(05-14-2024, 08:08 PM)IdeomotorPrisoner Wrote:
Paranoid is our genetic memory. In many ways we are not that far removed from howling at thunder still. It's within written history to when thunderstorms were still attributed to the gods. Not that far removed from another god to pull the sun across the sky.
While I'm not saying discovery is bad, or contact can't lead to benefit, I'm saying there may be wisdom in being LITERAL backwoods savages.
That's the point or at least one of the pertinent points here, humanity may evolve too slowly, hell we may be regressing already. Even then we aren't the alligators, crocodiles, mice, or even the North Sentinal Island natives. As much as I'd like to rock a loincloth eat some coconuts, and live right on the beach, most humans desire more out of life and humanity's existence.
Common HUMAN wisdom though knows to live life to its fullest on this earthbound rock you have to take chances, make mistakes, learn, adapt, and grow. If we don't this little rock buzzing through space at 26,000 miles an hour on the edge of the Milky Way is likely to run us into a situation where Earthlings have to quickly adjust to a situation or face extinction. Then what? do we go silently into the night?
https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-...-could-end
Wouldn't it be better to have options, and have another planet atleast some of us can immigrate to? To have options you have to prepare.
We are now 21st-century partially civilized humans and have been on the planet for 100,000-plus years.
How much longer do we need to cook?
Typically, when the more advanced come across the less advanced, the latter exploit the former to some degree. Whether it being the removal of indigenous population or assimilation for selfish reasons. Like Manhattan for 23 dollars.
As rose-colored glasses Carl suggested, we weren't separate species for the 1st Manhattan Real Estate sale it was just slightly more ambitious and motivated humans with the same blood the same tissue, the same neurons, and electrons, ie still full of all our flaws, questionable emotional responses and genetic limitations physically and mentally.
Hell I'm more concerned about humans I know what they are capable of individually and collectively, and damn Im surrounded by them right now.LOL
I mean I know it's unlikely but perhaps we could discover an NHI that can make artificial no cholesterol vegetable bacon that tastes like real bacon
"The Next." The transhuman obsession. The future is civilized and crime free, because with advancement comes Buddha meditating under a tree apparently.
When did this happen? I must have missed it in all the warfare and exploitation.
Hmmm, I gave up on that fantasy mirage after watching Bladerunner #1, and #2 pretty sure humans are close enough to animals that unless genetically modified there will be a smallish percentage thats always a few centuries behind in their Miss Manners etiquette classes as well as another smallish percentage that will want to play real-life GTA. As well small percentage of TPTB that will employ persons from the previous 2 groups.
I mean look how long humans have eaten red meat, smoked cigarettes, and consumed pounds of sugar. We all know it is poison, yet humanity has given us the ability to have all the red meat we can afford delivered to our door 24/7, we can inhale tobacco through vape pens and cartridges and sugar it's still in everything, even items where you are going why in the hell is sugar in there? We are passively more dangerous to humanity than aliens actively are FAWK
Not to mention we might not want to eliminate our warring tendencies, our wars and warrior tendencies could be all thats keeping the alien armada parked on the dark side of the moon. What if the cosmos is full of nothing but alien warfare and exploitation, as the new human in the galactic neighborhood it would be better to know how to give than to receive.
Not to underscore natural human paranoia, buy how can we as a species be certain Klaus Schwab isn't an alien servant sterilizing people with MNRA vaccines and reducing Earth's population for alien farmland already?
Respectfully if this is the case, then the premise of the debate is moot, is it not?
Peoples morality is transitive. Germany in 1936 proved that. You can exalt complete desecration of character and have people believe it's moral.
Sure, but it's late and you might need to connect the dots, not sure how this relates to the question at hand at all. I mean yes if there are alien Nazis we might have issues
Germany's population was approximately 65 million, there were many variables that had to fall into place to make Nazi Germany possible. The only factor that can be recreated is perhaps coming out of a Great Depression, possible mind you, but all the other factors were isolated in 1930s Germany. It's not likely not occur in 2020s/21st Century Earth with a population approaching 8 Billion. 90 years later Germany is a fairly staunch ally of Israel, wonder what the odds were on that ever happening.
Finally, I must insert a necessary component to my argument.
I think natural selection, survival of the most adaptable, IS the default form for life to evolve. All life may be from left-handed amino acids and mostly carbon-based?
While personally, I agree with your assertion, there's evidence even this may not be the case
https://www.space.com/alien-life-not-car...sis-common
Quote:
Self-sustaining chemical reactions that could support biology radically different from life as we know it might exist on many different planets using a variety of elements beyond the carbon upon which Earth's life is based, a new study finds.
On Earth, life is based on organic compounds. These molecules are composed of carbon and often include other elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur.
However, scientists have long wondered if alien life might evolve based on significantly different chemistry. For example, researchers have long speculated that silicon might also serve as a backbone for biology.
It this regard, 6 protons, 6 neutrons, and 6 electrons might be a little too apt for biological life. They wouldn't have a conception of out numerology, but chances are they are equal in being a beast imprinted by hostile circumstances. And forced to change by obstacle.
Like pain is the universal norm.
Thank you pain... no pain no gain
If there's no adversity, then nothing needs to evolve.
Perhaps but think of all that is born from adversity. Without that irritating grain of sand, there would be no pearls. Speaking of carbon, coal is crushed under tremendous geological pressure to form diamonds. Hell we all know individuals who had miserable upbringings and many not only survive but thrive in those conditions. Perhaps humans should look at all we've been through and we are still here as a tribute to our adaptability. Let's not forget if the aliens wanted to wipe humans out during one ice age we only had about 200 breeding pairs of humans left. We are damn lucky we aren't a couple of Neanderthals in caves drawing in dirt scratching our asses and are instead a couple of homo-sapiens in a comfortable home typing on computers and scratching our asses
Besides it's not the need to evolve, simple life forms don't care, it's the ability to think imagine, and question what if. Even though we have sent chimps into space, pretty sure none of them looked at the moon and thought about going there one day, millions if not billions of humans throughout our history probably have
Is it cowardly and dismissive of something truly in your best interest or something pragmatic?
There's the rub, the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, we don't know what thought process is in our best interests with respect to the search for intelligent life, being valiant and brave or timid and dismissive. One leads to our current low orbit trajectory while the other may lead us to wonderous discoveries, like an unlimited power source
and perhaps definitively answer the question "Are we alone?"
His mind was not for rent to any god or government, always hopeful yet discontent. Knows changes aren't permanent, but change is ....
Professor Neil Ellwood Peart
Professor Neil Ellwood Peart