]

I'm happy that they are ignoring generally accepted logic, and still trying!

Me too. Thanks for the link.

 

[blurr]

Wanna buy a bridge??

Or maybe some stock in GM?

John

 

[GL]

Humanity is far too irrational, violent and superstitious to merit alien contact. Any life that has the technology to make it here to visit would surely be unimpressed with us and our pathetic fighting and primitive ways. Why would you intentionally make contact with such an unintelligent species on such an insignificant planet in such an unremarkable galaxy?
I would feel ashamed if they landed and the first thing said to them was something religious. How arrogant.

 

[G.I.B.]

...should we say?

You should probably say, "I'm very sorry for killing your leader, please put the ray gun down."

You see, when you finally let go of that brick wall you are holding up to shake hands, it will fall and crush their leader thereby causing them to immediately vaporize our entire planet.

So in advance of our certain doom...

Thanks!