ANN and OT: Calling All SETI Enthusiasts

[Mick Collins]

Sounds like a failure of imagination, Bob.  You said, "Orville was probably talking about people who were saying at the time that it was impossible for humans to take flight."  Maybe he wasn't.  But let's say he was.  Just because he WASN'T applying it beyond his immediate situation doesn't mean NO ONE CAN apply it to their more up-to-date situation or (gasp) even apply it beyond his/her/our own situation. I am reminded of how many times (7.3) physicists or other scientists on the cutting edge have said that we are only this ( ) far from a full grasp of the universe(s) (we don't need to worry about those little flaws in our theory, a little housekeeping will take care of them) only to have a significant change happen a few years later, brought about by those pesky flaws.  I don't think we have a very good idea of whether our spectrum of knowledge occupies 99% of full knowledge (whatever that means) or 1% or a 10,000th of a percent or asymptotically 0.  I personally lean toward the latter end (well, bully for me).  Here are another couple of quotations, both by Arthur C. Clarke that whittle my tilly.
   -  Mick (my name, not a quotation)

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. 

I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life. It's just been too intelligent to come here.





Message: 9
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:42:02 -0700
From: Bob Sneidar <bobs at twft.com>
To: How to use LiveCode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com>
Subject: Re: ANN and OT: Calling All SETI Enthusiasts
Message-ID: <DFD226EE-ADE4-4F9B-9FD7-407B2EE780C4 at twftcom>
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Orville was probably talking about people who were saying at the time that it was impossible for humans to take flight. That is not a statement about what is true, it is a statement about what is possible. It's sobering to think someone so smart as Orville Wright could get the two confused. Is it theoretically possible to travel to another planet? Sure! Is it practically possible? Not a chance. The difference between what is true and what is possible. 

Again, it is a matter of logistics. To experiment and build a craft that can float on air here on terra firma is one thing. To build a craft that can travel to another planet we cannot see and study from here over the vast period of time it would take to get there, not to mention the time dilation that would occur, in one lifetime, and be able to communicate back to say we succeeded, while the people who sent us are still alive, well, that is quite another. I can empty my pool with a garden hose, but I'd be a fool to try to empty lake Erie. I can write a program to keep track of my computer assets. I cannot make a computer to calculate the answer to life, the Universe, Everything! :-)
Bob


On Mar 27, 2012, at 4:38 AM, Mick Collins wrote:

> Talking about presumptuous, Bob, well here's a good quotation to keep in mind.
> 
> If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true is really true, there would be little hope of advance. -- Orville Wright
> 
> 
>