Aliens- first to find us, or did our imaginations find them?
- Thread starter bowserboy26578
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I'm pretty sure there's aliens in our galaxy, so they could be carbon-based.
I like paranoid people who say, "OMG HOW DO WE KNOW THERE AREN'T ALIENS AMONG US NOW??"
Because the reality is if they could reach us, their technology would be so far superior that blending in would the be the LAST thing they'd want to do. They'd either force us into submission or ignore us altogether. Why watch a bunch of boring mammals struggle to survive on a rock from their level when you could be out there, unraveling more exciting secrets of the universe?
I like paranoid people who say, "OMG HOW DO WE KNOW THERE AREN'T ALIENS AMONG US NOW??"
Because the reality is if they could reach us, their technology would be so far superior that blending in would the be the LAST thing they'd want to do. They'd either force us into submission or ignore us altogether. Why watch a bunch of boring mammals struggle to survive on a rock from their level when you could be out there, unraveling more exciting secrets of the universe?
Blah, Nietzche isn't "badass." Sad-ass is more like it.Thunderhitler said:
Homer's vision did include interactions between Gods, humans and their kin. It's not like it was their version of Die Hard or something.
If you're going to troll, do it with style and have real arguments instead of being straight out obsessive and moronic.
point well taken. another good question would be though, what if life only made it to earth because of other planets. likethose martian fossils that we found here dating to the dawn of life here.McClaud said:
How do you figure?bowserboy26578 said:
Carbon is a stellar byproduct. The earliest stars usually got all "blowed up." That spreads carbon around pretty uniformily on an intragalactic scale.
Silicon based life-- which is what i think you meant-- is not intrinsically impossible. Carbon life is so easy because of the multitudinous forms carbon can take, its not limited to a couple geometries, as many elements are. It is also easy to make and break bonds and either harvest or store chemical energy.
Silicates also come in a wide variety of shapes.. but most of those shapes resemble spikes, knives, and other horribly sharp things. Furthermore, you don't have the ease of chemical changes that you have in carbon.
Not intrinsically possible, but if you had the magical ability to do a survey of the universe, carbon life would massively outnumber silicate life.
Nearest detected planetary system. Not fact checking this, however.300ccs of medicine said:
I am making a 5 internet bucks bet that there are planets in the centauri system, proxima, or alpha\beta. If you go there, you'll find planets, or at least planetoid.
I don't think Aliens will be the first to visit us, or that they come and draw in our cornfields, only to swiftly leave.
Sure, I think there are other people out there, a lot like us. Some differences because of the environment or some other factors. But pretty much the same.
Some might be ahead of us in technology, some might be behinds.
*Shrug*
I don't care really.
Sure, I think there are other people out there, a lot like us. Some differences because of the environment or some other factors. But pretty much the same.
Some might be ahead of us in technology, some might be behinds.
*Shrug*
I don't care really.
I've already accomplished more than Nietzche in my life time. Considering I've lived my life more than he did and actually got several things published at a much younger age than he did.Thunderhitler said:
I'm not saying he's not important, I'm saying that he displayed all the characteristics of a manic depressive. If you invited him to a fight, he'd probably surrender because he's uncertain of how the outcome would affect his existential life.
Thunderhitler said:McClaud said:You know, I'd take you more seriously if you'd actually learn to use the forum correctly and not troll people.Thunderhitler said:Oh? Did you change the world as much as he didMcClaud said:What books have you published, btw?
I published a paper for the APA at age 21 from college about the impact of accelerated social maturity in children. It may not have had the impact, but I also didn't sit around writing sad poetry and steal my work from Friedrich Albert Lange or Paul Rée. I've seen more of the world, interact with many more people on a regular basis, and presently about to be a father.
I never said his philosophy wasn't good or insightful. But his regular life as a functional person was quite depressing. He tried to be optimistic, because Paul Rée was his last true friend, but failed miserably. So much so that his downward spiral into depression not only created such a schizm in his followers, but got him linked to a lot of nasty people who abused his writings (mostly because people could believe it from the life that Nietzche led).
I also don't believe in his interpretation of his own Will to Power work. It has merit, but it also has a lot of holes and strokes his own ego.
You do realize all life on Earth is carbon-based right?bowserboy26578 said:
Also, we could easily see aliens made up of clouds of gas, or resembling the Thing. Really, humanity's approach to aliens in popular media is far too narrow minded. Star Wars is the closest I've yet seen to being somewhat realistic.
Odds are, any alien species we meet will not be bipedal, or humanoid in any sense of the word
Really? How the flying fuck would they be anything even remotely similar to us? They evolved on a different planet in a, most likely, vastly different environment and other animals. There is not the slightest chance in hell that we will stumble across aliens that are similar to us in the vast majority of aspects.
Physically, it's almost a guarantee they will look massively different, and culturally it's highly likely they will as well. There is a slim chance their culture/ideals may reflect ours, but it's remote.
Well, depending on the writer. The crazier you get, the more ego-stroking you have to have, apparently. Will to Power was not bad, but you can see how it was quickly written to try and appease a fanbase of people who liked Nietzche.Thunderhitler said:
I didn't write my dissertation for my own purposes. I wrote it to share my data with other sociologists who were presently conducting a study on kids getting mentally older faster than in previous generations. I may publish something else again, and it may not be psychology or sociology related. I don't have any real desire to start something that would get out of control or stay in my own terms.
This whole thread needs to take a step down from Science Fiction and do some research.
1st - That whole inorganic/organic thing. It can't be living because its not organic? We invented the stupid word, lol. Means nothing, its a convenient way for us to classify between different kinds of molecules that is quickly becoming out-dated (perhaps because of statements like that).
2nd - There is no carbon outside our galaxy? Say whaaaaaat? The theory (now anyways) is that stars collected elements, performed that beautiful reaction known as fusion for billions of years, then exploded. Since everything was mostly protons (Hydrogen) before stars formed, it was the exploding starts that distributed all the other elements. We are all made of stardust, from one time or another. Since a galaxy is a spinning collection of starts, it would be odd to say that other galaxies didn't have carbon, it seeming to be a fairly common element as far as star-byproducts go.
3rd - Silicon based life. Life is essentially a result of the (some would say spontaneous) assembly of smaller molecules to form bigger molecules. Over time, with the right conditions, life as we know it got pretty complex. Think back to when everything must have just been a bunch of proteins, or a floating strand of RNA...lots simpler. It might even have happened randomly! We call it self-assembly when its really simple. Mix the right things together under the right conditions, let 'em stew for awhile, and bam, something way more complex then its component parts forms! I recently read in one of the science journals (maybe Scientific American) that Silicon-based self-assembly has already been proven possible. So, if self-assembly is possible, you just need to have a series of more-or-less ideal conditions for a very long period of time and a bit of shaking/stewing to get something that might resemble life. Theoretically, we already know it can happen. An old episode of the original Star Trek is the first thing I know of to have made that silicon-based life => 'rock men' connection. Less rock men though then rock blobs.
4th - Trolls. Ignore them, lame.
5th - Aliens. Given the size of the universe, it is statistically inconceivable that life didn't already happen somewhere else. Whether its happening now, though, whether it is as intelligent as us, or more-so, whether it is close enough for us to reach in a human life-time...all of these we don't know. We can guess and hope and make predictions, but sadly we don't have enough information to make really accurate ones. We're working on it.
6th - What will aliens look like? Well, we can only look at Earth-life as an example so far. On earth, our DNA has been a prime factor in how our bodies our structured. Given the way we reproduce, if you go back far enough, we all have a common ancestor. (Happy flower time, we're all actually brothers and sisters! You, me, and the cow you ate for dinner...) This common ancestor seems to only have had a specific general set of body layouts. For example, all animals have four limbs and a tail (yeah, humans too, re: the tail bone). We all have similar bone structures (some bones just grew bigger or smaller or got re-purposed). We all have two eyes, olfactory, mouth, tongue, etc. You get the picture. Aliens from a different world, IF they were using DNA (I have no idea how likely/unlikely that is) or something similar too it, would have the same type of issues: their evolution would largely revolve around the success of a common ancestor that lived millions of years before they developed human-style intelligence and technology. So take a look at all the weirdest sea creatures you can find and try and imagine what they might look like if they were to hop up on land and start pillaging their world's resources. Thats what aliens *might* look like. They also might look like Klingons, in a bizarre twist of fate, and be horribly offended by Star Trek when they first learn about it.
Hm...hope that covered all the bases and cleared things up. Oh wait...
7th - The whole aliens among us thing. This has been recurring throughout history. Humans 'imagine' up creatures to which they attribute special 'powers' or 'features' and blame for things going right or wrong, or even sending them messages or tasks. It is either one of the most pervasive hoaxes in human history, the most over-looked psychological defect in human history, OR there might actually be some merit to what is going on with that. I kinda prefer the idea of mysterious powers among us, as I don't believe in coincidence, and like the idea behind it. I, however, don't know enough to make anything more then a preferential statement.
1st - That whole inorganic/organic thing. It can't be living because its not organic? We invented the stupid word, lol. Means nothing, its a convenient way for us to classify between different kinds of molecules that is quickly becoming out-dated (perhaps because of statements like that).
2nd - There is no carbon outside our galaxy? Say whaaaaaat? The theory (now anyways) is that stars collected elements, performed that beautiful reaction known as fusion for billions of years, then exploded. Since everything was mostly protons (Hydrogen) before stars formed, it was the exploding starts that distributed all the other elements. We are all made of stardust, from one time or another. Since a galaxy is a spinning collection of starts, it would be odd to say that other galaxies didn't have carbon, it seeming to be a fairly common element as far as star-byproducts go.
3rd - Silicon based life. Life is essentially a result of the (some would say spontaneous) assembly of smaller molecules to form bigger molecules. Over time, with the right conditions, life as we know it got pretty complex. Think back to when everything must have just been a bunch of proteins, or a floating strand of RNA...lots simpler. It might even have happened randomly! We call it self-assembly when its really simple. Mix the right things together under the right conditions, let 'em stew for awhile, and bam, something way more complex then its component parts forms! I recently read in one of the science journals (maybe Scientific American) that Silicon-based self-assembly has already been proven possible. So, if self-assembly is possible, you just need to have a series of more-or-less ideal conditions for a very long period of time and a bit of shaking/stewing to get something that might resemble life. Theoretically, we already know it can happen. An old episode of the original Star Trek is the first thing I know of to have made that silicon-based life => 'rock men' connection. Less rock men though then rock blobs.
4th - Trolls. Ignore them, lame.
5th - Aliens. Given the size of the universe, it is statistically inconceivable that life didn't already happen somewhere else. Whether its happening now, though, whether it is as intelligent as us, or more-so, whether it is close enough for us to reach in a human life-time...all of these we don't know. We can guess and hope and make predictions, but sadly we don't have enough information to make really accurate ones. We're working on it.
6th - What will aliens look like? Well, we can only look at Earth-life as an example so far. On earth, our DNA has been a prime factor in how our bodies our structured. Given the way we reproduce, if you go back far enough, we all have a common ancestor. (Happy flower time, we're all actually brothers and sisters! You, me, and the cow you ate for dinner...) This common ancestor seems to only have had a specific general set of body layouts. For example, all animals have four limbs and a tail (yeah, humans too, re: the tail bone). We all have similar bone structures (some bones just grew bigger or smaller or got re-purposed). We all have two eyes, olfactory, mouth, tongue, etc. You get the picture. Aliens from a different world, IF they were using DNA (I have no idea how likely/unlikely that is) or something similar too it, would have the same type of issues: their evolution would largely revolve around the success of a common ancestor that lived millions of years before they developed human-style intelligence and technology. So take a look at all the weirdest sea creatures you can find and try and imagine what they might look like if they were to hop up on land and start pillaging their world's resources. Thats what aliens *might* look like. They also might look like Klingons, in a bizarre twist of fate, and be horribly offended by Star Trek when they first learn about it.
Hm...hope that covered all the bases and cleared things up. Oh wait...
7th - The whole aliens among us thing. This has been recurring throughout history. Humans 'imagine' up creatures to which they attribute special 'powers' or 'features' and blame for things going right or wrong, or even sending them messages or tasks. It is either one of the most pervasive hoaxes in human history, the most over-looked psychological defect in human history, OR there might actually be some merit to what is going on with that. I kinda prefer the idea of mysterious powers among us, as I don't believe in coincidence, and like the idea behind it. I, however, don't know enough to make anything more then a preferential statement.
there are holes in the theory of silicon based organisms, but The most commonly proposed basis for an alternative biochemical system is the silicon atom, since silicon has many chemical properties similar to carbon and is in the same periodic table group you science major. and the single cell organism is about as far a the silicon organism on earth could go. it's a relatively unclassified organism, only a few samples foundAgayek said:
Aliens are also unlikely to have any concept of emotions or even imagination as we understand them, there brains and social structure could have evolved into anything at all. They might be square trigathoms of heated jelly who live inside one another and communicate through reproducing.
My view is that I would love to think that there are other forms of "intelligent" life somewhere in the galaxy. I'm not going to get involved in all of the science stuff because of the simple fact that I really don't understand most of it and I refuse to argue about something that I do not not fully understand.
Also, I don't see how humans can be classed as "intelligent" what I mean to say is look at all the things that we do that we KNOW damage the environment, but still continue to do them anyway. This is not intelligent, inquisitive yes and I might even go far enough to say stupid but it isn't completely intelligent.
I haven't posted this to get into arguements with anyone so please don't start getting all aggresive towards me
Also, I don't see how humans can be classed as "intelligent" what I mean to say is look at all the things that we do that we KNOW damage the environment, but still continue to do them anyway. This is not intelligent, inquisitive yes and I might even go far enough to say stupid but it isn't completely intelligent.
I haven't posted this to get into arguements with anyone so please don't start getting all aggresive towards me