RE: Certainty about Spiritual Phenomena

From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sat Jul 28 2001 - 21:29:43 MDT


Robert Bradbury writes

> Lee Corbin wrote:
>> I don't believe that any secret technology, alien
>> or future, is here at work on Earth. I believe in
>> all the patterns of human fallibility and delusions
>> chronicled by "The Skeptical Inquirer".
 
> Lee, could you detail a little more about precisely
> *why* you think that is the case?
> Technology below a certain size scale and above a certain
> level of intelligence could certainly evade our explorations
> to date. For that belief to be "robust" it seems to require
> a strong assertion that we are alone in our galaxy and perhaps
> the universe.

The most likely scenario, to me, for the evolution of life
is well described in the book "Rare Earth", by Ward and Brownlee.
The thesis isn't new, and goes back at least to Tipler: we are
alone, and life is rare to the point of uniqueness in the visible
universe.

On the other hand, for ubiquitous technology below a certain
size scale to penetrate the visible universe, yet somehow have
no effect seems very odd to me. But even if that were the case,
and atoms were to the computational entities what galaxies are
to us, it would be a miracle indeed if it so happened that while
not leaving any visible traces, it nonetheless managed to
communicate solely with our mystics and religious people.

Lee



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