Doug Pensinger wrote: > Hi Max, welcome to the list. I'm not that new, I just post extremely infrequently, leaving me most months as nothing but a lurker.
> If you were to shrink the a solar system with one planet full of > (ostensibly) intelligent beings to the size of an atom and place it in some > isolated spot on the earth. What conclusions do we think that that species > could draw from their perspective? > > I realize that the analogy isn't perfect, but I believe that the point is > salient; they wouldn't know sh** about the earth and we don't know sh** > about the universe. > > And my point is that any conclusion that we are unique in the unimaginable > vastness that is the universe for lack of evidence overestimates the utility > of our perspective. Certainly. It's always important to consider how much you might not know. That doesn't mean you need to pre-assume anything about what you don't know, however. (The whole "don't count your alien chickens before they are zygotes in a thick shell" thing, you know?) I'm all for exploring the unknown-- projects like SETI and the Hubble telescope and whatnot. I just think we all have to admit that thus far results have been pretty scarce to come by and if we *seem* right now to be alone in the universe. > >> I do find interesting the idea of "gods in futurity"... of working to >> become, in some way, gods ourselves and so I think there is a lot of >> good things to learn from the mistakes of the various deities that are >> worshipped today. Hopefully we aren't doomed to repeat those mistakes. >> (That's the plot of Zelazny's Lord of Light, among others.) >> > > Sheesh, we can't even remember lessons learned from a war a few decades > ago and we're going to perfect godhood? 8^) Certainly we don't seem quite up to the challenge at the moment, but if Kurzweil's tracking for the upcoming singularity is correct we may have to sink or swim sooner than we think... (At GDC Kurzweil apparently said that those that can live to 2015 may probably live "forever", I only wish I had been there to see his charts...) -- --Max Battcher-- http://www.worldmaker.net/ No Lifeguard on Duty in the Godhood Pool Maru _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
