ForumsThe TavernOur Insignificance

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thepossum
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thepossum
3,035 posts
Nomad

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEheh1BH34Q&feature=player_embedded]Here ya go.[/url]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Star-sizes.jpg

See that there video? See how amazingly small we are, in the larger scheme of things? We are such an insignificant speck in the universe, don't you think? We don't deserve to think highly of ourselves. We're nothing.

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samy
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samy
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Nomad

Given the number of universes which have had billions of years longer than ours to form and evolve, it really is not a huge stretch of the imagination to think of a world which has evolved life far more complex and intelligent than anything we could ever conceive.


And much like our relationship to the beetle both species will go on unconcerned and very much the same. I'm as curious as anyone about this but I don't think it's of the utmost importance if something out there is smarter than us.

That and there's always a chance there are beings very similar to ourselves perhaps discussing the very same thing on computer like devices.
thepossum
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thepossum
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Nomad

And much like our relationship to the beetle both species will go on unconcerned and very much the same. I'm as curious as anyone about this but I don't think it's of the utmost importance if something out there is smarter than us


Unless they think we're too stupid to live. Unlike beetles, we don't contribute all that much to the ecosystem, so there's no reason NOT to kill us off.
acepilot0
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acepilot0
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Nomad

For some strange reason, I just want to laugh out loud reading these lines of text. Our insignificance? To demean what we have accomplished, and seeing as how our accomplishments are only going to come more rapidly with technology as it is, there will be some significant impact we have on the universe. Whether this is going to be a negative or positive impact, something that will be learned from in future intelligent species will be passed on.

True, we could be considered primitive in other lifeforms eyes, but those lifeforms have yet to reveal themselves. As far as we know, we are alone in the universe, there is no other sentient life out there that has replied to our contacts, or has tried to contact us in the open. It is easy to say what if, but we will never know until it happens.

delossantosj
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delossantosj
6,672 posts
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i just think over thinking stuff is over rated. eat, sleep, drink, party, longboard, love, money. thats all i need in life

thepossum
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thepossum
3,035 posts
Nomad

What accomplishments, exactly?

samy
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samy
4,871 posts
Nomad

Unless they think we're too stupid to live. Unlike beetles, we don't contribute all that much to the ecosystem, so there's no reason NOT to kill us off.


What? Heck we've got a monopoly on the ecosystem, this isn't Pandora the Earth can't mass together and fight back with crappy plots.

so there's no reason NOT to kill us off.


They could learn from us, even if we aren't more intelligent who's to say we aren't more creative? That they wouldn't find our art and writings to be beautiful. Although slightly off topic I'm reminded of a quote by Steinbeck.

Well, why do you think they do it?"
"I think they're praying," said Doc.
"What!" Hazel was shocked.
"The remarkable thing," said Doc, "isn't that they put their tails up in the air--the really incredibly remarkable thing is that we find it remarkable. We can only use ourselves as yardsticks. If we did something as inexplicable and strange we'd probably be praying--so maybe they're praying."
"Let's get the hell out of here," said Hazel."
â" John Steinbeck (Cannery Row)
acepilot0
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acepilot0
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Nomad

In just the past 100 years, we have made the atom bomb, designed nuclear power, revolutionized the automobile, have made leaps and bounds in flight, ventured into space flight, have made many discoveries in medicine and lengthened the average life of a human being, made the computer and it continually becomes faster and smaller, and many more discoveries. What will another 100 years hold? You can't sell our civilization short, just because someone else MIGHT be more advanced than us.

crazenird
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crazenird
329 posts
Nomad

What will another 100 years hold?


I think it will hold its breath 0.o

nah i dont think we can get any better :P surprisingly someone sed that in 1860 0.o
GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
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nah i dont think we can get any better :P surprisingly someone sed that in 1860

You're saying we can't get better? When since 1860 we have gotten far better. That does not make any sense to me.

How are we insignificant? Our planet is the only one that can sustain life. According to scientist.
Compared to size of other planets, we are pretty insignificant.
Einfach
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Einfach
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Funny, when I see this, my reaction is more optimistic because I see that there is so much to discover in the future.

Darkroot
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Darkroot
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Peasant

Funny, when I see this, my reaction is more optimistic because I see that there is so much to discover in the future.


Yet even with our races lifetime we will still know almost nothing.
Freakenstein
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Freakenstein
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Yet even with our races lifetime we will still know almost nothing.


This is why we have history and why we should respect and learn history :P

What accomplishments, exactly?


Seriously, saying that means that the 20,000 years of our legacy as human beings have been for naught and our future advances in life are folly. We are members of an intelligent conglomerate of races whose sole purpose in life is to understand everything. It may be a race or a competition, but since we have the capabilities to know much more than our Earth buddies, it's up to us to compound our findings with what will be found later. Our world may be small, but that doesn't mean we are.
Darkroot
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Darkroot
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Peasant

This is why we have history and why we should respect and learn history :P


Pretty useless when the entire human race dies out and then everything is erased of our existence.
crazenird
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crazenird
329 posts
Nomad

Seriously, saying that means that the 20,000 years of our legacy as human beings have been for naught and our future advances in life are folly. We are members of an intelligent conglomerate of races whose sole purpose in life is to understand everything. It may be a race or a competition, but since we have the capabilities to know much more than our Earth buddies, it's up to us to compound our findings with what will be found later. Our world may be small, but that doesn't mean we are


Word.......
Reton8
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Reton8
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King

I know I'm just replying to the OP, but size doesn't matter. Just cause are planet is small doesn't mean it's insignificant. molecules and atoms are small (and quarks and baryons are even smaller) but everything is made out of them. I would say that those small particle (and subatomic particles) are very significant and they are very small .

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