4 ms·

I think that's one of those things that's better to have been born well after (assuming a good outcome) or born well before (assuming a bad outcome). It's reall

by M_Grey 10y ago

I think that's one of those things that's better to have been born well after (assuming a good outcome) or born well before (assuming a bad outcome). It's really hard imaging the transition as anything other than misery and chaos.

fsloth 10y ago
Uh, why would proof of extra terrestrial intelligence induce misery and chaos?
- pauletienney 10y ago
  Well, humankind does not have a great trackrecord of humility, harmony with its environment, acceptance of change and difference.
- ge96 10y ago
  Just a random thought, your reality is made up of your environment. Ever imagine being taken out of the Earth and being in space. Suddenly, no bills, no kids, no debt, no whatever. Also nothing else either. You'd probably be dead haha. Still, if there are aliens, it's kind of dumbfounding like "Huh... am I free now?" Is there something greater than this government that controls me? Not saying the government does, I make my own dumb decisions that create my own misery. It would be a slap to the face though, look at these aliens that can choose to anihilate us or enslave us. (bad case). Just my thoughts, I'm nobody, no credentials, this is purely opinion/current mental maturity haha. I don't know it's always depressing to me how massive space is, 40 years traveling at 50-150,000mph and the voyager just leaves our solar system hahaha. Crazy. (my numbers might be off depending on reference but that idea of 4 years of 9,000,000 feet per second) to get to the nearest start (dot in the sky) holy christ. edit: haha holy crap it's approximately 984 million feet per second for like 4.6 years edit: voyager speed ~36,000 mph, not sure how long that took to build up to that speed.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- M_Grey 10y ago
  You're right, I'm sure the billions of deeply religious people would cope with literal proof that we're not a privileged and special "creation". Even worse, they might not accept that. Plus new tech, new perspectives, old power structures being overthrown, etc... etc... Things would change, and change is good for the future, but dangerous to those living through it.
  - jaboutboul 10y ago
    "change is good for the future, but dangerous to those living through it." this.
  - simonh 10y ago
    > I'm sure the billions of deeply religious people would cope with literal proof that we're not a privileged and special "creation". Muslim scholars have considered the possibility of life in the heavens as far back as the Middle Ages. Companions of the Prophet openly considered the possibility of religious beings in the heavens. It was recorded of Ibn-e-Abbas that "He even went so far as to say that they may have a Prophet like Muhammad (pbuh), a Adam like our Adam, a Noah, like our Noah, an Ibrahim like our Ibrahim, and a Jesus like our Jesus." The Roman Catholic Church has also officially accepted that there may be intelligent aliens. So that covers a pretty large chunk of the world's religious believers already explicitly ok with it.
    - M_Grey 10y ago
      As you can see from recent world events, the words of scholars carry less weight in turbulent times than the words of populists.
  - fsloth 10y ago
    Generally people ignore changes that don't directly affect their life within a short timespan. Global warming will cause far more disturbance in the near future than anything else will and people seem to be mostly oblivious to it. Extraterrestrials would provide a brief philosophical shift and when people realize they are not coming to visit us and we really can't say anything concrete about them they would continue their life mostly unaffected. Says I.
anigbrowl 10y ago
I'll take chaos over an oppressive order any day.
- M_Grey 10y ago
  Have you ever lived in chaos?
  - anigbrowl 10y ago
    Nope, but a) I have a good idea of what it involves and b) I have little to lose and much to gain.
    - M_Grey 10y ago
      You have the comfort and leisure to comment on HN, the education to do so coherently, and you've never lived in chaos, but you think you have more to gain than to lose. Do I have that about right?

by M_Grey 10y ago

fsloth 10y ago

Uh, why would proof of extra terrestrial intelligence induce misery and chaos?

pauletienney 10y ago
Well, humankind does not have a great trackrecord of humility, harmony with its environment, acceptance of change and difference.
ge96 10y ago
Just a random thought, your reality is made up of your environment. Ever imagine being taken out of the Earth and being in space. Suddenly, no bills, no kids, no debt, no whatever. Also nothing else either. You'd probably be dead haha. Still, if there are aliens, it's kind of dumbfounding like "Huh... am I free now?" Is there something greater than this government that controls me? Not saying the government does, I make my own dumb decisions that create my own misery. It would be a slap to the face though, look at these aliens that can choose to anihilate us or enslave us. (bad case). Just my thoughts, I'm nobody, no credentials, this is purely opinion/current mental maturity haha. I don't know it's always depressing to me how massive space is, 40 years traveling at 50-150,000mph and the voyager just leaves our solar system hahaha. Crazy. (my numbers might be off depending on reference but that idea of 4 years of 9,000,000 feet per second) to get to the nearest start (dot in the sky) holy christ. edit: haha holy crap it's approximately 984 million feet per second for like 4.6 years edit: voyager speed ~36,000 mph, not sure how long that took to build up to that speed.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
M_Grey 10y ago
You're right, I'm sure the billions of deeply religious people would cope with literal proof that we're not a privileged and special "creation". Even worse, they might not accept that. Plus new tech, new perspectives, old power structures being overthrown, etc... etc... Things would change, and change is good for the future, but dangerous to those living through it.
- jaboutboul 10y ago
  "change is good for the future, but dangerous to those living through it." this.
- simonh 10y ago
  > I'm sure the billions of deeply religious people would cope with literal proof that we're not a privileged and special "creation". Muslim scholars have considered the possibility of life in the heavens as far back as the Middle Ages. Companions of the Prophet openly considered the possibility of religious beings in the heavens. It was recorded of Ibn-e-Abbas that "He even went so far as to say that they may have a Prophet like Muhammad (pbuh), a Adam like our Adam, a Noah, like our Noah, an Ibrahim like our Ibrahim, and a Jesus like our Jesus." The Roman Catholic Church has also officially accepted that there may be intelligent aliens. So that covers a pretty large chunk of the world's religious believers already explicitly ok with it.
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    As you can see from recent world events, the words of scholars carry less weight in turbulent times than the words of populists.
- fsloth 10y ago
  Generally people ignore changes that don't directly affect their life within a short timespan. Global warming will cause far more disturbance in the near future than anything else will and people seem to be mostly oblivious to it. Extraterrestrials would provide a brief philosophical shift and when people realize they are not coming to visit us and we really can't say anything concrete about them they would continue their life mostly unaffected. Says I.

anigbrowl 10y ago

I'll take chaos over an oppressive order any day.

M_Grey 10y ago
Have you ever lived in chaos?
- anigbrowl 10y ago
  Nope, but a) I have a good idea of what it involves and b) I have little to lose and much to gain.
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    You have the comfort and leisure to comment on HN, the education to do so coherently, and you've never lived in chaos, but you think you have more to gain than to lose. Do I have that about right?