Fermi paradox

[Seattleite]

Funny, there doesn't seem to be many ad hominem attacks. Are you familiar with what that phrase actually means, or are you just using latin to make yourself sound smarter? Okay, see, now THAT was an ad hominem attack. And there's been a few, yes, but they're hardly the only thing here and I don't think they're even the majority.

 

And finally, don't tell me to calm down. I'm not going to say I'm calm, but there's no anger. I'm having FUN. The smile has not left my face since we started. I find this entire thing very amusing, funny even. And I'm not going to stop just because some guy who doesn't see the comedic value of a good argument with a good idiot like BTG tells me to stop.

[Vapymid]

I'm having FUN

 

That's fine. Just make sure that your having fun is not at the expense of the others.

 

there's no anger.

 

Very well. Anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering. A path to the dark side it is.

 

Regards

[Seattleite]

I don't care if my fun is at the expense of an idiot. Idiots deserve it, and it's even good for them because them being confronted about their stupidity can lead to them realising "Oh, wait. I'm full of shit!" and changing their stance of a topic. And BTG is an idiot. Oh my, is he ever.

[Vapymid]

You have Tourette's?

 

Regards

[Seattleite]

And here, we have a REAL ad-hominem attack, made with no argument at all. I do believe that means I win. The only question is what I've won.

[Vapymid]

Not an attack. A compassionate enquiry.

 

Regards

[Seattleite]

Playing semantics is not going to fool me or anyone else. Your attack was too thinly veiled to claim it was anything else now. I know exactly what you are doing, trying to discredit my statements by making a false association between me and a condition associated with mindless outbursts and poor self-control. You are a liar, and a fool. If insults are the best you have then you should withdraw, because no insult is going to work on me.

[Vapymid]

Edited July 22, 2014 by Guest (see edit history)

[Seattleite]

You've got nothing, and you're wasting your time. If you had anything better than insults you would have used it by now, so why don't you just clear on out and save face?

[Vapymid]

you're wasting your time.

 

I'm glad we have finally agreed on something.

 

Regards

[Seattleite]

Can we get back on topic? Because we haven't been even REMOTELY on-topic since that smug prick came back.

[BTGBullseye]

Are you talking about yourself again?

 

Yes, on topic.

 

It could be that there actually is nothing out there... I highly doubt it, but it is a possibility. Or it could be that everyone else out there as at the exact same technological level as we are.

[ThePest179]

It could be that there actually is nothing out there... I highly doubt it.

 

That's probably the most out of person thing I've ever heard you say, I would've thought you would deny the possibility of intelligent life based on some half assed bible thumping reason. But no, you surprised me.

[Seattleite]

It could be that there actually is nothing out there... I highly doubt it, but it is a possibility. Or it could be that everyone else out there as at the exact same technological level as we are.

 

If I were to guess about technology, I'd say there's a limit on how advanced any ONE species can make its technology, since there are limitations to each. (Although it's possible multi-species conglomerates could advance further than any individual species could, as their weaknesses would be in different areas.) So as a result, the "apes and angels" thing is likely nonsense. They're likely still WAY more advanced, but that's probably because they'd be at or near their technological limits. That's also why associating with other species, even more primitive ones, would be desirable as it's the only way a species at its limit could advance.

 

Why yes, I am a sci-fi author. Thanks for noticing.

[BTGBullseye]

That's probably the most out of person thing I've ever heard you say, I would've thought you would deny the possibility of intelligent life based on some half assed bible thumping reason. But no, you surprised me.

And yet for the past several hundred years the Catholic church has been looking for other life in the universe. There is absolutely nothing in the bible that says there isn't be life on other planets.

 

If I were to guess about technology, I'd say there's a limit on how advanced any ONE species can make its technology, since there are limitations to each. (Although it's possible multi-species conglomerates could advance further than any individual species could, as their weaknesses would be in different areas.) So as a result, the "apes and angels" thing is likely nonsense. They're likely still WAY more advanced, but that's probably because they'd be at or near their technological limits. That's also why associating with other species, even more primitive ones, would be desirable as it's the only way a species at its limit could advance.

 

Very possible, but I personally think that there will always be more tech levels to research. Right now the limiting factor is government and financing, sometimes time, but I doubt that even light-speed can withstand our progress barring xk-class end-of-the-world scenarios.

[ThePest179]

Right now the limiting factor is government and financing, sometimes time, but I doubt that even light-speed can withstand our progress barring xk-class end-of-the-world scenarios.

 

A more appropriate end of the world scenario is an IK class.

 

On a more serious note, what part about the government is blocking the search for extraterrestrials? I can understand funding, as SETI and NASA have practically been drained of funds to feed the War on Terror.

[Seattleite]

That's probably the most out of person thing I've ever heard you say, I would've thought you would deny the possibility of intelligent life based on some half assed bible thumping reason. But no, you surprised me.

And yet for the past several hundred years the Catholic church has been looking for other life in the universe. There is absolutely nothing in the bible that says there isn't be life on other planets.

 

For the record, I never thought that.

 

If I were to guess about technology, I'd say there's a limit on how advanced any ONE species can make its technology, since there are limitations to each. (Although it's possible multi-species conglomerates could advance further than any individual species could, as their weaknesses would be in different areas.) So as a result, the "apes and angels" thing is likely nonsense. They're likely still WAY more advanced, but that's probably because they'd be at or near their technological limits. That's also why associating with other species, even more primitive ones, would be desirable as it's the only way a species at its limit could advance.

 

Very possible, but I personally think that there will always be more tech levels to research. Right now the limiting factor is government and financing, sometimes time, but I doubt that even light-speed can withstand our progress barring xk-class end-of-the-world scenarios.

 

The issue is eventually we'll peak. We'll hit a point where we just can't advance any further on our own. There are limits to the human brain, and while we're supplementing the brain's capabilities a lot with things like computers there's only so much they can add as well. Eventually, we WILL peak. The advance of technology WILL slow down eventually and keep slowing to a stop some time later. And it's likely any other species will be the same way, although their limits and ours are likely not the same and we may find that working together we can each achieve more as our weaknesses and strengths are in different areas. I strongly believe this, and I've used it as a core rule in BOTH of the major universes I've created, so I'm going to stick to it.

 

As for the speed of light: We can't pass it. It's not possible. The best we can do is cheat a bit, and create the effect of a higher velocity without actually moving any faster. For example, compressing a tiny amount of space in front of our ship by a huge amount as we reach it so that technically our trip is shorter, although it creates the same effect as moving faster in most practical respects. For instance, if the millimetre in front of our ship is compressed into a micron, the ship is travelling only 0.1% of the distance and is thus effectively 1000 times as fast. If we make it a nanometre instead, it's effectively 1,000,000 times as fast. And so on. It's not moving any faster, it carries the same kinetic energy, but we're getting places faster anyway due to the shorter trip.

[BTGBullseye]

In other words, warp drive... (it's what I was implying) Still, the effect is traveling faster than light between point A and point B. (hence "faster than light")

[Seattleite]

Yes, well, with you it's hard to tell. And there are a LOT of people who don't understand how absolute the speed of light actually is and think things can actually just physically exceed it.

[Vapymid]

The issue is eventually we'll peak. We'll hit a point where we just can't advance any further on our own.

 

There is an alternative idea of technological singularity where we will switch to a trans-human phase once the capability of the AI we can build exceeded that of the bio-humans. The trans-human technological advancement will then go along a much steeper exponent until it reaches some asymptotic limit and then continue indefinitely at that rate (or until our paths cross with another race).

 

In other words, warp drive...

 

Aka Alcubierre drive now. I sure hope either this or some wormhole drive can be achieved as it appears to be the only way to get anywhere faster than light.

 

It all requires things like exotic matter, negative energy density, negative mass etc. though, which at this point are as realistic as unicorns...

 

Hopefully, they will fire up the LHC at full power soon and, just maybe, some practical ideas would come out of their results.

 

Regards