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Why haven't extraterrestrials made their presence known?

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Why haven't aliens made themselves known to us en masse?
They actually have but most people refuse to accept it 25%  25%  [ 20 ]
They think we are not ready for it 5%  5%  [ 4 ]
They think we are cruel/violent and don't deserve to know 9%  9%  [ 7 ]
They have a reason not to disclose that is unclear 6%  6%  [ 5 ]
Aliens have never visited Earth silly 56%  56%  [ 45 ]
Total votes : 81

Fnord
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07 Feb 2012, 7:54 pm

shrox wrote:
Oh, I am so glad that people are so thought fully reminding me that 2001 is fiction. I could just look at the moon today and know that...no lights in Tycho crater.

Then there was no point in its inclusion in this thread.



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07 Feb 2012, 8:04 pm

Fnord wrote:
shrox wrote:
Oh, I am so glad that people are so thought fully reminding me that 2001 is fiction. I could just look at the moon today and know that...no lights in Tycho crater.

Then there was no point in its inclusion in this thread.


Metaphorically there was, but metaphor is beyond you by your on admission. Best not to comment on things you don't understand...



simon_says
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07 Feb 2012, 9:35 pm

I got what he was saying.

Does anyone really believe he thought 2001 was real? Really?



Tollorin
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07 Feb 2012, 11:59 pm

Chevand wrote:
The first thing that popped into my head upon reading over this discussion was this:

Image

That's what I was planning to post.


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08 Feb 2012, 3:48 am

visagrunt wrote:
simon_says wrote:
Investments are relative. It took resources to send the Voyager probes, which are just now leaving our solar system. To an ancient culture that was an unimaginable investment in time, wealth and knowledge. But that was just a tiny drop in the bucket to a 20th century economy. As technology advances it's difficult to predict costs for a given activity.

As for destinations. I think it would be unlikely to be a random visit. Just as NASA is looking for Earth like environments it's not difficult to imagine 02 based life looking for places like Earth. They'd see them from far away without having to visit. Assuming they exist.


Of course they are--but the laws of physics and the fundamentals of organic chemistry are not.

Chucking a giant, sophisticated transistor radio out into the solar system and then seeing where it goes is pretty unsophisticated. But sending a craft, capable of sustaining life, on an interstellar journey is a whole different ball of wax.

Even if we accept the proposition that we can develop the ability to create such a craft and maintain as self-sufficient biosphere within it, we still have to get it across interstellar distances and back again within a reasonable timeframe. Special relativity tells us what happens as velocity approaches c, and its consequences are inescapable. There is a technological barrier that is impenitrable, and no amount of wishful thinking and science fiction will make it otherwise.


They don't have to send manned probes. That's hollywood's idea. Doesnt make it the best one. Machines are cheaper and might even be equipped for self-repair on a long journey. They have had plenty of time to see Earth and send them. Many times over. Even going a small % of light speed. I'm not saying they have. But the possibility is very real. They wouldnt even have to bring it back. Just send a message back with data. Like we do.

As for the economy of sending such a probe, well, it's difficult to price in 2012. That's like asking Aristotle to price an IPhone. He's not going to guess it's a week salary for a laborer.



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08 Feb 2012, 4:59 am

simon_says wrote:

As for the economy of sending such a probe, well, it's difficult to price in 2012. That's like asking Aristotle to price an IPhone. He's not going to guess it's a week salary for a laborer.


With current technology it would take an unmanned probe something of the order of 50,000 years to reach our nearest neighbor star system, alpha, beta and proximi centauri. We would not get a signal back for 50,000 + 4 years. Now I ask you: Who is going to be around in 50,000 + 4 years. By that time our civilization would most likely be dead and dust. There would be no one around to make sense of the return telemetry.

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Last edited by ruveyn on 08 Feb 2012, 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

donnie_darko
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08 Feb 2012, 7:04 am

I just had a REALLY creepy extraterrestrial dream/experience. I was in my bed sleeping and saw Grey-like beings, though they were green in colour and seemed very much biological, by my bed. Then I woke up in horror and they were gone. I think I was dreaming but who knows if it was real in some way or not.



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08 Feb 2012, 10:39 am

donnie_darko wrote:
I just had a REALLY creepy extraterrestrial dream/experience. I was in my bed sleeping and saw Grey-like beings, though they were green in colour and seemed very much biological, by my bed. Then I woke up in horror and they were gone. I think I was dreaming but who knows if it was real in some way or not.


You do realized (I hope) that your fantasies have little or nothing to do with facts.

ruveyn



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08 Feb 2012, 10:41 am

donnie_darko wrote:
I just had a REALLY creepy extraterrestrial dream/experience. I was in my bed sleeping and saw Grey-like beings, though they were green in colour and seemed very much biological, by my bed. Then I woke up in horror and they were gone. I think I was dreaming but who knows if it was real in some way or not.

I seriously doubt that there were any real extraterrestrials with you that night. Your lack of evidence supports this doubt.



shrox
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08 Feb 2012, 10:59 am

Fnord wrote:
donnie_darko wrote:
I just had a REALLY creepy extraterrestrial dream/experience. I was in my bed sleeping and saw Grey-like beings, though they were green in colour and seemed very much biological, by my bed. Then I woke up in horror and they were gone. I think I was dreaming but who knows if it was real in some way or not.

I seriously doubt that there were any real extraterrestrials with you that night. Your lack of evidence supports this doubt.


While I doubt it as well, you have not visited the scene, nor made any attempt to acquire any information about the scene. Your assumption is therefore extraneous to the discussion.



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08 Feb 2012, 11:46 am

Fnord wrote:
I seriously doubt that there were any real extraterrestrials with you that night. Your lack of evidence supports this doubt.


I don't disagree with your conclusion, but I will point out that a lack of evidence can never support anything. Correctly stated, the lack of evidence has failed to address your doubt. A semantic difference, to be sure. But what fun is life without trivia?


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shrox
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08 Feb 2012, 11:47 am

visagrunt wrote:
Fnord wrote:
I seriously doubt that there were any real extraterrestrials with you that night. Your lack of evidence supports this doubt.


I don't disagree with your conclusion, but I will point out that a lack of evidence can never support anything. Correctly stated, the lack of evidence has failed to address your doubt. A semantic difference, to be sure. But what fun is life without trivia?


Yah!



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08 Feb 2012, 12:06 pm

ruveyn wrote:
simon_says wrote:

As for the economy of sending such a probe, well, it's difficult to price in 2012. That's like asking Aristotle to price an IPhone. He's not going to guess it's a week salary for a laborer.


With current technology it would take an unmanned probe something of the order of 50,000 years to reach our nearest neighbor star system, alpha, beta and proximi centauri. We would not get a signal back for 50,000 + 4 years. Now I ask you: Who is going to be around in 50,000 + 4 years. By that time our civilization would most likely be dead and dust. There would be no one around to make sense of the return telemetry.

ruveyn


Why would any potential aliens use our technology from 2012? That would be a very strange coincidence. Most people understand that I was speculating about advanced technology, not today's technology. Moving at some % of lightspeed does not break the laws of physics. If they can get a probe to 0.2 or 0.5 of lightspeed, 1000s of stars are suddenly within a 100 year trip. If they were willing to wait longer, anywhere in the galaxy with a clear line of sight has been able to see Earth's oxygen for 2 billion years. The furthest edge is only 70,000 light years away.

It's entirely plausible. What passes for conventional wisdom is sh*t. As usual.



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08 Feb 2012, 12:13 pm

simon_says wrote:
Why would any potential aliens use our technology from 2012? That would be a very strange coincidence...


Now I saw in a movie where you could upload a virus right into an alien computer. The virus even had cool graphics...and the movie was popular and had that guy that played Data on Star Trek, so there is two examples.

Yeah, right.



b9
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08 Feb 2012, 12:25 pm

shrox wrote:
simon_says wrote:
Why would any potential aliens use our technology from 2012? That would be a very strange coincidence...


Now I saw in a movie where you could upload a virus right into an alien computer. The virus even had cool graphics...and the movie was popular and had that guy that played Data on Star Trek, so there is two examples.

Yeah, right.


you said elsewhere that you had an iq of 210. was i subjected to a ruse? you never disclaimed it, and everything i read that you post makes me think that you were hoodwinking me. i believed you.



shrox
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08 Feb 2012, 12:30 pm

b9 wrote:
shrox wrote:
simon_says wrote:
Why would any potential aliens use our technology from 2012? That would be a very strange coincidence...


Now I saw in a movie where you could upload a virus right into an alien computer. The virus even had cool graphics...and the movie was popular and had that guy that played Data on Star Trek, so there is two examples.

Yeah, right.


you said elsewhere that you had an iq of 210. was i subjected to a ruse? you never disclaimed it, and everything i read that you post makes me think that you were hoodwinking me. i believed you.


Now you've been double-hoodwinked!

What are the chances of the alien craft in "ID4" having the same video driver even?