[ni'k]

"granda died in the war so you wouldnt have to speak german. it was a worthwhile effort for all concerned."

[ploesj]

"if you don't clean your room and do your homework you'll end up like your father"

[Dr. Eugene Felikson]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

the sad and deeply scary realization that our Earth may indeed be the only planet in the entire galaxy that has the means to support life forms needs to be explored. If you truly study what caused life to occurr, and what myriad of things had to go just so, just right, for basic life forms to appear, one ould truly understand why people call life a miracle.

just a small sampling of the checklist needed to have Earth be what it is today.

a stable star around which to revolve
a stable planetary system where gravitational perturbations do not distort the Earth's stable orbit
a planetary system far removed from the center of our galaxy, where supermassive black holes, and periodic supernovas and star formation bathe everything in highly intense radiation, which is deadly to life
Large giant planets to attract and " clean up" the debris within the solar system. This allows the earth to develope without constant asteroid collissions.
the perfect distance from the star, where the rays warm the planet but are not powerful enough to strip the planet of it's atmosphere.
A large and stable sattelite/moon rotating arund the earth at such a perfect rate and speed that it balances out any small perturbations in the Earth's rotation, creating stability and semi-stable weather patterns. Hell, the lunar tides may have been the catalyst for the first actual cell formation as the waves crashed on shores throughout the planet.
an atmosphere composed of mostly nitrogen, which keeps the sun's lethal radiation from destroying life.
liquid oceans of water, which are extremely unlikely. If the Earth's temperature ever dips a few degrees too low or the earth moves just a bit too far from the sun all water would be ice, and life could not flourish. If the temperature gets a few degrees too high or the planet's orbit is just a bit too close to the star, then all the liquid water would be vaporized, and if the atmosphere is gone then the water would do what it did on Mars, which is to turn to rust as it reacts with the soils.


These are just a very minute criteria for a planet to have life like ours. very sall. this does not evn go into life itself.

...

You're only talking about life as we know it. Surely you're up to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, there's more than just one random calculation of occurrences that could lead up to another form of "life". Perhaps one that isn't so water-based?

[ni'k]

"if you don't do what i say, the bad freudy man will get you in your dreams with his castrating beard"

 

[ni'k]

"heterosexuality is desirable, don't act like such a wimp/girl, you are a boy!"

[chicka]

I would definitely say no, except the Pyramids, Stonehedge and Easter Island give me pause and time to think. What I do think is if these advance planets did exists they have died possibly just like we may from nuclear waste. Unless we can come up with a way to successfully freeze human life and later reanimate it we will never find out. Luke and Leia are at least 200 tera miles away from us.

[ni'k]

stone henge, pyramids, easter island - all explained.

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by Dr. Eugene Felikson

You're only talking about life as we know it. Surely you're up to the possibility that maybe, just maybe, there's more than just one random calculation of occurrences that could lead up to another form of "life". Perhaps one that isn't so water-based?

of course I am open to it.

BUT (and this is a big BUTT), until we as a species see an example of this "life" that does not rely on water for it's existance, it is but hypothesis and supposition. sure, it "may" be out there, but so could "Satan" or "Baal" or "cold fusion" or "infinite point energy"

[ni'k]

no. satan or baal could not be out there.

only a scientician would say something like this.

you shouldn't talk like that because you encourage christians to feel their lies are valid. you should be working harder to rid us of their disease. you guys already did so much for the cause, don't stop now.

[Rob Instigator]

the exact same human brain that came up with the idea for space travel, for microwave emitters, for ion engines, for particle colliders, is also the same brain our ancestors had 20-30 thousand years ago.
It is the utmost in modern avarice to think that our forefathers did not have the capability to erect stonehenge, or the easter island statues, or create the pyramids of egypt. the only difference between them and us is the accumulated collective knowledge about the world around us.

[Rob Instigator]

Originally Posted by ni'k

no. satan or baal could not be out there.

only a scientician would say something like this.

you shouldn't talk like that because you encourage christians to feel their lies are valid. you should be working harder to rid us of their disease. you guys already did so much for the cause, don't stop now.

what is satan is the guy who controls the DJ booth at the local strip club?

[Rob Instigator]

I was comparing the ideas, based on lack of evidence, since people choose to believe what sounds plausible instead of what is possible.

[ni'k]

yes yes i know.

[Rob Instigator]

pos?

[Better_Than_Deux]

Originally Posted by chicka

I would definitely say no, except the Pyramids, Stonehedge and Easter Island give me pause and time to think.

I think you may be underestimating how smart those past civilizations were.

...Did I spell civilizations wrong??

The aztecs wouldn't have.

[Rob Instigator]

what makes me weep inside is to imagine the vast amounts of forgotten data and information and cultural objects that humans have made or thought about in the last 30 thousand years. the burning of the library at alexandria alone probably kept humanity stupid for an extra thousand needless years.

[gualbert]

An idea about why there's no other advanced civilization in the universe:
if there were some, it's reasonable to assume that many of them have highly superior technology, including super fast space travel.
So it's weird that NONE of them ever had some plan about Earth, like invading it, turning it into some kind of disneyland, enslaving humans and using them as pets, destroying the whole planet for fun or scientific experience, etc.

[Better_Than_Deux]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

what makes me weep inside is to imagine the vast amounts of forgotten data and information and cultural objects that humans have made or thought about in the last 30 thousand years. the burning of the library at alexandria alone probably kept humanity stupid for an extra thousand needless years.

Right!?

Or even what we're doing now to tribal communities. Trying to synthetically create medicines that have taken 1000s of years to perfect... then marketing it for $$$$ and not giving them any cred. The only royalties they get are in the form of cancer.

[Better_Than_Deux]

Originally Posted by gualbert

An idea about why there's no other advanced civilization in the universe:
if there were some, it's reasonable to assume that many of them have highly superior technology, including super fast space travel.
So it's weird that NONE of them ever had some plan about Earth, like invading it, turning it into some kind of disneyland, enslaving humans and using them as pets, destroying the whole planet for fun or scientific experience, etc.

2012.




































(just kidding)

[ni'k]

Originally Posted by Better_Than_Deux

Right!?

Or even what we're doing now to tribal communities. Trying to synthetically create medicines that have taken 1000s of years to perfect... then marketing it for $$$$ and not giving them any cred. The only royalties they get are in the form of cancer.

yeah its definitely better to just leave the medicines with them and hope they will stay there intact and not be lost, cos the memories of small tribes is definitely a good place to store that information. and yeah, it would be so much better if we paid them off with loads of money they could really use, considerin their tribal situation and all.