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Why We'll Never Meet Aliens
iggychaos writes "The idea that aliens will come visit us is fundamentally flawed. Paul Tyma ponders the technology that would be required for such an event and examines how evolution of that technology would preclude any reason to actually make the trip. He writes, 'Twenty years ago if I asked you how many feet were in a mile (and you didn't know) you could go to a library and look it up. Ten years ago, you could go to a computer and google it. Today, you can literally ask your phone. It's not a stretch at all with the advent of wearable computing that coming soon - I can ask you that question and you'll instantly answer. ... How would you change if you had instant brain-level access to all information. How would you change if you were twice as smart as you are now. How about ten times as smart? (Don't answer, truth is, you're not smart enough to know). Now, let's leap ahead and think about what that looks like in 100 years. Or 1000. Or whenever it is you'll think we'd have the technology to travel to another solar system. We'd be a scant remnant of what a human looks like today. ... The question of why aliens might 'want to come here' is probably fundamentally flawed because we are forming that question from our current (tiny) viewpoint. The word 'want' might not apply at all to someone 1000 times smarter than us."
Ah, but see, the point of the article is that, unlike all the rest of us, this guy actually is smart enough to predict exactly how our 1000-times-smarter hyper-advanced post-human descendants will think.
David Gould
main(i){putchar(340056100>>(i-1)*5&31|!!(i<6)<< 6)&&main(++i);}
1. we cant even universally handle different colors or sexes of our same species, its absurd to think we'd approach aliens any differently.
2. we still use and condone physical violence at all social levels to solve problems despite it being scientifically ineffective and counterproductive.
3. no ones proven Gary Busey is not in fact an alien lifeform
4. it is statistically improbable any advanced alien lifeform would even remotely consider a presence on the same planet as snooki and perez hilton.
5. Most aliens probably called it off after they found out we quit manufacturing twinkies.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Wrong. It was only like Urkel. The alien has a sweet, heavenly voice... like Urkel! And he appears every Friday night... like Urkel! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a report to type up on my invisible typewriter.
The 1980's called, they want their family friendly pop culture zingers back.
No, food. Human is a delicacy in some regions of the galaxy.
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
Based upon the fact there's no Unobtainium on our planet, I suspect they've already been here and taken it all.
http://www.beanleafpress.com
And that's why I love Slashdot - news for philosophers and hypothetical matters.
Privacy is terrorism.
The alien surgeon general recommends not eating pasty white humans from the northwest continent. You can eat all the yellow ones you like from the eastern continent they are much healthier for you. Though you may find yourself hungry again in just a few parsecs.
I only look human.
My mother is a halfling and my dad is an ogre, so that makes me an Ogreling