Objects over the United States

[manpe 10,861]

9 hours ago, robsblubot said:

Because it literally makes us the most important thing in the whole universe and the universe is kinda big.

You're assuming that being what we call "alive" has some kind of importance at all. I find that to be more arrogant. Maybe in the universe life as we know it is as meaningless as some random rock despite being alive and sentient? In which case being alone wouldn't make us any less or more important. We currently have zero evidence that shows we are not alone, but absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence. Mathematically the probability that we are alone is very small indeed, but it's still a probability until proven otherwise. We just don't know.

Edited March 4, 2023 by manpe

[robsblubot 3,595]

5 hours ago, manpe said:

You're assuming that being what we call "alive" has some kind of importance at all. I find that to be more arrogant. Maybe in the universe life as we know it is as meaningless as some random rock despite being alive and sentient? In which case being alone wouldn't make us any less or more important. We currently have zero evidence that shows we are not alone, but absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence. Mathematically the probability that we are alone is very small indeed, but it's still a probability until proven otherwise. We just don't know.

Good point. I did emphasize the "as we know it" bit earlier tho.

I should have used "unique" instead of "important", but we seem to agree on the main point.

And if we eventually manage to blow ourselves up, then yeah, the whole "intelligent" life thing will be proven overrated. 😅

Edited March 4, 2023 by robsblubot

[Fulham Broadway 17,333]

Our galaxy contains a hundred billion stars and it's a hundred thousand light years side to side.
It bulges in the middle sixteen thousand light years thick but out by us, it's just three thousand light years wide. And our galaxy is only one of millions of billions in the universe. The universe is expanding exponentially. Now, there are literally millions of planets orbiting stars that are equidistant as we are from the sun, so its almost a certainty that there is other life out there. There's probably one where another Chelsea is under performing.

 

[cosmicway 1,333]

If we are not alone does not disprove creation by any means.
Equivalently the medieval people could say "if Magellan finds any human life in the pacific islands it proves there was no creation".

But there are some things logic cannot prove or disprove in the absence of observation.
If I was counting the votes cast in an American election and if the first vote is for Bill Clinton what does it prove ? Nothing.
But if I say "Clinton wins" mathematically it is a statement with 100% certainty and 0% confidence.
It is meaningless to say "Clinton looks like winning" from one vote.
Or the other thing. With my car I am moving into a town I never visited before.
I 'm in the suburbs and suddenly a yellow bus flashes by.
The bet is "does this yellow bus belong to the town's bus fleet or is it one of a kind ?".
Who knows ? There is no clever guess. It could be the town's transport buses are yellow or it could be the bus for the workers of a factory and it's one of a kind.





 

Edited March 4, 2023 by cosmicway

[manpe 10,861]

I love space stuff. For all of you who do too, I highly recommend youtube channel Cool Worlds. 
 

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by manpe