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Aliens == God As humans, we wish something greater exists. It minimizes the noise in our otherwise meaningless lives. It gives reason. And so we make up stori
by syndacks 8y ago
Aliens == God
As humans, we wish something greater exists. It minimizes the noise in our otherwise meaningless lives. It gives reason.
And so we make up stories and find stories in signals and get excited at the prospect that _this_ just might be it.
But it never happens. And we go on searching and believing, and then we die.
- antidesitter 8y agoHow do aliens “minimize the noise in our lives” and “give us reason”?
- not_kurt_godel 8y agoThe difference is that there are falsifiable hypotheses about aliens, and there are valid scientific reasons to believe they might (and statistically probably should) exist.
- daodedickinson 8y agoI have trouble finding it, but I think Thoreau at some point says you can find out what an atheist thinks of god by what they think superhuman aliens would be like. Definitely worked for Stephen Hawking.
- pluto9 8y agoWhy do they have to be "something greater"? Most people would be thrilled if we found the alien equivalent to a jellyfish. People like aliens because we're curious creatures and aliens are unknown and interesting. I've never understood why some people feel the need to inject their mopey nihilism into everything.
- syndacks 8y agoQuite the opposite, my friend. I'm a humanist. IMO each bit of energy expended in the search of aliens is an opportunity cost to do something real here on Earth. So while you get excited about theoretical space jellyfish (or colonizing Mars, or the Second Coming of Christ (not you, specifically, just in theory I group these together)), I will excite myself with the alleviation of human suffering and preservation of planet Earth.
- EForEndeavour 8y ago> each bit of energy expended in the search of aliens is an opportunity cost to do something real here on Earth How do you feel about other activities that don't provide immediate, tangible relief to human suffering or environmental impact? What is your opinion of people who devote their lives to artistic, literary, musical endeavours, or who write software for social-media companies?