But what other choice do we have? Can't just wait for something better. It's the striving to understand that produces greater knowledge and as a side benefit *usually* produces some good toys and tools as well.
Exactly, thats why an open mind is needed, not one bound by earthly absolutes. I have a friend a few years older than me that was raised as an only child. He believed his dad hung the moon so to speak. We were talking politics one day and he mentioned that a politician HAD to be a lawyer. I explained to him that just about anyone could hold an elected office. Nope, he insisted they had to be a lawyer because thats what his dad had told him as a kid. This man is over 50 years old but he had to cling onto this belief, because, to believe otherwise he would have to question what his dad told him as a kid, he was unwilling to let go of that.So it is today with people and subjects like this.To believe that other inteligent life might exist would mean having to suspend belief in something or someone else.Many people are unwilling to do that.