by trace
A disturbing thought?
2012-04-20 08:23 in stuff, Technology by trace
link from part of a talk by Neil Tyson.
I didn’t find it disturbing myself, but perhaps it would be
to some.
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Hey trace, I have to agree with lolita, I like the thought. Its a great mental exercise and a check on our scientific assumptions.
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Amusing, yes…
But it could be just as true as anything else that we think we know about the universe.
After all, at one time, it was presumed by some that the earth was flat, and also that the earth was at the centre of the universe.
We now know different.. but have we got it right this time either? brilliant to ‘hear’ your voice again @tortugo23 )
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@trace I don’t think @lolita meant to belittle the video by say it was amusing. We think its amusing for the very idea that it is almost certainly on the spot… ;-)
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@trace happy to see you around these parts still. I remember that you weren’t sure you belong. I am glad you do! Its a good place to belong.
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Thank you @tortugo23
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I can’t stop pondering this. In-particularly the 1% difference.
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Maybe this difference is not all that big?
I personally dislike human tendency to see themselves as the “crown of creation”. We think we are soo much more smart than all animals because we have ability to think and ponder on abstract concepts. All the same our lives turn around food, sleep and sex- just like all animals. No matter how much meaning we try to add to our activities we still need all these things to survive. I wonder what long lasting beings like stars or planets would think of us if we had a way of communicating with them.
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I think that is exactly the message I get from the video. The difference is only one percent, so that isn’t really much. Yet according to our reasoning and scheme of things, the greatest chimpanzee is as intelligent as a human 3 year old. So, instead of the stars and planets that you suggest, Tyson asks, how much more intelligent would a being that is only 1% more intelligent be compare to our greatest minds?
Our greatest minds would be the equivalent to their 3 year olds. So if by the time these beings were three, they were composing great symphonies, and scientific formula, what are their greatest minds capable of? I couldn’t even know, but it would explain why they wouldn’t care to have much to do with us.
I would imagine that stars and planets are much more than 1% different, and so far beyond or imagination.
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I very much like the idea that the human race are not the most advanced beings in the universe… It feels safer for a start! ;-)
And after all, you gotta be right! Who would want to visit us? all they would see is war, religions that fight one another, the few, that rule not caring about the rest… ad nauseum.. I think they would be much more likely to want to have a word with the chimps and the dolphins!
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