07/16/2005 Archived Entry: "I would be dissapointed if"
we didn't make first contact with another intelligent species within my lifetime. There's no real reason for wanting it to happen, I doubt I would personally benefit from first contact in any ways except for just simply knowing that yes, there IS life out there. Not that there's any doubt in my mind, I am absolutely, positively certain that intelligent life is out there. Any one who thinks otherwise is phenomenally stupid. The universe is so unimaginably immense that life should have a chance in more than just 1 place.
What would really suck is if there's plenty of alien lifeforms out there, but we never met each other. Imagine if all those sci-fi McGuffins didn't exist and we could never travel or communicate at faster than light speed. I guess we don't really need to imagine them not existing since they probably don't. If everything is limited to lightspeed, the possibility of alien contact would be terrible! It'd take hundreds (thousands!) of years just to send messages to each other. That's assuming we even get to find other life-bearing planets. It's a sad thought, like two ships passing each other in the night and not realizing what happened.
Replies: 8 comments
We need to stop thinking of space in terms of a "linear" form of travel. On a linear scale, lightspeed may be our limitation. However, that doesn't mean we can't harness other forms of travel which would propel us at greater "speeds" relative to a linear scale. But keep on fretting Thai, as these types of advances won't be happening for a long time.
Posted by dAN @ 07/16/2005 08:51 PM EST
what nonlinear forms of travel do you suggest?
Posted by Rayne @ 07/17/2005 12:53 AM EST
Of course nonlinear means travel that isn't limited to the standad time-space space. We need to be able to travel across the other dimensions that have been proven to exist and as a result be able to travel further faster. Of course we need to be able to apply quantum mechanics and string theory at very large scales, rather than the current theoretical and subnuclear results that have been shown so far.
Posted by sbdep @ 07/18/2005 09:44 AM EST
I don't see how you can state without hesitation that "...the other dimensions that have been proven to exist". I'm no physicist, but I have not read any study proclaiming the existance of any other dimensions...
I know string theory theorizes such an existance, but it's still a theory.
Posted by Phil @ 07/18/2005 12:45 PM EST
I remember reading an article (on the net...) about quantum computing which stated that they had found several other universes...which made me go "huh?!"
Posted by Rayne @ 07/18/2005 06:11 PM EST
"standad time-space space" you should have called it a continuum!
Posted by Rayne @ 07/19/2005 12:01 AM EST
2010, Thai.
Live until then and you'll live to see 'em.
Posted by Romer @ 07/22/2005 06:31 AM EST
hmm? You know something I don't?
Posted by Rayne @ 07/22/2005 11:15 AM EST