Life Beyond Earth?
- Thread starter Costanza
- Start date
Even then, it would seem like your theory/understanding would have "the soul" or whatever you believe is being reincarnated as predating humanity. From that perspective, the ulitimate fate/demise of humanity shouldn't matter.
Unless you believe we always come back as humans, but then I'd have to ask what we were before.
Why do you feel it necessary to contribute to the survival of the race to the extant you did?
I have a theory... People always talk about having a baby as bringing a life into the world, giving the gift of life. Well, you could look at it as casting the curse of death. Every pregnancy is a guaranteed death. If people stopped having kids, there would be no more human death beyond the amount we've already been cursed to suffer.
(I can admit that one is a little dark...
)
Why do you feel it necessary to contribute to the survival of the race to the extant you did?
I have a theory... People always talk about having a baby as bringing a life into the world, giving the gift of life. Well, you could look at it as casting the curse of death. Every pregnancy is a guaranteed death. If people stopped having kids, there would be no more human death beyond the amount we've already been cursed to suffer.
(I can admit that one is a little dark...
got damn man
The next frontier is Space. The only place to go is up plus the culture vultures are destroying the planet. I think in the next 3 decades people will be taking space trips like they take trips to Miami.
Primitive Alien Life May Exist, Stephen Hawking Says
Alien life may well exist in a primitive form somewhere in our corner of the galaxy, famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Monday.
Given the size of the universe, it is unlikely that Earth is the only planet to develop some sort of life, Hawking told an audience at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He added that humanity must embrace space exploration, if only to ensure its long-term survival.
"While there may be primitive life in our region of the galaxy, there don't seem to be any advanced intelligent beings," said Hawking during a lecture as part of a series commemorating NASA's 50th anniversary this year.
The lack of success by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project to discover signals from an alien civilization suggests that none exist within several 100 light-years of Earth, Hawking said, though he offered three theories on the dearth of interplanetary communications.
The probability of primitive life developing on a suitable planet may be extremely low, or it may be high, but aliens intelligent enough to beam signals into space may also be smart enough to build civilization-destroying weapons like nuclear bombs, he said. More likely, he added, is that primitive life is likely to develop, but intelligent life as we know it is exceedingly rare.
"We don't appear to have been visited by aliens," Hawking said, adding that he discounts reports of UFOs. "Why would they only appear to cranks and weirdoes?"
Alien life aside, Hawking said humanity must pursue a long-term effort of space exploration that would span hundreds of years in order to ensure the survival of the species. He likened those opposed to spending money on space science and exploration to those who wrote off Christopher Columbus' trans-Atlantic Ocean voyage in 1492 as a waste of money.
"The discovery of the New World made a profound difference on the old. Just think, we wouldn't have had a Big Mac or KFC," Hawking said.
"Spreading out into space will have an even greater effect," he added. "It will completely change the future of the human race, and maybe determine whether we have any future at all."
Hawking, 66, is a renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist who suffers from the neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He uses a wheelchair, communicates with the aid of a computer, and co-wrote a children's book about science - "George's Secret Key to the Universe" - with his daughter Lucy in the hope of inspiring youth to pursue studies in science and technology.
"We live in a society that is increasingly governed by science and technology," Hawking said. "Yet fewer and fewer people want to go into science."
Sending astronauts back to the moon, establishing a lunar base with a clear target of going on to Mars would do much to restore the public's support for spaceflight, he added.
"If the human race is to continue for another million years we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before," Hawking said.
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Who gives a damn if the human race continues another million years?
Alien life may well exist in a primitive form somewhere in our corner of the galaxy, famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking said Monday.
Given the size of the universe, it is unlikely that Earth is the only planet to develop some sort of life, Hawking told an audience at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He added that humanity must embrace space exploration, if only to ensure its long-term survival.
"While there may be primitive life in our region of the galaxy, there don't seem to be any advanced intelligent beings," said Hawking during a lecture as part of a series commemorating NASA's 50th anniversary this year.
The lack of success by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project to discover signals from an alien civilization suggests that none exist within several 100 light-years of Earth, Hawking said, though he offered three theories on the dearth of interplanetary communications.
The probability of primitive life developing on a suitable planet may be extremely low, or it may be high, but aliens intelligent enough to beam signals into space may also be smart enough to build civilization-destroying weapons like nuclear bombs, he said. More likely, he added, is that primitive life is likely to develop, but intelligent life as we know it is exceedingly rare.
"We don't appear to have been visited by aliens," Hawking said, adding that he discounts reports of UFOs. "Why would they only appear to cranks and weirdoes?"
Alien life aside, Hawking said humanity must pursue a long-term effort of space exploration that would span hundreds of years in order to ensure the survival of the species. He likened those opposed to spending money on space science and exploration to those who wrote off Christopher Columbus' trans-Atlantic Ocean voyage in 1492 as a waste of money.
"The discovery of the New World made a profound difference on the old. Just think, we wouldn't have had a Big Mac or KFC," Hawking said.
"Spreading out into space will have an even greater effect," he added. "It will completely change the future of the human race, and maybe determine whether we have any future at all."
Hawking, 66, is a renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist who suffers from the neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He uses a wheelchair, communicates with the aid of a computer, and co-wrote a children's book about science - "George's Secret Key to the Universe" - with his daughter Lucy in the hope of inspiring youth to pursue studies in science and technology.
"We live in a society that is increasingly governed by science and technology," Hawking said. "Yet fewer and fewer people want to go into science."
Sending astronauts back to the moon, establishing a lunar base with a clear target of going on to Mars would do much to restore the public's support for spaceflight, he added.
"If the human race is to continue for another million years we will have to boldly go where no one has gone before," Hawking said.
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Who gives a damn if the human race continues another million years?
Why do you feel it necessary to contribute to the survival of the race to the extent you did?
I have a theory... People always talk about having a baby as bringing a life into the world, giving the gift of life. Well, you could look at it as casting the curse of death. Every pregnancy is a guaranteed death. If people stopped having kids, there would be no more human death beyond the amount we've already been cursed to suffer.
(I can admit that one is a little dark...
Listen to this fool...You'd think everyone on the left thought like me from the way he starts this...
He really is a comedian...
"The point of the show last night was to show what the Earth would be like if there were no humans. If the left got what they wanted, if they got mass euthanasia-- If the Obama administration and the UN turned into the Hemlock Society and we all drank the Kool Aide and we all died and there are no human beings left, what would the Earth look like?"
"This is what the left wants, we are the problem."
I'm going to check for this History Channel series in the coming month, though.
aaaah good times
I saw this shit on Youtube last night and had to do a search for "humans extinct," it reminded me so much of this.
Yeah I'm going to check the vid later fam....
At least you don't appear to be so emo anymore
Eh... I guess I slightly prefer a world with humans to a world without them...Yeah I'm going to check the vid later fam....
At least you don't appear to be so emo anymore
An interesting thread about Japanese culture led to a discussion of the belief that an "individual's prime objectives during his lifetime - and ostensibly his greatest obligation to his civilization - is to produce his replacement - to have children."
I, of course, don't believe that one bit and it made me think of this thread.
So BUMP.
I, of course, don't believe that one bit and it made me think of this thread.
So BUMP.
So... what's the major importance of survival as a species?
Stephen Hawking warns over making contact with aliens...
But he warned that aliens might simply raid Earth for resources, then move on.
"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans," he said.
Mr Hawking thinks that, rather than actively trying to communicate with extra-terrestrials, humans should do everything possible to avoid contact.
He explained: "We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8642558.stm
It's hardwired deep into our dna to want to survive...and perpetuate our existence, we don't rationalise it we just do it!!!
It is of no benefit to me to reproduce!!! So why would that be hardwired deep into my dna?
Yes it does it terms of the massaging of your ego and appeasing your vanity, which are all reasons why we have children. The fact that you may personally not choose to do so does not remove the trend from the human race.
Your productive life in terms or sustaining your self does not last your whole life time, in your later years you will need to be cared for, directly or indirectly by your kids or the kids of someone else....
You could justify slavery with that logic. "The fact that you may personally not choose to benefit from forced but free labor does not remove the trend from the human race."
The human race has some immoral trends. We are probably the least moral creatures on this planet. The human race's fascination with ego and all the ills that are manifestations of that, vanity being just one among them, is not justified simply because humans largely accept or engage in such behavior.
So it's an investment, like a retirement plan?
Does Bill Gates need kids to care for him when he is no longer able? Does Bob Johnson? Or is it possible for people, during their productive years, to produce enough to sustain themselves past their years of production?
It's probably easier to get to that point if you don't have kids, actually.
Good debate, pls continue
c/s
i gotta agree wit costanza on this one
glad he decided to be an advocate for the darkside instead of me
humans for the most part behave like a cancer unfortunately,
if we got off this rock we'd destroy everything we touched
guess they got me too
I'm not trying to justify it, it doesn't need to be justified, it is what it is..
Morality is an arbitrary judgement, what you may feel is ok to do I may not....
Animals have kids and we are animals....
Yes he does, because the people that will care for him in old age may not be his kids but they are someones' kids who became doctors, that someone had to sire and raise and put through college..
Anyway most of us don't have Bill Gates money.
In fact a good portion of the world lives on a $1 a day...
BUMP
Yeah, definitely. The backward we shall always have with us. There will be white power extremists somewhere in three hundred years provided there are still humans somwhere (and maybe even without that). I just mean in terms of basic acceptable societal thought. Blacks as inferior used to be conventional wisdom and common sense and now most white people don't want to be associated with such ideology.
yeah, I'm past caring what these dudes think. I'll just be deaf, dumb, and blind in their eyes. I'll be dat.
decades though? I doubt it... ALthough it has moved pretty fast from where it was even in a few generations. We'll see.
I was thinking about that previous advancement as I chose that unit of measurement, decades.
It could happen... And, if it doesn't and the more appropriate unit of measurement is centuries, I won't be here so I'm not to sure if I really care. On one hand, of course I would love for everything to work out perfectly on this planet but, on the other, if all life on Earth ends the day after I die, I'm not too sure it matters. Maybe I'll have kids and think of them, but let's say it's one hundred years after my kids' kids die that we finally reach the mountaintop. I'm not sure it makes any difference to me if humanity is up there holding hands singing kumbaya or fighting the last stage of the race war.
you're on to something here Stanz. I don't think a lot of em hear ya though.
[Lil Jon] What??? [/Lil Jon]
I'm an atheist. I don't believe in "God." I also believe life on other planets is pretty much an absolute certainty based on my understanding of the universe.
Care to elaborate?
It isn't directed towards you.
Speak to many thiests about life on other planets and they'll look at you like you have 3 heads.
The question being if there is a God, why would he rest on his laurels creating a small planet filled with creatures of limited intelligence like Earth.
Is our intelligence the highest he could muster?
If he is indeed ruler and creator of the Universe, he must how created higher more intelligent life forms somewhere else.
Okay, I understand your original statement now.
Maybe you place too high an emphasis on intelligence.
By your standard, why create human life at all? Why create the "lower" forms of life?
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...
Let's face it: The planet is heating up, Earth's population is expanding at an exponential rate, and the the natural resources vital to our survival are running out faster than we can replace them with sustainable alternatives. Even if the human race manages not to push itself to the brink of nuclear extinction, it is still a foregone conclusion that our aging sun will expand and swallow the Earth in roughly 7.6 billion years.
So, according to famed theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, it's time to free ourselves from Mother Earth. "I believe that the long-term future of the human race must be in space," Hawking tells Big Think. "It will be difficult enough to avoid disaster on planet Earth in the next hundred years, let alone the next thousand, or million. The human race shouldn't have all its eggs in one basket, or on one planet. Let's hope we can avoid dropping the basket until we have spread the load."
Hawking says he is an optimist, but his outlook for the future of man's existence is fairly bleak. In the recent past, humankind's survival has been nothing short of "a question of touch and go" he says, citing the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963 as just one example of how man has narrowly escaped extinction. According to the Federation of American Scientists there are still about 22,600 stockpiled nuclear weapons scattered around the planet, 7,770 of which are still operational. In light of the inability of nuclear states to commit to a global nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the threat of a nuclear holocaust has not subsided.
In fact, "the frequency of such occasions is likely to increase in the future," says Hawking, "We shall need great care and judgment to negotiate them all successfully."
Even if humans manage to avoid a nuclear stand-off over the next thousand years, our fate on this planet is still pretty much certain. University of Sussex astrophysicist Dr. Robert Smith says eventually the aging Sun will accelerate global warming to a point where all of Earth's water will simply evaporate.
"Life on Earth will have disappeared long before 7.6 billion years," says Smith, "Scientists have shown that the Sun's slow expansion will cause the temperature at the surface of the Earth to rise. Oceans will evaporate, and the atmosphere will become laden with water vapor, which (like carbon dioxide) is a very effective greenhouse gas. Eventually, the oceans will boil dry and the water vapor will escape into space. In a billion years from now the Earth will be a very hot, dry and uninhabitable ball."
Finally, between the next thousand years or so that Hawking says it will take man to make the planet uninhabitable and the billion years it will take for the sun to turn our planet into an arid wasteland, there is always the chance that a nearby supernova, an asteroid, or a quick and painless black hole could do us in.
We are a plague species and we do everything that a plague species does, which is to eat itself to death by using every resource until those resources are depleted. After that, a massive die-off returns the specie to pre-plague numbers.
An alien species would not be able to last long enough to make it to the point of interstellar travel if they were like us. We are doomed to collapse with the end of plentiful and cheap oil, which has artificially inflated our agricultural output. The end is nigh, and there's nothing that can be done about it because we are individually greedy and will eat the very last morsel before we explode from overindulgence.
An alien species would not be able to last long enough to make it to the point of interstellar travel if they were like us. We are doomed to collapse with the end of plentiful and cheap oil, which has artificially inflated our agricultural output. The end is nigh, and there's nothing that can be done about it because we are individually greedy and will eat the very last morsel before we explode from overindulgence.
kogalee
Banned
Goddam. Main you one dumb ignorant schtoopit ass sommabitch.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson is one of the greatest scientific minds of our time and you are insulting him?
You mo fucked up than me!