From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Sun Jan 20 2002 - 18:15:05 MST
From: "animated silicon love doll" <cheshire@velvet.net>
> but is there any hard scientific evidence that they DON'T exist?
Aside from the fact that it's impossible to prove a negative, the mere
existence of ETI has no shock value. The probability that it exists millions
and millions of light years from Earth has been established mathematically.
But it's contact that counts as disruptive, it's contact that Shermer
mentions, and it's contact that would shock science more than it would shock
religionism, because contact with ETI would disrupt the rigorous reason that
the laws of physical science are based upon. In a nutshell: If ETI is smart
enough to be able to visit Earth, then it's smart enough to initiate a
technological phase transition, which would in turn render it an
extra-terrestrial super-intelligenc (ETSI), thus explaining the absence of
any (human-detectable) contact with it. Religionists could simply equate ETI
to "angels" or "spirits." Scientists, whose rationalism has no recourse to
such inanities, would be at a loss to explain ETI contact (which ain't gonna
happen, so don't worry about it).
--- --- --- --- ---
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment, malevolent AI,
non-sensory experience, SETI
We move into a better future in proportion as the scientific method
accurately identifies incorrect thinking.
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