The Search for Intelligent Life

[Kamen_Kaiju]

was thinking this morning about the whole Alien thing, I admit I'm somewhat fascinated by the subject. Objectively,...but interested none the less.

So I was thinking about how much I dig Octopi, because to me they're aliens. They're awesome looking but they're also extremely intelligent.

Then I started thinking of all the animals I've studied that show intelligence and understanding. I've seen my cats do some serious problem solving to get treats,...I've seen cats and dogs see their reflection and freak out thinking it's another animal (not a bright animal), and I've seen cats and dogs look at their reflection and seem like they're pondering. Recognizing that they're staring at themselves. This to me is self awareness. .....that's a big deal if you think about it. (yellow to stress that this is a very important point.)

Then I think of ants, pigs, whales, ...in todays posts there's a great thread about the swimming deer getting on the boat. I think those deer knew they were going to die,..and they put aside their fear of humans in favor of self preservation,..and they probably hoped they made the right choice. (gotta admit,...dude could've just eaten them.) ...who knows if that's what they 'thought',..but it's fun to think about.

So then I'm thinking about how we spend all this money on space exploration and searching for intelligent life,..when we have all this intelligent life already around us that we ignore.

So really, what we're actually searching for is something smarter then ourselves, that hopefully we could learn from, or would somehow 'give us the cure' to all our problems. Some kind of Savior.

Not sure this is a realistic goal or use of money,..but whatever. I'll never be the one who makes such decisions.

But then I think, "what if there are Aliens and they've been watching us?"

Well,...from an objective view, we kill every living thing on the planet,...including ourselves.

Were I a very intelligent Alien I think I'd want nothing to do with us. We look like primitive morons hell bent on self destruction.

So better to just let this play out and let the humans extinguish themselves and then 'we' the Aliens can have the planet to ourselves.


basically this post has no point,...just stuff running through my head today I suppose.

Interesting thoughts though,....to me anyway.

Just found it somewhat ironic? Amusing? That we 'search for intelligent life'...when there's intelligent life all around us.

 

[fatbird]

We are primitive morons, while animals kill for food and preservation we kill for stupid shit, money and sometimes not much of it, drugs, spite, the list goes on.

 

[Sin Nombre]

I don't ignore my cats.

 

[acstorfer]

I agree with putting more resources into earth exploration, but that shouldn't come at the expense of space exploration (IMHO). I've always considered the exploration of space to be, look what we can do when we put our minds to it. Well that and it is very neat. Yeah, I'm sure there are some hoping extraterrestrial communication as being the goal, but to me it's just a fantastic demonstration when we put extraordinary minds together in a room with an idea to figure out how we can do something. Then we take those ideas and execute them with extraordinary people with the smarts and the bravery to execute those ideas. Imagine the guts it takes to sit on top of a new design with tons of fuel and thrust on their ass ready to explode. Freakin' heroes, each and every one of them! Space exploration is not just exploring space, it's an exploration of mankind and what we can accomplish when we have an impossible task at hand.

The wonders on the earth, what new things we can discover deep in our sea, is truly something wondrous, but the universe is pretty amazing as well.

Also, in space exploration comes technology that improves our every day lives, things we never thought we needed until we had them. Those technologies can also translate into things we can use to explore the earth as well.

 

[acstorfer]

We are primitive morons, while animals kill for food and preservation we kill for stupid shit, money and sometimes not much of it, drugs, spite, the list goes on.

Yeah, some. The overwhelming majority are good though. Unfortunately, rarely does the good make the news. "If it bleeds, it leads."

Still though, I have to admit I can't stand people .

 

[bscenefilms]

was thinking this morning about the whole Alien thing, I admit I'm somewhat fascinated by the subject. Objectively,...but interested none the less.

So I was thinking about how much I dig Octopi, because to me they're aliens. They're awesome looking but they're also extremely intelligent.

Then I started thinking of all the animals I've studied that show intelligence and understanding. I've seen my cats do some serious problem solving to get treats,...I've seen cats and dogs see their reflection and freak out thinking it's another animal (not a bright animal),

Consider the reaction of Native Americans when shown a mirror for the first time by white settlers - Not too different from what these animals do...

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Yeah, some. The overwhelming majority are good though. Unfortunately, rarely does the good make the news. "If it bleeds, it leads."

Still though, I have to admit I can't stand people .

reminds me of this weeks NY Times photo that was on the front page of the poor guy that got shoved onto the tracks in front of the train.

The dude took a photo instead of helping.

I haven't delved deeper into the story because it makes me sick, but on the news the photo taker said he didn't have time to help, so he flashed his camera a bunch of times hoping the train would see it and stop.

Well,..my first thought was, "if you had time to flash the camera a few times, you had time to at least try and do something."

I've seen from too close what a train did to a deer that was frozen on the tracks. I think if I saw that happen to a poor person that got pushed in front of a train......idk. I'd either puke or possibly try to kill the guy that did the pushing. (with my bare hands, in a very ugly fashion.)

 

[rcole_sooner]

I believe intelligent lifeforms would have to "evolve" beyond the organic, before interstellar travel becomes possible. Maybe that would mean "living" robotic life of some type, or some other form of life beyond organic bodies. Essentially indefinite lifespans and the ability to spawn and merge consciousness . Oh, not to mention the ability to survive the harsh interstellar environment.

Even if robots were used, to fetch and return data, by the time they got back the civilization that sent them would be long gone.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

So,....Borg?

I think we're heading that way already actually.

 

[rcole_sooner]

Of course needing human parts is sort of just for the big screen. The consciousness could exist on a chip. Various instruments could provide much more input than our organic sensors are able to provide.

Like in BSG, the one cylon who hated being in a human body. He was too limited.

 

[Mindfrigg]

And who decides what intelligence is?We do. Bad science. We barely recognize it in our selves.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

and the humans who are actually truly intelligent and 'alien',...are shunned for the most part.

(or completely taken advantage of or mocked.)

When I was a kid I thought if you had a high IQ society should just pay you to problem solve. Your 'job' should be the advancement of the species.

Most really smart guys I know though are really bad at being 'normal' and struggle through life. Bogged down by the mundane and the struggle to survive.

I know people that can teach themselves in 4 months with books, what it takes others 4 years of college to learn.

These are 2 very different kinds of people. The problem is the guy who can teach himself in 4 months usually doesn't want to go to college for 4 years because it'd boring and a waste of 3 years and 8 months.

I've known some people so smart it's downright scary.

My GF can look at a math equation that fills an entire page, and just 'know' the answer immediately.

Then other friends would go, "no,...she can't be right." And spend an hour, with a calculator doing the math,...only to go, 'Yeah, she was right.'

I've seen it, numerous times. It's scary.

But she forced herself through 4 miserable debt building years of college so she could get a job doing what she already knows how to do.

Society fails her. (imo and all that disclaimer sh*t.)

 

[acstorfer]

I'm kinda torn in the idea of "life out there". Part of me thinks considering the size of the universe, it's impossible to consider we are truly alone. Then there is the part of me thinking just how minuscule the chances that life evolved on earth makes it impossible to imagine it happened somewhere else as well.

 

[Mindfrigg]

And why do we necessarily have to physically travel? Awareness is the only thing that needs to be transported to those distant places. There could be other dimensional avenues for that.

 

[SixAngryStrings]

 

[acstorfer]

When I was a kid I thought if you had a high IQ society should just pay you to problem solve. Your 'job' should be the advancement of the species.

While I agree with that on the face, still though I also believe we have grown on our technology a bit too fast for humanity to handle. "Future Shock" has always left a bit of resonance with me.

 

[acstorfer]

And why do we necessarily have to physically travel?

For lack of a better explanation, because it is really, really neat!

 

[bscenefilms]

reminds me of this weeks NY Times photo that was on the front page of the poor guy that got shoved onto the tracks in front of the train.

The dude took a photo instead of helping.

I haven't delved deeper into the story because it makes me sick, but on the news the photo taker said he didn't have time to help, so he flashed his camera a bunch of times hoping the train would see it and stop.

Well,..my first thought was, "if you had time to flash the camera a few times, you had time to at least try and do something."

I've seen from too close what a train did to a deer that was frozen on the tracks. I think if I saw that happen to a poor person that got pushed in front of a train......idk. I'd either puke or possibly try to kill the guy that did the pushing. (with my bare hands, in a very ugly fashion.)

Be mindful of media sensationalism, Mal. None of us will ever know the truth here.

 

[Mindfrigg]

I think we should differentiate between intelligence and awareness. Not the same yardstick. I feel all kinds of things have awareness, including trees. Intelligence is a level field. Maybe I,m the one not intelligent enough to see their communications.