In this case, you are assuming that they want to communicate with us. Maybe they don’t want to communicate with us, but are just flying by and having a look because they can. Maybe they are communicating with some of us in secret. I’m not going to assume that they don’t exist because they haven’t communicated with us en masse, or at all.
Exactly. Trying to fit something that we clearly do not understand into the framework that we do understand and not succeeding doesn’t make that thing impossible or not exist. The biggest enemies to advancement and understanding of our universe are orthodoxy and dogma. When you know that your understanding is limited and that you don’t have the entire answer, saying that something is impossible or fiction only shows what your limits are, not any real meaningful truth.
"What if? What if?"
That's why it's prudent to be aware of both proportionality bias and Occam's Razor, and maintain a healthy balance.
That's why it's prudent to be aware of both proportionality bias and Occam's Razor, and maintain a healthy balance.
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Exactly, too many loonies and you're back to “burn the witch” because craziness attracts and breeds more of the same, then threatens authority types and you have bad behaviours. It’s not because they think aliens are a real possibility with worries of panic that governments want it down played, it’s because they have enough problems already without a thread like this going mainstream.
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That depends on what defines successful life. Quantity vs quality perhaps? If stayed longer but couldn't do anything about the incoming asteroid that would wipe out its life, would that be considered successful? Again, just thinking out loud.
Trace as in what we consider trace? If the beings that are advanced enough to travel this far (even the nearest solar system is unreachable by us at the moment), don't you think they would have something more advanced than our current level of comprehension on what the trace would be?
Who are we to decide what constitutes a successful life form? Some say we teeter on the brink of manmade catastrophe (and I don’t want to get into that discussion) that if it came to pass would make us a profoundly unsuccessful species in terms of our longevity. The vast majority of living things on this planet are unaware they exist. It seems in humankind’s terms, that’s a burden as much as it’s a gift.
No, the speculation is whether or not what we do pick up is communication. If there's no evidence someone is out there it's the same as evidence there's no one out there.
I don't see how you get that from my statement. I'm not assuming anything except that there are no aliens out there, period. At least not complex enough to consider intelligent but I really don't think there's even that. I apologize if I've misled you
I would say that as far as nature is concerned, it is only what is living. No more; no less.
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I hear people don't click the links. So I'll post this:
The following prophetic statement was originally published in James Moseley’s newsletter, SAUCER SMEAR, on October 10, 1983. This is also known as The UFO curse.
Here it is:
The last will and testament of Philip J. Klass.
(QUOTE)
“To ufologists who publicly criticize me – – or who even think unkind thoughts about me in private, I do hereby leave and bequeath – – The UFO curse.
No matter how long you live, you will never know any more about UFOs than you know today.
You will never know any more about what UFOs really are, or where they come from.
You will never know any more about what the U.S. Government really knows about UFOs than you know today.
As you lie on your own death-bed you will be as mystified about UFOs as you are today. And you will remember this curse.”
(UNQUOTE)
The “UFO curse” still remains unbroken | NORIO HAYAKAWA
The following prophetic statement was originally published in James Moseley’s newsletter, SAUCER SMEAR, on October 10, 1983. This is also known as The UFO curse.
Here it is:
The last will and testament of Philip J. Klass.
(QUOTE)
“To ufologists who publicly criticize me – – or who even think unkind thoughts about me in private, I do hereby leave and bequeath – – The UFO curse.
No matter how long you live, you will never know any more about UFOs than you know today.
You will never know any more about what UFOs really are, or where they come from.
You will never know any more about what the U.S. Government really knows about UFOs than you know today.
As you lie on your own death-bed you will be as mystified about UFOs as you are today. And you will remember this curse.”
(UNQUOTE)
The “UFO curse” still remains unbroken | NORIO HAYAKAWA
Like I said elsewhere, I took it as tongue-in-cheek humor. Containing a good dose of truth, like all the best humor.
Klass is interesting. He thought most (if not all) UFO sightings that were not misidentified prosaic phenomena were either ball lightning or possibly some unknown “plasma” phenomenon. I’m absolutely open to this idea as well.
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There’s a lot of very interesting plasma phenomena which has been investigated over the years. I remember reading about something called sprites which are only visible high above the atmosphere and separately, a report where ball lightning appeared in a jetliner and travelled partway down the aisle in full view of many passengers before it evaporated.
I saw ball lightning when I was in my late teens. I was waiting for the bus on a busy street on an overcast day that later generated a thunderstorm, and saw a glowing white ball floating along the wires strung between electrical poles. It travelled along the wires for about 20 feet and then turned downward along the pole towards the ground before disappearing about midway down the pole. I turned to the gent next to me and said “What was that?”. He shook his head and said “I don’t know”. I didn’t know what it was until years later, but at the time I didn’t think it was an alien ship. It doesn’t look anything like anything solid or mechanical. It looked like a glowing ball of gas about the size of a basketball, with undefined edges.
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