What might a real Hitch Hiker's Guide entry say?

Peter Munn wrote:

What might another culture see as significant about Earth, summing us
up
in a short entry that might equate to, say, just 50 English words?
Clearly, there can be no single "right" answer. Here's my shot for a
publication aimed at the scientifically-minded galactic tourist...

Probably something along the lines of what Carl Sagan wrote in _Cosmos_
for the hypothetical entry for Earth in the Encyclopaedia Galactica.

--
__ Erik Max Francis && && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
/ \ San Jose, CA, USA && 37 20 N 121 53 W && AIM erikmaxfrancis
\__/ Do you like what you see / Do you like yourself
-- Neneh Cherry

Peter Munn wrote:
[snip]
What might another culture see as significant about Earth, summing us up
in a short entry that might equate to, say, just 50 English words?
Clearly, there can be no single "right" answer.

The answer to this question is dependant upon the preconceptions,
biases and experience of these extra-terrestrial readers. Therefore I
believe that before we can answer this question we must decide upon
the range of environments and cultures possible for the potential
encyclopaeia-buying populous our universe.

Without knowledge of out target market to enable use to give
comparisons we can only give tedious factual information such as the
diameter of the planet, proportion covered by water, the age and
temperature of our local star, etc.

Any answers you get without data concerning the relevant
extra-terrestrials will amount to "what I, a resident, think about the
Earth". An interesting question, no doubt, but one which I expect will
soon get dragged down by current-day politics and prejudice.


Tim
--
Anyone who qualifies their comments with "just my
two cents" is usually over-valuing their contribution.

"Tim Auton" wrote in message
...
Peter Munn wrote:
[snip]
What might another culture see as significant about Earth, summing us up
in a short entry that might equate to, say, just 50 English words?
Clearly, there can be no single "right" answer.

The answer to this question is dependant upon the preconceptions,
biases and experience of these extra-terrestrial readers. Therefore I
believe that before we can answer this question we must decide upon
the range of environments and cultures possible for the potential
encyclopaeia-buying populous our universe.

Without knowledge of out target market to enable use to give
comparisons we can only give tedious factual information such as the
diameter of the planet, proportion covered by water, the age and
temperature of our local star, etc.

Any answers you get without data concerning the relevant
extra-terrestrials will amount to "what I, a resident, think about the
Earth". An interesting question, no doubt, but one which I expect will
soon get dragged down by current-day politics and prejudice.
Tim

Which has changed how during the last 2 million years?
Grim

Peter Munn wrote:
[...]

The part about Earth's entry in the guide being expanded from one to
two words is, of course, wonderful in its simple statement of how our
true significance may be in the grand scheme of things. Not wanting
to deny that in any way, I nevertheless started to wonder what a
slightly longer item could say.

The BBC actually held a competition:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhik...petition.shtml

The competition has now closed, although the winners haven't been
announced yet.
--
Petter Hesselberg
http://www.petterhesselberg.com/

....'mostly cloudy'?

"GazOC" wrote in message
om...
...'mostly cloudy'?

with occasional rain!

Erik Max Francis wrote in message ...
Peter Munn wrote:

What might another culture see as significant about Earth, summing us
up
in a short entry that might equate to, say, just 50 English words?
Clearly, there can be no single "right" answer. Here's my shot for a
publication aimed at the scientifically-minded galactic tourist...

Probably something along the lines of what Carl Sagan wrote in _Cosmos_
for the hypothetical entry for Earth in the Encyclopaedia Galactica.

Do you mean this -

Civilization Type:1.0J. Society Code: 4G4, "Humanity". Star: G2V, r=9.844
kpc, 8=00o05'24". Planet: third, a= 1.5x1013 cm. Extraplanetary colonies:
none. Planet age: 1.45x1017sec. Receipt first galactic nested code:
application pending. Deoxyribonucleic acid. No genetic prosthesis. Mobile
heterotrophs, symbionts with photosynthetic autotrophs. Surface dwellers,
monospecific, polychromatic Oxygen breathers.Fe-chelated tetrapyroles in
circulatory fluid. Sexual mammals. m= 70000gr. Technology: exponentiating/
fossil fuels/ nuclear weapons/ organized warfare/ environmental pollution.
Cultu about 200 nation states, about 6 global powers; cultural and
technological homogeniety underway. Probability of survival (per 100 yr):
40%.

As you see, it's heavily species-centric. I suppose this is before
_Star Trek IV_, and, come to think, before Hitch Hiker - or was it?

Robert Carnegie wrote:

As you see, it's heavily species-centric.

Certainly part of it isn't.

If there's going to be an encyclopedia, it's pretty obvious that its
contents are going to be guided by the people who made the encyclopedia.
How else could it possibly be?

If you want some hypothetical alien entry, then you have to decide what
the aliens want and why they're making the entry in the first place.
Then you can see what makes sense to put in the entry. If the goal is
simply rejecting every example mentioned, well, that's a pretty easy
task.

I suppose this is before
_Star Trek IV_, and, come to think, before Hitch Hiker - or was it?

_Cosmos_ is 1980. According to Google, _Star Trek IV_ was 1986,
_Hitchhiker's_ was first broadcast in 1978. Though I have no idea what
_Star Trek IV_ has to do with the topic.

--
__ Erik Max Francis && && http://www.alcyone.com/max/
/ \ San Jose, CA, USA && 37 20 N 121 53 W && AIM erikmaxfrancis
\__/ Eternity is very long, especially near the end.
-- Woody Allen

"Peter Munn" wrote in message
...

I'd be interested to see what other suggestions might be for a 50-word
alien run-down on our planet.


Mostly harmless. Attractions include crop graffiti and giving the locals
anal probes. Great place for teens.

It is the Hitchhiker's Guide after all....

In the two thousand and fourth year of Bob, Peter Munn's voice said the
following, in wonderful perfect quadrophonic sound with distortion levels so
low as to make a man weep:

This is prompted by my recently being amongst (BBC) Radio 4's audience
for the latest adaptation of part of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the
Galaxy series.

The part about Earth's entry in the guide being expanded from one to two
words is, of course, wonderful in its simple statement of how our true
significance may be in the grand scheme of things. Not wanting to deny
that in any way, I nevertheless started to wonder what a slightly longer
item could say.

What might another culture see as significant about Earth, summing us up
in a short entry that might equate to, say, just 50 English words?
Clearly, there can be no single "right" answer. Here's my shot for a
publication aimed at the scientifically-minded galactic tourist...

"Maturing rocky planet with cool water oceans. Impressive variety of
stationary life-forms harvesting radiated stellar energy and mobile
life-forms reacting atmospheric oxygen with ingested life-form material.
Occasional spectacular surface eclipses when large satellite barely
covers the star's disk.

"Its dominant social life-form recently started exploring neighbouring
planets with remote-controlled machines."

I'd be interested to see what other suggestions might be for a 50-word
alien run-down on our planet.

There was a competition at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers to submit
your own entry for Earth using 250-ish words (it wasn't 250 but it was a
similar number).

Why not have a look at that if they publish the entries?


--
John Coxon

"OMFG!!!!
D00D!! 1 j|_|$t red thiz book, The HITchi|er's Guild or something liek
that, and in it FORD is not blak!!!!!

Oh, wait, you wanted a NON-aol response? my apologies." - Gaz (afdaniain)

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