Alien Life - Page 2

PvK · #11 August 11th, 2002, 08:45 PM

As someone posted, we don't know anything about intelligent alien life, so we can only speculate. In general, I'd say that despite our fatally selfish and despicable tendencies, it's probably going to be a long long time before we're able to pose any kind of a threat to most aliens that would be in circumstances to visit us, unless they're stranded or something. Imagine you extend the SE4 tech tree to allow research for another thousand turns or so, and 200 billion systems, so expansion and exploration can be constant. Play the game for a thousand turns without meeting any other players. Then you find a player who has just entered the game - a homeworld with no ships or units and essentially zero tech. Do you feel threatened?

As capnq pointed out, the dimension of time and the vast time distance of evolutionary development, combined with the absence of any reason to think we evolved at the same time as another intelligent species, implies that we're unlikely to meet them at anywhere near "the same position on the tech tree". If we do, we'd tend to meet them more like half-way to their homeworld, and not here at home.

Also, it looks like we may be too selfish and short-sighted not to kill ourselves off (directly or through ignorance), so aliens who have not killed themselves off would tend, I would think, to be less selfish and short-sighted.

PvK

Ragnarok · #12 August 11th, 2002, 08:45 PM

I voted for "Other" because I don't believe there are aliens out there. I also don't believe in other demintions either. I mean if you think about it earth is a rare planet indeed. It's the only one that can sustain life. If the earth was moved just a fraction of an inch closer to the sun, we'd burn up in under a minute. If we moved a fraction of an inch further way we'd freeze to death in a matter of moments. Scientists have said this themselves. Humans will eventually become space travelers in time, but not for over 100 years. When and IF we develop the technology to colonize planets it'll be tough to do that when you consider the point of the earth being the EXACT right distance from the sun down to the smallest number of measurement. They'd have to build Domes to live in, but even then it'd still be next to impossible. But that's just MHO

Phoenix-D · #13 August 11th, 2002, 08:54 PM

"f the earth was moved just a fraction of an inch closer to the sun, we'd burn up in under a minute. If we moved a fraction of an inch further way we'd freeze to death in a matter of moments."

heh. Sorry, but this is wrong. Because if this was true we'd all be dead, the Earth's orbit isn't perfectly cirular. It's about 1.7% off.

"In January when we're closest to the Sun (perihelion), the distance is 147.5 million km. This weekend we will be 152.6 million km away--a five million kilometer difference."

from second article.

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF8/825.html
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...l_aphelion.htm

Phoenix-D

Ruatha · #14 August 12th, 2002, 01:01 AM

Universe is infint�, maybe. But the volume that contains matter is not infinite.
A good approximation is that the universe is about 12-18 (15) billion light years wide, the number of stars is not infinite but a very big number indeed, when calculating you might just as well think of it as infinite.

With all these stars it would be quite stupid to belive that no life exist.
If humans will encounter intelligent life during humanitys life-span is questionable with the distances involved.

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oleg · #15 August 12th, 2002, 01:18 AM

Although Capnag comments are essentiually corect, it takes leap of faith to suggest that we or aliieans in same position will enjoy similar progress in future. After all, it is 30 years since we get to the Moon and to my best knowledge, there've been no major progress in human expansion beyound our Homeworld. And somehow I really doubt that it will ever occur - it is just too costly and has no direct financial and political (like reelection in 4 years) benefits. It is entirely possible that we reaching new sort of technological plateu.
I have no doubt about immense future progress in computer scince and biotecnology but it will only keep us ancored to Earth, ever more dump and playing computer games of galactic conquest instead of actually sucrifice excesses of our hedonistic life in order to actually do it !

evader · #16 August 12th, 2002, 01:26 AM

Even in our own solor system planets posses similar quialty to earth. Mars was once belived to have supported life. Saturn has oxegen in its air, and a mineral soil. Scientist beilve that the only thing keeping it from supporting life is that is is too cold.

As far as there being intellegent life out, there probly is. Two problems exist one is find them or them finding us(mentioned before). The other is languge. We'd have to be able to undertand any transmission they send. And I don't think I have to tell you what problems occur in learning a new languge with no refrence point.

Raging Deadstar · #17 August 12th, 2002, 01:33 AM

Heh yeah, but you never know, they might respond to a good ol' cup of tea and a UN Meeting

I don't like thinking this deep, its too complicated for my puny brain to cope with without caffeine

[ August 11, 2002, 12:35: Message edited by: Raging Deadstar ]

Raging Deadstar · #18 August 12th, 2002, 01:50 AM

Hmmmmm after posting i thought a little deeper into this whole alien life thing (yep all my own!) and i kinda thought about the language barrier. Think about it, we have already met aliens and already managed to make contact with no reference point

Women can be soo hard to understand sometimes!

CNCRaymond · #19 August 12th, 2002, 01:58 AM

Haven't we had this converstation before?

I would have asked if you believe in life else where rather than if it was hostile or friendly.

I think it would be hostile. If Earth is as rare as you describe, then our world would be priceless. So if Aliens do come calling, I for one would feel that they are here for their own best interests, and our interests would mean nothing to them.

Ed Kolis · #20 August 12th, 2002, 03:25 AM

What aliens? Heck, what humans? The population of the universe is zero! See, space is infinitely big, right? So it has an infinite number of planets. But not all planets have life, so only a finite number of planets have life. A finite number divided by infinity is zero, so therefore zero percent of the planets in the universe have life. Therefore the population of the universe is zero.

Seriously though, I think that any aliens that visit Earth would probably be friendly - any race developed enough to have interstellar travel would probably not be warlike, or they would have destroyed themselves sooner. On the other hand, we're on the verge of achieving spaceflight, and we're pretty warlike...