What if we ARE utterly alone in the galaxy?

@Frank Apisa,

Frank Apisa wrote:

I do not know everything, Izzy...and I probably acknowledge that more than anyone else in this forum.

Well then, you cannot claim that you know that you cannot know there is no god (as you have often asserted in prior postings). Try to come to terms with that.

1 Reply

@Chumly,

Frank has spoken of his desire to see aliens before he dies. That might be clouding his judgement.

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

You don't know enough to say that.

Yeah...in this case, I really do.

But continue to kid yourself, Izzy. It provides some laughs to watch you do it.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

Frank has spoken of his desire to see aliens before he dies. That might be clouding his judgement.

It's not out of the realm of possibility that all Frank need do is look in the mirror as evidence is building that Earth life may have originated on Mars http://www.space.com/22577-earth-life-from-mars-theory.html

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@Frank Apisa,

So we should take your word over Brian Cox's. You're delusional, and full of hubris (amongst other things.)

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@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

So we should take your word over Brian Cox's. You're delusional, and full of hubris (amongst other things.)

No Izzy...you should use your brain. (Look it up.)

The guy is saying “"There is only one advanced technological civilization in this galaxy and there has only ever been one - and that's us."

That cannot be anything but a blind guess.

But…continue in your delusion that it can be anything other.

It is a gas.

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@Frank Apisa,

Quote:

The guy is saying “"There is only one advanced technological civilization in this galaxy and there has only ever been one - and that's us."

Given how vast "just" our galaxy is and the percents of the billions of stars with planets from our sample to date I would think that such a statement at our current level of knowledge is beyond being stupid.

1 Reply

@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

As for the rest of Mr. Cox's thesis, i agree that complex life forms are far less probable than has commonly been thought, but i don't see any reason to assume that the odds against it are almost insurmountable. Complex life forms may be extremely rare, but i see no reason to assume that they're nearly impossible.

If I understand correctly, I think his claim is based on his understanding about the probability of single cellular organisms evolving into multi-cellular organisms. But I don't have access to the data he may have used to calculate that.

However, that particular evolutionary step would seem to be critical in the evolution of technological intelligence (at least if we keep our view of "life" to the narrow band of water based organics which we are familiar with), so if for some reason the probabilities of that happening are small enough, then the stability period for planets or moons may be too short to allow for it in a single Galaxy.

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

Quote:
However, amid widespread media coverage after the broadcast, including on Stuff, along the lines of "we are alone in the universe", Cox tweeted: FOR LAST TIME: I think life is common in universe. We MAY be only civ. in Milky Way. There WILL be other civilisations in univ.

Yes, it's important to note that cosmologists know the difference between the Universe and a Galaxy (even if the media and general public don't) Wink

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@rosborne979,

rosborne979 wrote:

Setanta wrote:

As for the rest of Mr. Cox's thesis, i agree that complex life forms are far less probable than has commonly been thought, but i don't see any reason to assume that the odds against it are almost insurmountable. Complex life forms may be extremely rare, but i see no reason to assume that they're nearly impossible.

If I understand correctly, I think his claim is based on his understanding about the probability of single cellular organisms evolving into multi-cellular organisms. But I don't have access to the data he may have used to calculate that.

The specific comment with which I took exception was:

Quote:

"There is only one advanced technological civilization in this galaxy and there has only ever been one - and that's us," Professor Cox said. "We are unique."

Whatever data he used for his calculations could lead to:

"We MAY BE the only one advanced technological civilization in this galaxy and IT MAY BE that there has only been one - and that's us. We MAY BE unique"...

...but NOT TO ""There is only one advanced technological civilization in this galaxy and there has only ever been one - and that's us," Professor Cox said. "We are unique."

That has consistently been my point all along.

The statement as attributed to him is NOTHING MORE THAN A BLIND GUESSS in that form.

All the rest of what you said, what Cox said, and what Setanta said...may be so...and may even seem persuasive to some. (It does not resonate with me...and I blindly guess that he is wrong.)

But I am not addressing any of that. I am addressing the specific quote.

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@rosborne979,

one thing would result if we are alone would be changes in the entertainment industry regarding ET's. Would we be the advanced species who discover the rules of physics that can be broken or bent to our needs.

For example, when we discover the means of implementing forward time travel, we can have a whole mess of plots that focus on the reality that time has a finite speed that can be screwed with in a 3 axes system

1 Reply

@farmerman,

Since we would be the only dvanced spcies, another area of interest would be "growing up" to move about within the galaxy by means of advanced propulsion (heretofore unknown systems).
Itd be like that STar Trek episode of "First Contact" except without the contact

1 Reply

@farmerman,

Yeh, imagine a world in which we suddenly find ourselves responsible for our own future, without Gods or Aliens or Rules of any type to constrain us. Nobody to blame but ourselves for whatever happens. Makes you wonder if the world/humanity would decide to change or decide to stay the same. No wrong path to take, nothing to judge us anywhere, only us forging our way through an infinite cosmic jungle, unexplored.

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@Frank Apisa,

The deluded one is someone who thinks he knows far more than the expert. You're scared by something a scientist says, you don't understand how and why he says it so you dismiss it, and stamp your foot like a petulant teenager. Notice how none of the people on this thread who actually understand some of what Cox has said, go along with your choice of words.

Now you can choose to live in a world where you know more about physics than Brian Cox if you want to. I prefer reality.

1 Reply

@izzythepush,

izzythepush wrote:

The deluded one is someone who thinks he knows far more than the expert. You're scared by something a scientist says, you don't understand how and why he says it so you dismiss it, and stamp your foot like a petulant teenager. Notice how none of the people on this thread who actually understand some of what Cox has said, go along with your choice of words.

Now you can choose to live in a world where you know more about physics than Brian Cox if you want to. I prefer reality.

Izzy...a statement that asserts we are the only living things in our galaxy...IS NOTHING BUT A BLIND GUESS.

Live with it. Especially since you "prefer reality."

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@Frank Apisa,

Frank, quit beating a dead nag. Please.

1 Reply

I deem it interesting that in regard to our solar system,
with the possible exception of Europa
it appears that our solar system is devoid of non-Earth life.

I remember being young enuf that we simply did not know
that Mars n Venus were bleak, barren and apparently sterile deserts.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

Frank, quit beating a dead nag. Please.

C'mon, Andy. Something wrong with me defending my position?

Are you actually saying that this guy Cox knows that we are all alone in this galaxy...rather than blindly guessing that we are?

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@Frank Apisa,

I'm saying that it's of no importance. It's a non-issue. Setanta challenged you, even if obliquely, and OmSig egged it on. Now it's just getting out of hand like the schoolyard fight that neither kid is going to win ... or lose. Drop it. It's not worth the effort and it's just an interruption of an otherwise serious discussion.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

I'm saying that it's of no importance.

By what criterion ?

1 Reply

What if we ARE utterly alone in the galaxy?

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