Slashdot Mirror
100/1 Odds On 'First Contact' Within a Year
astroengine writes "After all the kerfuffle of 'Ambassadorgate' — when the UK media went nuts over the rumored promotion of Mazlan Othman to become the UN's first choice as mankind's alien point of contact — it would appear that gamblers saw this as a tip that an alien landing was imminent."
No, all "100 to one odds" means in this context is if you bet a dollar they'll be here in a year and they show up, you win $100. It has nothing to do with the real probabilities, which are as close to zero as you can get.
Free Martian Whores!
Wow, I just realized what a brilliant move this is on the part of the betting house. The fools who bet for it happening just aren't going to win, the fools who bet against it happening... well, take their stake, put it in a CD for 12 months, then give them their 1% winnings, while you keep the other 2% for yourself.
Do you realize how much our understanding of the universe has changed in 100 years? Do you realize how much our technology has advanced in 100 years?
For all we know, there is a galactic Internet accessible via quantum effects of some sort. Tapping that would be first contact. Alternatively, synthetic lifeforms may be trying to replicate themselves by broadcasting the schematics for their hardware/software throughout the universe via radio waves, being "born" whenever some curious species detects the signal and builds it. Build it and talk to it -BAM- that's first contact. Considering the size of the universe and the principles of evolution, this later idea seems down-right likely, not just plausible.
We don't have to be physically visited to make first contact.
A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.