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And anything that can do a lot of math probably has discovered game theory and used that to analyze contact and then became too frightened to venture out, or se

by tzs 2y ago

And anything that can do a lot of math probably has discovered game theory and used that to analyze contact and then became too frightened to venture out, or send messages, or answer messages. That's one potential answer to the Fermi paradox: they are out there but doing everything they can to not be noticed. PBS Space Time had a good episode a few months ago on this: "Dark Forest: Should We NOT Contact Aliens?" [1]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXYf47euE3U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXYf47euE3U

082349872349872 2y ago
Sagan was careful*, in working on his 1966 "translation, extension, and revision" of Shklovsky's Intelligent Life in the Universe, to typographically set his contributions apart from Shklovsky's original text. I haven't had the free time to check if there are any fibonacci sequences or other mathematical patterns in Sagan's interpolations, but it would be most amusing if there were! Lagniappe: https://cdn4.volusion.store/zausr-eprhq/v/vspfiles/photos/19765-2T.jpg?v-cache=1724865123 https://cdn4.volusion.store/zausr-eprhq/v/vspfiles/photos/19... * due to the Cold War, he and Shklovsky hadn't been able to meet and collaborate like normal translators and colleagues