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Pi is Not Unique: SETI Implications
On Tuesday, 29 August 2017 09:08:54 UTC-4, Chris.B wrote:
On Tuesday, 29 August 2017 13:35:06 UTC+2, Paul Schlyter wrote: On Mon, 28 Aug 2017 21:14:52 -0700 (PDT), RichA wrote: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 in the known universe. 100 billion in this galaxy. Even with extreme odds, the chances of their not being life on other planets is unlikely, possibly intelligent enough to hear/see what we produce. Intelligent enough isn't sufficient, they must also be close enough to us, and then the chances drop dramatically. If you sent a message, how long would you be willing to wait for a possible reply? Even being close enough is meaningless if the phase [progress] of their technology does not closely match ours to within[say] 50 years. Every day, what I do routinely, is indistinguishable from magic for the aware, educated and and intelligent adult who guessed at the future only 50-60 years ago. That's an old bromide and it's B.S. Plenty of inventions now were envisioned or predicted 50 even 100 years ago. It was never considered magic unless you go back several hundred years. |
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Pi is Not Unique: SETI Implications
On Sunday, 3 September 2017 11:31:01 UTC+2, RichA wrote:
On Tuesday, 29 August 2017 09:08:54 UTC-4, Chris.B wrote: On Tuesday, 29 August 2017 13:35:06 UTC+2, Paul Schlyter wrote: On Mon, 28 Aug 2017 21:14:52 -0700 (PDT), RichA wrote: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 in the known universe. 100 billion in this galaxy. Even with extreme odds, the chances of their not being life on other planets is unlikely, possibly intelligent enough to hear/see what we produce. Intelligent enough isn't sufficient, they must also be close enough to us, and then the chances drop dramatically. If you sent a message, how long would you be willing to wait for a possible reply? Even being close enough is meaningless if the phase [progress] of their technology does not closely match ours to within[say] 50 years. Every day, what I do routinely, is indistinguishable from magic for the aware, educated and and intelligent adult who guessed at the future only 50-60 years ago. That's an old bromide and it's B.S. Plenty of inventions now were envisioned or predicted 50 even 100 years ago. It was never considered magic unless you go back several hundred years. You can bluster all you like but it doesn't change the reality of our own _everyday_ technological experience. A physical compression from sports hall to a microscopic part of a single chip is not a common thing in most people's normal experience. Within our own discipline, amateurs are producing images of the sky today which totally eclipse those from the largest instruments on the planet in my own youth. How many "great minds" of the past suggested that it would be possible to write with single atoms or we would build CERN? Who predicted that spacecraft would send back sharp images from the far reaches of the Solar System? Who foresaw the massive increase in telescope aperture in amateur's hands? Who predicted that a backward and poverty stricken, religious cult, like North Korea, would test weapons which could send the USA back into the 19th century with a single strike? An EMP would make Pearl Harbour look like a boating accident. Who predicted that the USA would have the worst free health service on the planet? While simultaneously spending three times the warmongering budget of all the others put together. Who predicted that most US citizens would soon be spherical? |
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