Posted on 02/07/2006 1:59:24 PM PST by tricky_k_1972
I am not saying your overall point is wrong. But the universe's raw parts--and hence numbers of combinations--is surely not infinite.
Ha ha- I know what you mean. I've decided people have already made up their minds, so there's no point in me trying to convert anyone to my way of thinking. To each his/her own.
BUT, I will say, that I'm not a big fan of when Christians rule out ALL evolutionary theory, and fold their arms and refuse to accept that we don't live in a closed system (heck, I'm evolving right now in my chair to one degree or another), AND E's that won't accept any discussion of divine intervention. I could never understand why science won't accept a God. It's hard to examine a liver, or a pancreas and rule out God altogether.
See I guess I kind of do have a problem with believing were the only ones around, and I can argue it from both the religious and scientific points on why it should not be that way.
My problem stems from the age old "lack of evidence".
I know that life exists outside of this planet and evidence of it will be found soon, say within the next hundred years, but if that is true, where does everything else break down?
Where is the expected and the theory becoming disjointed? Where do the presuppositions become disjointed from the reality of the Universe?
And we're just talking about the physical universe here- imagine the possibility of extradimensional life- why there could be cities in front of my nose in and I'd be completely oblivious. (course, I'm usually oblivious, sooooo)
:)
So then explain why lions, tyrannosaurs and other top predators have been at the top of the food chain and never developed tool use?
Intelligence is but a single strategy to get TO the top of the food chain, and not nearly as common as muscle and/or tooth advantages.
Oh you're Evil, next you'll be bring up string theory and such, along with dark mater, dark energy, zero point energy and where gravity really comes from as compared to the weak force strong force theories.
Bad, Bad mojo. ;)
See that's why I said it was high school level, but if I were to delve deeper into the topic, I would say if you're talking about modern day predators, then man, not the lion is at the top of the food chain which would sort of limit the lions further development.
If you are talking about Cambrian, Precambrian development then I'd guess I'd say that they simply did not have the time for their biology to develop to further intelligence.
I think you're right with that statement, and from there would develop tool development (including biological "tools" I.E. better teeth) which would lead to environmental engineering and then to social engineering.
"which would lead to environmental engineering and then to social engineering."
-So you're saying that Hillary Clinton is at the top of the evolutionary ladder? Now you're just talking moon-man talk...
har
We probably wouldn't recognize a nuclear civilization, much less a sub-nuclear civilization. A race that existed at faster-than-light velocities wouldn't even be seen- by definition. I doubt we'd recognize evidence of whatever they did as evidence of purpose (what "purpose" would they have?).
In a millenia or less we'll be a nuclear civilization, in another a sub-nuclear one. Then we'll meet them if they're there.
Hay, even in evolution there are genetic "slips'!
A book I've been reading proposes that within the universe every once in a while a race of hunters evolves in the galaxy, a race that fears all others and hunts down all potential competition and erases them from existence out of fear, and then destroys themselves, that at least could be one explanation for Fermi's paradox.
If the right political system is in place during the expansion of an interstellar civilization, then the civilization will thrive for a while. Such a political system would be a Kingship, such as the King of England, or a Tyranny such as Tamerlane, or Capitalism, such as if the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty were abolished, but a Communist system would fail almost immediately since no such system can endure more than a couple of generations without degenerating into corruption. A Republic will last longer than Communism, but it appears it will eventually degenerate into a tyranny of a dictator or an oligarchy, which will then fall to democracy and democracy to tyranny and so on never getting far.
spaceref.com
[Monday, February 6, 2006] According to NASA's FY 2007 budget documentation "The Terrestrial Planet Finding project (TPF) has been deferred indefinitely." In other words, it is dead. NASA is just afraid to say so.
What's up with this? Was there a thread?
If you are talking about Cambrian, Precambrian development then I'd guess I'd say that they simply did not have the time for their biology to develop to further intelligence.
Well, sapient intelligence has only been used once (that we know of) on Earth to climb to the top of the food chain. If a potential past civilization didn't break past the Iron Age, they'd never leave a trace across millions of years. If you look at the fossil records and modern niches for creatures, size, natural weaponry, poison, and wings are far more common evolutionary strategies for a creature to climb food chains.
Of course were it not for the Paleozoic (90+% of all life) or Cretacious (75% of all life) Era mass extinctions, some other form of life might have tried the intelligence path long before we got onto the playing field.
Another way of looking at it is that large multicellular life has had the RESET button hit twice before mammals got their shot at Earth.
You might like a book; it's called Evolution, by Steven Baxter. It's depressing (humanity goes extinct), but a very interesting look at evolution and how things could have been, and could be.
If private interstellar spacecraft ever get built and used for colonization, humans will never have to worry about extinction again.
Someone will eventually wind up colonizing Oort Clouds and put a civilization between the stars.
Come to think of it, we have survivalists now. I'm sure some of their intellectual descendents will wind up in small asteroids, comets and other tiny out of the way places.
Indeed, there's a growing trend to ridicule space exploration and science in general in this country.There's a general trend to hijack science in favor of a Luddite and/or Dhimmicrat agenda, whether it is stem-cells, global warming/greenhouse gases, sustainability, population explosion; if Apollo were done now, there would be no planting of the US flag. That is what disgusts people.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.