Post AVQ8JvxQ29J3qvn0sa by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
(DIR) More posts by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
(DIR) Post #AVQ605fK1tuYGIjdXk by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-05-07T18:27:18Z
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Greetings. Since you asked, I am -- by the way -- depressingly downbeat on the probabilities of contact from extraterrestrial intelligences (leaving aside the probable extermination/slavery/pets scenarios for the moment).I certainly do feel that these exist. At times. But my gut feeling is that the necessary combination of life (likely very common), intelligent life (far less common), and intelligent life with the technological capability and desire for contact (even far less common), is relatively rare. And when it does exist, it would need to be close enough to us both in space AND time for contact. Because most of these civilizations probably meet such criteria for relatively short periods, and if they don't sync with us, they effectively don't exist to us.So these extraterrestrials may be like flashbulbs winking across the galaxies ever so briefly and rarely from time to time. And unless one blinks relatively nearby and at the same time as our own bulb is briefly lit before burning out, they might as well not exist at all from our standpoint now.Whether this is on balance a good thing or a bad thing from our standpoint is left as an exercise for the reader. -L
(DIR) Post #AVQ6MMhBOQxvRzE7fs by Savera@fosstodon.org
2023-05-07T18:31:21Z
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@lauren this is probably a good thing since they cannot extinguish us if we don’t exist in their timeline. For civilizations which are advanced, they have probably already checked us out or are living among us. We just aren’t savvy enough to detect them.
(DIR) Post #AVQ6uEoZCUegr0pfjk by oceanwave@mastodon.social
2023-05-07T18:37:18Z
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@lauren this very point struck me while reading Andy Weir’s “Hail Mary” (fantastic book!). He made this point as well—that civilizations would have to be at the same/similar level of technological development to even have similar goals or reasons for meeting. I had not considered this (or maybe not reflected on it enough) until then. But fantastic point!
(DIR) Post #AVQ7BaJwUjV0TcmPOC by virtualbri@mastodon.online
2023-05-07T18:40:33Z
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@lauren "The Three Body Problem" and its sequels from Liu Cixin is a disturbingly well-thought out argument of actual alien contacts more on a hard SF side and it's stays with you as a story. It's not great for Earth.
(DIR) Post #AVQ7lSFvxLkptE0buS by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-05-07T18:47:01Z
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@virtualbri Yep.
(DIR) Post #AVQ8JvxQ29J3qvn0sa by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-05-07T18:52:54Z
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@hackbyte Oh yeah, that's been clear for some time. But I'm thinking more in terms of contact based on signals *designed* to be as useful as possible for that purpose, not serendipitous contact via low-power spread spectrum signals, etc.
(DIR) Post #AVQ8Yw9HbXO0n2UcUK by tanoujin@social.coop
2023-05-07T18:55:58Z
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@lauren Stanislaw Lem covered this, along with some surprising alternatives.
(DIR) Post #AVQApgxfWWWiWDB4Uq by raphael_fl@wandering.shop
2023-05-07T19:21:24Z
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@lauren Are you familiar with this website? http://jbr.me.uk/astro.html Especially the section on the Fermi Paradox and the section on what aliens might want to do with Earth?
(DIR) Post #AVQB0phxLPXQpa8mRM by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-05-07T19:23:27Z
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@raphael_fl Yes, I've been familiar with Fermi, et al. for many years.
(DIR) Post #AVQKQ1ULa56SC7rTDU by nyrath@spacey.space
2023-05-07T21:08:48Z
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@lauren For me, the most logical solution to the Fermi Paradox is the Great Filter.Which hypothesizes that all technological civilizations have a drastically short life span, then they cease to exist.Implying that our civilization dies not have long to live.This will be an even more likely scenario if microbial or other life is discovered on other planets in our solar system. http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/aliencontact.php#fermiparadox
(DIR) Post #AVQKbU0pryxbqUWRQe by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-05-07T21:10:56Z
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@nyrath Could be.
(DIR) Post #AVQO11wl8izuC1UO24 by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2023-05-07T21:49:08Z
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@lauren @nyrath The early SETI scientist Philip Morrison poetically described how any technological signal we might observe could be from a long gone culture as SETI being the "archaeology of the future".
(DIR) Post #AVQOZU6WxNzHMsULoW by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-05-07T21:55:20Z
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@michael_w_busch @nyrath That especially makes messages like "We're on the way!" problematic.
(DIR) Post #AVQTBKCecKzJTreTmy by DrLecture@mastodon.social
2023-05-07T22:47:01Z
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@lauren “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying” - Arthur C Clarke
(DIR) Post #AVQXILIhKpRSjD53pI by Brnikat@astrodon.social
2023-05-07T23:33:05Z
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@lauren Astroarchaeology.I've never chatted with Neanderthal, nor even seen one from an existence.Nonetheless their transitory existence matters to me.
(DIR) Post #AVQXPZRNA4ZgbqaJXs by lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org
2023-05-07T23:34:26Z
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@Brnikat Actually, there's still a fair bit of Neanderthal DNA floating around, apparently.
(DIR) Post #AVQXdYKG6R2ZCqvNKK by Brnikat@astrodon.social
2023-05-07T23:36:49Z
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@lauren Indeed. Part of the evidence that they once existed as organisms in their own right.