Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
With the millions and millions of phones and cameras around the world today the only thing we ever capture are gray fuzzy blurred pictures of UFO's. We broadcast as loud as we can, "WE'RE HERE CAN YOU HEAR US?" Not one peep back, those aliens are awful shy. With all the zillions of galaxies I'm pretty sure life is out there but how many light years away? Voyagers have been traveling 50 years and still not one light DAY away until around November 2026. If they are here, we are probably considered one of the stupidest life forms they've ever come across in that we run around killing each other. ADD: that's 18250+ years to go ONE light year, yeah the universe is big!
With the millions and millions of phones and cameras around the world today the only thing we ever capture are gray fuzzy blurred pictures of UFO's. We broadcast as loud as we can, "WE'RE HERE CAN YOU HEAR US?" Not one peep back, those aliens are awful shy. With all the zillions of galaxies I'm pretty sure life is out there but how many light years away? Voyagers have been traveling 50 years and still not one light DAY away until around November 2026. If they are here, we are probably considered one of the stupidest life forms they've ever come across in that we run around killing each other. ADD: that's 18250+ years to go ONE light year, yeah the universe is big!
This is EXACTLY what I would have posted, had you not beat me to it. I cannot think of any reason that an alien race would be zooming around our oceans, after traveling this far, and just observing since the 1940s.
If that were an alien craft, what would they be thinking of us, as we attempt to destroy them? And why hang around any longer? I am not inclined to try and explain the unexplained, by conjuring us alien visitations either.
Lastly, George Knapp may have been interesting to me when I was 20 years old and first heard of him, not so much any more. Too much nonsense under that bridge.
“They” wouldn’t need to actually travel here in person. Their technology would likely be thousands or millions of years beyond our primitive spacecraft or drones of today and able to survey our planet and send back telemetry. The real trick in trying to come in person would be to figure out how communicate much faster than at the speed of light. So far no one has figured that one out. I won’t dismiss the possibility (of someday exceeding the speed of light) completely, however. Pure conjecture - but if they possess anything similar to our concept of a “body” it would probably be very unlike our own and much smaller.
We’ve pretty much scoured our one planatary system for anything resembling intelligent life (I do believe they’ll find lower form of life someday on one or more of our Solar System’s planets or their moons.) So … to communicate back and forth between earth and the nearest star at the speed of light takes more than 8 years for a round trip. 4 years to ask “How are you?” and 4 more to receive a reply “We’re A-OK”. However, for a species having a 1,000 year life span, that might not mount too much of a hurdle.
From Brave’s AI assistant::”A radio signal takes approximately 4.24 years to reach Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun, which is located 4.24 light-years away. “
My own belief? I think the universe is “filthy” with life, including, past and present. And that there is an abundance of what we call “intelligent” life in the mix. I also believe there are lower forms of life in our own planetary system based on some of the potential ecosystems discovered. Unfortunately life has probably evolved elsewhere, as here, along a “dog eat dog” self-preservation principal. So it’s likely the phenomena of self-destruction (war) isn’t limited to just earth. I recently researched whether the best chance of detecting intelligent life elsewhere might be to observe the debris ejected into space from a self-annihilating nuclear war or something even worse. There are some scientists who see this as a likelihood.
Agreed. An infinite universe filled with a variety of lifeforms at various stages of evolution. And distances so vast as to make travel, between stars like our own, incredibly daunting. And no doubt many that have annihilated themselves.
Of course, if beings could travel without a physical form, they would not need ships that missiles bounce off. But, I remain open to all possibilities, while skeptical of most.
“Incredibly daunting” by today’s knowledge and means. This from someone who routinely added up long series of numbers at work 50+ years ago using a big, incredibly slow, loudly “clanking” mechanical adding machine. The beast occupied the better part of an entire desk top and probably weighted 20-25 pounds. Then along came the simple hand-held or desktop electronic calculator. When it appeared on store shelves around 1975 it was absolutely mind-boggling.
LOL - I recall a friend, slightly older than me, buying one of the first LED calculators for drafting school for $99 from Radio Shack. This was 1975. I may be off on that price. I recall it being state-of-the-art and having a small red LED display.
Yes, we can only conceive of that which is within our reach and imagination. I have been a reader of SciFi since the early 1970's. And read much from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Arthur C Clarke being my favorite of all time. It has been fun to watch some of it transpire.
" I have been a reader of SciFi since the early 1970's. And read much from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Arthur C Clarke being my favorite of all time. It has been fun to watch some of it transpire."
Same here, but since the 50's. Agree re Clark- I also liked Heinlein a lot. However, a very short story by Fredric Brown in 1954 is forever burned into my memory. A while ago my wife was concerned about the rapid evolution of AI, and I showed her that story...
Dwar Ev ceremoniously soldered the final connection with gold.
He straightened and nodded to Dwar Reyn, then moved to a position beside the switch that would complete the contact when he threw it. The switch that would connect, all at once, all of the monster computing machines of all the populated planets in the universe – ninety-six billion planets – into the super-circuit that would connect them all into the one super-calculator, one cybernetics machine that would combine all the knowledge of all the galaxies.
Dwar Ev threw the switch. There was a mighty hum, the surge of power from ninety-six billion planets. Lights flashed and quieted along the miles-long panel.
Dwar Ev stepped back and drew a deep breath. “The honor of asking the first question is yours, Dwar Reyn.”
Dwar Reyn turned to face the machine: “Is there a God?”
The mighty voice answered without hesitation, without the clicking of single relay:
“Yes, now there is a God.”
Sudden fear flashed on the face of Dwar Ev. He leaped to grab the switch.
A bolt of lightning from the cloudless sky struck him down and fused the switch shut.
I believe this is more of a possibility, the earth is 4.5 Billion years old. How about another civilization existing here on earth say 30 or even 100 MILLION years ago. There would be nothing left of them for us to find. We've only existed a fraction of a second when compared to those time scales.
Hahaha, I suppose not. One of my favorites were always the vast collections of short stories that introduced me to so many authors. Though I only began reading SciFi in the 1970's, I certainly read a lot from the prior decades. Actually preferred it.
And this, which I was staggered to once see as an episode of Twilight Zone, after reading it a decade earlier. Halfway through, I could not shake the feeling I'd seen it before. Haha
I believe this is more of a possibility, the earth is 4.5 Billion years old. How about another civilization existing here on earth say 30 or even 100 MILLION years ago. There would be nothing left of them for us to find. We've only existed a fraction of a second when compared to those time scales.
Yes, I have considered this too. I have trouble wrapping my mind around it. Is there a single man made object or alloy that could still exist after so long? If all life ended tomorrow, would Cheyenne Mountain or Fort Knox gold repository simply leave no trace in 20 million years? No sign of an intelligent hand at play?
Or would everything simply reintegrate into the Earth? I have no opinion, it is simply too boggling.
Comments
If that were an alien craft, what would they be thinking of us, as we attempt to destroy them? And why hang around any longer? I am not inclined to try and explain the unexplained, by conjuring us alien visitations either.
Lastly, George Knapp may have been interesting to me when I was 20 years old and first heard of him, not so much any more. Too much nonsense under that bridge.
We’ve pretty much scoured our one planatary system for anything resembling intelligent life (I do believe they’ll find lower form of life someday on one or more of our Solar System’s planets or their moons.) So … to communicate back and forth between earth and the nearest star at the speed of light takes more than 8 years for a round trip. 4 years to ask “How are you?” and 4 more to receive a reply “We’re A-OK”. However, for a species having a 1,000 year life span, that might not mount too much of a hurdle.
From Brave’s AI assistant::”A radio signal takes approximately 4.24 years to reach Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun, which is located 4.24 light-years away. “
My own belief? I think the universe is “filthy” with life, including, past and present. And that there is an abundance of what we call “intelligent” life in the mix. I also believe there are lower forms of life in our own planetary system based on some of the potential ecosystems discovered. Unfortunately life has probably evolved elsewhere, as here, along a “dog eat dog” self-preservation principal. So it’s likely the phenomena of self-destruction (war) isn’t limited to just earth. I recently researched whether the best chance of detecting intelligent life elsewhere might be to observe the debris ejected into space from a self-annihilating nuclear war or something even worse. There are some scientists who see this as a likelihood.
Of course, if beings could travel without a physical form, they would not need ships that missiles bounce off. But, I remain open to all possibilities, while skeptical of most.
“Incredibly daunting” by today’s knowledge and means. This from someone who routinely added up long series of numbers at work 50+ years ago using a big, incredibly slow, loudly “clanking” mechanical adding machine. The beast occupied the better part of an entire desk top and probably weighted 20-25 pounds. Then along came the simple hand-held or desktop electronic calculator. When it appeared on store shelves around 1975 it was absolutely mind-boggling.
Yes, we can only conceive of that which is within our reach and imagination. I have been a reader of SciFi since the early 1970's. And read much from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Arthur C Clarke being my favorite of all time. It has been fun to watch some of it transpire.
Same here, but since the 50's. Agree re Clark- I also liked Heinlein a lot. However, a very short story by Fredric Brown in 1954 is forever burned into my memory. A while ago my wife was concerned about the rapid evolution of AI, and I showed her that story...
The story did not relieve my wife's concerns.
One of my all time favorites - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_from_the_White_Hart
And this, which I was staggered to once see as an episode of Twilight Zone, after reading it a decade earlier. Halfway through, I could not shake the feeling I'd seen it before. Haha
Or would everything simply reintegrate into the Earth? I have no opinion, it is simply too boggling.