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>Why are we here, and are we alone How about we first at least try to understand life on Earth? We are definitely not alone, there are other conscious beings o
by cetalingua 9y ago
>Why are we here, and are we alone
How about we first at least try to understand life on Earth? We are definitely not alone, there are other conscious beings on this planet. After decades of studies we still have no idea what a humpback whale's song means. Bottlenose dolphins have at least 2 if not 3, sound generating mechanisms that could work simultaneously. The amount of information that can be encoded is enormous. Yet, we are still to learn what a single dolphin's call means. We know the function of some meercats' calls or praire dogs' calls, but despite 60 years of research we are yet to decode a function of at least one dolphin call, let alone something more complex like beluga chatter or a humpback song.
- function_seven 9y agoI'd rather not have astronomers working on decoding dolphin calls. You imply there's a shortage of biologists, and if we just suspend space exploration and divert those minds to marine biology, things will get better.
- theonething 9y agoOr maybe they are talking about funds and where to invest them.
- cetalingua 9y agoNo,not exactly. There is a shortage of funding and also of creative approach. We cannot ask a question "are we alone" unless we know exactly what a whale sings about (if anything) or what crazy complicated dolphin or beluga chatter means. Besides, if we are ever to encounter any sort of alien life, how can we decode any signals or messages if we cannot even decode our own earthlings signals?
- function_seven 9y ago> We cannot ask a question "are we alone" unless we know exactly what a whale sings about (if anything) or what crazy complicated dolphin or beluga chatter means. I don't follow. You could say the same thing about any Earth-bound phenomena. There is an endless supply of interesting things to study on our planet. There's also an endless supply of space exploration waiting for us. To pick one to the exclusion of the other seems very shortsighted, given that we don't know what we'll find in either place. Seems like pursuing all avenues of exploration is the best way to move us forward.
- ExactoKnight 9y agoI dream about the day where the U.S.'s spending on its military, and its spending on science research, are flipped.
- jessaustin 9y agoI dream instead about spending a little more on science, and nothing at all on war.