03 MAR 2014 by ideonexus
The Great Demotions and the Promotion of the Human Race
Sagan had talked of the “great demotions.” Humanity had learned, painfully, that it did not live on a planet at the center of the universe, and further demotions followed. We were not (in Sagan’s view) the purpose of the Creation, not specially chosen by a divine authority, and were in fact just one evolutionary twist in a complicated biosphere shaped by the mindless process of natural selection. If we were ever to make contact with another intelligent species, those aliens would in all...Folksonomies: environmentalism perspective
Folksonomies: environmentalism perspective
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notesHistory has shown us how small and insignificant we are, but it has also revealed the profound impact we have on our own little world.
07 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Scientists Must Always Stand at the Drawing Board
Do I believe in UFOs or extraterrestrial visitors?
Where shall I begin? There's a fascinating frailty of the human mind that psychologists know all about, called "argument from ignorance." This is how it goes. Remember what the "U" stands for in "UFO"? You see lights flashing in the sky. You've never seen anything like this before and don't understand what it is. You say, "It's a UFO!" The "U" stands for "unidentified."
But then you say, "I don't know what it is; it must be aliens from ou... 1 notes
notesReady to revise hyptheses and embrace uncertainty.
04 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Henry Ward Beecher on Science Subduing Nature
It is the triumph of civilization that at last communities have obtained such a mastery over natural laws that they drive and control them. The winds, the water, electricity, all aliens that in their wild form were dangerous, are now controlled by human will, and are made useful servants. Folksonomies: nature environmentalism
Folksonomies: nature environmentalism
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notesSounds much like science fulfilling the biblical permission for man to conquer nature.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Alchemy VS Chemistry
He tapped the papers; the advice had been coming down since early winter. He remembered when Amdijefri had brought in the first pages, pages of numerical tables, of directions and diagrams, all drawn in neat but childish style. Steel and the Fragment had spent days trying to understand. Some of the references were obvious. The Visitor’s recipes required silver and gold in quantities that would otherwise finance a war. But what was this “liquid silver”? Tyrathect had recognized it; the M... 1 notes
notesAn alien from a mideval society receiving instructions to build advanced technology from aliens finds their directions full of digressions and careful methodologies to verify chemical compositions, where his alchemists' instructions are much more simple and poetic.
03 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
A Multi-Bodied Alien Considers a Single-Bodied One
Even if there had been no Dataset, even if Johanna Olsndot had not come from the stars, she would still be the most fascinating creature in the world: a pack-equivalent mind in a single body. You could walk right up to her, you could touch her, without the least confusion. It was frightening at first, but all of them quickly felt the attraction. For packs, closeness had always meant mindlessness—whether for sex or battle. Imagine being able to sit by the fire with a friend and carry on an i...Folksonomies: otherness
Folksonomies: otherness
1 notes
notesA race of aliens like wolves, who form beings made of packs that share thoughts through short-range sounds, so that they cannot get too close to other packs without getting their thoughts confused, wonders at a little human girl.
02 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Herschel's Heterodox Opinions
Laplace’s cool confidence in avowing atheistical sentiments was legendary. The story was told that after Napoleon had inspected a copy of Laplace’s Systéme du Monde, he challenged the astronomer about his beliefs. ‘Monsieur Laplace! Newton has frequently spoken of God in his book. I have already gone over yours, and I have not found His name mentioned a single time.’ To this Laplace made the magnificent and disdainful reply: ‘Citizen First Consul, I have no need of that hypothesis.... 1 notes
notesHe believed in aliens living in the Sun, rejected praise for god in his work, but managed to avoid having his library burned down.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Universal Intelligence Cannot Exist
We conclude that there cannot be a strongly cohesive network of
communicating, unifying intelligences through the whole universe if (1) such
galactic civilizations evolve upward from individual planetary societies and if (2)
the velocity of light is indeed a fixed limit on the speed of information
transmission, as special relativity requires (i.e., if we ignore such possibilities as
using black holes for fast transport: See Chapter 39). Such a universal intelligence
is a kind of god that cann... 1 notes
notesAt best, aliens advanced enough to be gods could only exist at a galactic level.
15 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
Aliens Don't Care About Us
The idea that we shall be welcomed as new members into the galactic community is as unlikely as the idea that the oyster will be welcomed as a new member into the human community. We're probably not even edible. 1 notes
notesAnymore than we care about oysters.
