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Are we alone?

Started by Unbeliever, August 31, 2016, 05:45:51 PM

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Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: Baruch on November 01, 2016, 12:27:00 PM
Neurology ... our inner brain is reptilian, it lurks inside the mammalian, which lurks inside the cognitive.  The most inner core of the brain .. we are jellyfish with bad attitude ;-)
Once you go lizard  you never go back.

Unless you go kaiju, in which case fuck them little lizards.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Cavebear

Quote from: AllPurposeAtheist on November 01, 2016, 04:22:19 AM
Obama is a reptile. It says so on the internet and they can't say things that aren't true on the internet.
Oh wait..R E P E T I T I O N.. I read reptilian..  IT'S THE SAME THING, DAMMIT!

Well, there is value in reptiles.  As they say, a crocodilian never forgets...
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Unbeliever

Some reptiles are only valuable because they can be made into boots.

God Not Found
"There is a sucker born-again every minute." - C. Spellman

Baruch

Alligator tastes good ... a bit like shark ... for some strange reason ;-)  Maybe all the naked women bathers they consume ;-(
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Cavebear

Quote from: Unbeliever on November 04, 2016, 06:22:56 PM
Some reptiles are only valuable because they can be made into boots.



Maybe that camian's mother ate  small python invading the Everglades...
Atheist born, atheist bred.  And when I die, atheist dead!

Baruch

Pythons don't stay small ... similar to government programs ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

fencerider

I think the rare earth equation is missing a factor. Any intelligent species will at some point discover nuclear weapons. So the missing factor in the equation is the percentage of species that survive the discovery of nuclear weapons versus those that destroy themselves.
"Do you believe in god?", is not a proper English sentence. Unless you believe that, "Do you believe in apple?", is a proper English sentence.

aitm

meh, frankly I can't buy that of the hundred billion (trilllion) snowflakes that no two are alike.....
A humans desire to live is exceeded only by their willingness to die for another. Even god cannot equal this magnificent sacrifice. No god has the right to judge them.-first tenant of the Panotheust

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: aitm on December 10, 2016, 07:55:55 PM
meh, frankly I can't buy that of the hundred billion (trilllion) snowflakes that no two are alike.....
Most of them aren't symmetrical. The ones in the books were chosen out of the masses.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Baruch

Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on December 10, 2016, 08:56:59 PM
Most of them aren't symmetrical. The ones in the books were chosen out of the masses.

Metaphor for current Democrats? ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Hydra009

#40
Quote from: aitm on December 10, 2016, 07:55:55 PMmeh, frankly I can't buy that of the hundred billion (trilllion) snowflakes that no two are alike.....
That's likely true, because we're talking about a pretty sizable amount of water molecules and slight changes in temperature and pressure change how they grow.  You end up with a branching process through a huge amount of possible outcomes.

In much the same way, life on Earth went through one hell of a branching process.  Who knows where we'd be if the K/T extinction never happened or if mitochondria never hooked up with eukaryotes or if bees never evolved.  If the Toba event was just a little bit more disastrous than it was, humanity gets snuffed out.

So yeah, I'm pretty skeptical on the idea that if check out enough planets, one of them is going to be just like Earth.  I could understand a planet very similar to Earth.  But pink bipedal mammals with opposable thumbs, speech, and an utterly bizarre tendency to produce Sharknado movies?  I doubt it.

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: Baruch on December 10, 2016, 09:06:48 PM
Metaphor for current Democrats? ;-)
Same old hobby horse? You're going to swayback that beast.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

TomFoolery

Quote from: fencerider on December 10, 2016, 07:26:26 PM
I think the rare earth equation is missing a factor. Any intelligent species will at some point discover nuclear weapons. So the missing factor in the equation is the percentage of species that survive the discovery of nuclear weapons versus those that destroy themselves.

Are you referring to the Drake Equation?

Actually, this is rolled up into the consideration of lifetime of a civilization, or "L". I took a very interesting seminar on the topic of extraterrestrial life in college. I imagined I would watch a few episodes of Ancient Aliens and write a few papers about it, but we broke down the Drake Equation to the nitty gritty.

The lifetime of a civilization can be limited by any number of things which fall into only two categories. Either we'll kill ourselves off or something else will do it for us.

It's easy to come up with ideas for how we'll end our species, and nuclear weapons is just one of many possibilities. It also includes biological weapons, climate change, the singularity, etc. Granted, some are more far-fetched than others, but that's what's fun about pondering the possibility.

Coming up with ways in which other things could kill us is tougher but scarier. Seismic activity, massive solar storms, asteroid impacts, devastating plague, are the ones that might come to mind, but there are a whole host of astronomic phenomena we don't understand. You can even add in alien invasions. It's theoretically possible, right?

But the flip side to the idea that every advanced civilization eventually builds the tools to destroy itself is that to have advanced so far, we must also be building the tools to save ourselves. And we are. Nuclear weapons have devastating consequences, but nuclear energy offers a lot of solutions to climate change, if done correctly. Biological weapons and incredible medical advancements also go hand in hand.
How can you be sure my refusal to agree with your claim a symptom of my ignorance and not yours?

Gawdzilla Sama

One thing the Drake Equation ignores is "Why would they come here?"
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

AllPurposeAtheist

And HOLY SHIT!  Suppose we send out the one signal that alerts some race of giants with technology that leads them here so we can all be made into little sausage links for their dinner tables? Oops. Well we didn't really mean for this to happen so let's pretend that it didn't. We're an extremely war-like bunch and make assumptions that every other potential race in the universe isn't.. That's a hell of a leap of faith wouldn't you say?
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.