Are we alone in the universe?

[cliffordcooley]

Was the earth still "flat" when Columbus discovered America? Because that was the 15th century.

The mail system was really slow back then, it must have taken 2 centuries for the word to get around. lol

We have "brain wave education" already. It's called either "advertising", or "the internet", or possibly, "internet advertising which you can now access on your cell phone".

Cellphones usage is the brain wave. Can you imagine the youth of today without a cellphone, talk about a dead society!

 

[captaincranky]

Cellphones usage is the brain wave. Can you imagine the youth of today without a cellphone, talk about a dead society!

Based on Piaget's take on the stages of human development, most of today's youth stall at the "concrete operational stage", never reaching, the "abstract operational" phase.`In other words, there are all too many people these days, whose intellectual and emotional development stalls out at about age 14.

This would seem be borne out topically in the music of today, particularly hip-hop, but perhaps in modern country as well.

Hip-hop contains almost no metaphor, or abstract conceptualizations. All it does it constantly repeat the concrete realities of ghetto life, in seemingly endless profanity.

As for "these kids today", how would they sell or buy their crack and heroine without a mobile phone? Dude, that's extreme hardship, almost elevating itself to the level of a, "civil rights violation".

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

If it is ultimately impossible to travel faster than light, then none of it matters, because we are stuck in this neighborhood, the same as any other civilization out there.

^This
And it is ultimately impossible to travel faster than light. While yes, there almost certainly tens of thousands of planets with life, and therefore at least a few with intelligent life, we won't ever meet it.
We're not alone because the only ones, we're alone because of far apart we are.

 

[QuaZulu]

We're all just AI in a Matrix-like computer simulation.

So...your answer is "no" then?

 

[Jibran]

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

If we are to never discover "intelligent" life on another planet, does it necessarily exist?

 

[captaincranky]

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"...[ ]...

The only time my generation got sucked into this hackneyed existentialist dogma/conundrum, was about 4:00 AM, and we had an extra good bag of weed. lying around.

Oh wait, you posted this at 3:57........

 

[Igrecman]

We shouldn't say something is absolutely impossible until we know everything there is to know about the universe and the laws that rule it. I bet man hasn't discovered one tenth of it yet. If you were living one hundred years ago but could have a peek at what is possible now, you would think that man have become wizards. So it's probable that we, living today, would be amazed as well at what will be possible in the next centuries.

What if some day, matter could be shifted to energy, sent somewhere at the speed of light because it has no mass and then shifted back to the matter it originally was. What if an undiscovered dimension acts like some kind of universal network with a whole set of different rules of physics. Sure, that sounds like science fiction based on the present knowledge of science, but perhaps not to the scientist of the 23rd century.

 

[DjKraid]

I don't think that we are, however, I know that no one here will ever know the answer to this question. We will be bare memories (if even that) when mankind gets (if at all) an answer to this ultimate question.

 

[learninmypc]

We're not alone.

 

[JeromeFree]

Chances say...... no.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Spoiler: Magic 8

The 20 answers inside a standard Magic 8 Ball are:

1. It is certain
2. It is decidedly so
3. Without a doubt
4. Yes, definitely
5. You may rely on it
6. As I see it, yes
7. Most likely
8. Outlook good
9. Yes
10. Signs point to yes
11. Reply hazy try again
12. Ask again later
13. Better not tell you now
14. Cannot predict now
15. Concentrate and ask again
16. Don't count on it
17. My reply is no
18. My sources say no
19. Outlook not so good
20. Very doubtful

Pick one - we will never prove otherwise.

 

[captaincranky]

Wait til I consult my trusty, "Magic 8 Ball"..

Here, now you try:

 

[Raoul Duke]

I WANT TO BELIEVE - oh wait, this isn't about the X-files

 

[captaincranky]

I WANT TO BELIEVE - oh wait, this isn't about the X-files

You actually have to buy the "Magic 8 Ball" and ask it the question to know for sure. The one in the picture ^^^^ (see above), always says the same thing...

 

[Lightspeed]

I believe our Heavenly Father/Mother made this Earth & all life that existed on it. From the methane breathing bacteria, to the first flowering plants. From the first water creature to creep up on land to the lizard like monster dinosaurs and flying birds. This all happened on 1 tiny oasis in space and no-where else.

For those people that think there is thousands of planets out there with all sorts of life, we can believe, nothing wrong with that. It just takes away the fact of how precious our home planet is and how fragile life is. By thinking we can just move over to another world, we will only trash the one true place we can call home. By saying there is other life forms out there, we take away what is special here...

 

[idev88]

Humans are narcissistic indeed, even when we are self-aware

 

[idev88]

I am very interested in Macroscopics. If you pan out, what where would we be? Another creature's form of bacteria? A bubble inside another bubble? Or just a picture on the wall of a giant alien museum?

Mankind really seem to be a sort of aberration, we are really so unspeakably cruel despite being somewhat self-aware. Greedy, selfish and now, thanks to Social Media, mostly narcissistic.

In lighter news, 9 out of 10 people Americans think that Kim Kardashian is the center of the universe. If that's true, then Kanye must be it's bumhole.

social media is corrupting us, slowly but surely

 

[cliffordcooley]

social media is corrupting us, slowly but surely

We are already corrupted. Social Media is only a product of our corruption. You even stated as much in your previous comment

Humans are narcissistic indeed, even when we are self-aware

 

[captaincranky]

Humans are narcissistic indeed, even when we are self-aware

I may get in trouble for this, but that strikes me as one of the most ill conceived things anyone has said here in quite a while.

I would have led with, "humans are narcissistic because we are self aware". Or possibly, "Narcissism and self awareness are aspects of one and the same entity, the ego". ("Ego", as you may have guessed by now, is "I" in Latin).

I mean really, we invented "eternal life paradigms", because we simply can't convince ourselves the world will go on without us. I'm too damned special to end, and that's that.

"Cogito ergo sum"! I wonder how long a break Descartes took from gazing at himself in a mirror, (actually "speculum" in Latin), to come up with that?

Oh well, that's it for me tonight. I'm off to speculate about which came first, the puddle or my reflection....

Maybe I'll take a few selfies while I'm at it.....

How about a platitude with its roots in pop culture like, "life sucks, and then you trade mortality for sentience". Quick, pass me the mirror, will ya?

 

[JamesPH]

Yes, for the mean time.

 

[DelJo63]

Hmm; So many act like it

 

[DelJo63]

I am surprised no one religious showed up yet, not that I have anything against it, it's just weird.

hmm . . just refraining from sharing the pearls :giggle:

 

[KlavsPrieditis]

Michael Jackson in his song said that you all are not alone! And it!