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Once you've begged to the question of "they may not be like us at all" you can't make any predictions. The best model we have for them is that they are like us
by danielweber 14y ago
Once you've begged to the question of "they may not be like us at all" you can't make any predictions.
The best model we have for them is that they are like us. This may not be right, but we have more examples of "us" (1) than "not us" (0).
- pavel_lishin 14y agoWell, as per your previous example, apes are kind of like us, dolphins and whales not quite so much, elephants seem to exhibit some similar behaviors that point towards a budding consciousness, and who the hell knows what's going on inside a parrot's brain? But you're right, my argument is a bit of a cop-out, but I think it's better to assume that our first contact is going to be baffling, rather than smugly reassure a reporter that Space Men From Beyond are just decades away from shaking our hands.