The first possibility, that there is no other life that we would recognize in the observable universe, resembles old conjectures: that the earth is the center of the solar system, that the solar system is the center of the universe, etc. Given the vastness of the universe, our uniqueness is possible but unlikely.
The second possibility, that there are others--again given the vastness of the universe--suggests that there are probably many others. This in turn suggests that it is unlikely that we are the oldest or most advanced life in the universe, and given how rapidly things have changed in only two centuries (every motor, all electronic devices, flight, etc.), it suggests that others, particularly others capable of reaching us, will be so far beyond us that a) they will either use us, enslave us, or eliminate us or; b) they will, with a generosity which will cost them very little, do what is best for us.
Arthur C. Clarke said that any sufficiently advanced science will be indistinguishable from magic. It would seem to be a corollary that any sufficiently advanced beings will be indistinguishable from divinity.
So. They could be here, and watching over us, waiting until they could contact us, if ever, without harm. Or it may take time, a very long time, before they can come, after they detect the output of the planetary civilization.
It could be that it would hurt us to know them, because of the contrast between what we are, and what truly civilized beings are.
Slashdot Mirror
The first possibility, that there is no other life that we would recognize in the observable universe, resembles old conjectures: that the earth is the center of the solar system, that the solar system is the center of the universe, etc. Given the vastness of the universe, our uniqueness is possible but unlikely.
The second possibility, that there are others--again given the vastness of the universe--suggests that there are probably many others. This in turn suggests that it is unlikely that we are the oldest or most advanced life in the universe, and given how rapidly things have changed in only two centuries (every motor, all electronic devices, flight, etc.), it suggests that others, particularly others capable of reaching us, will be so far beyond us that a) they will either use us, enslave us, or eliminate us or; b) they will, with a generosity which will cost them very little, do what is best for us.
Arthur C. Clarke said that any sufficiently advanced science will be indistinguishable from magic. It would seem to be a corollary that any sufficiently advanced beings will be indistinguishable from divinity.
So. They could be here, and watching over us, waiting until they could contact us, if ever, without harm. Or it may take time, a very long time, before they can come, after they detect the output of the planetary civilization.
It could be that it would hurt us to know them, because of the contrast between what we are, and what truly civilized beings are.