Posted: 11/24/2006 8:53:28 PM EDT
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What if intelligent life arose on a planet in a distant galaxy. What if after sustaining life for millions of Earth years a species finally became self aware and evolved from simple abstract thinking to higher levels of intelligence. What if that species became masters of their planet and developed technology that let them dominate all the other species. What if they became so advanced they were able to explore their nearby planets and moons. What if they existed for a few million years and discovered the answers to many of lifes questions. And what if after millions of years of development, inquiry and discovery they were destroyed because their planet came to the end of it's capacity to sustain life and their technology, though advanced, was still not sufficient to discover another habitable planet that would sustain them. What if such a species was able to learn nearly all that could be known and was lost because it simply outlived it's habitat. I wonder if this has already occurred. I wonder if it has happened more than once. |
Has been postulated already. 13 billion years IIRC is the estimated age of the universe, theoretically there are stars that have long since died but their light is just now reaching us. Unless we get out of this solar syatem, our existance is a moot point unless there is indeed a Creator and he has other plans.. |
Not to be overly nitpicky, but I would imagine that a species with the level of knowledge you describe would be able to either manufacture suitable habitats to sustain themselves - albeit in limited numbers - or alter themselves genetically (or whatever the analogue would be) to be able to survive in otherwise non-habitable environments. But I understand your basic premise, and it is indeed a compelling thought. |
Knowing and being able to apply knowledge are two different things. I "know" how a plane works. But give me the same materials the Wright Bros. had and I can build you a nifty outhouse. 
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It's possible. And what if the greys are really us from the future, coming back to change a few things here and there? This thread is probably sure to turn sour, but I think it's awfully arrogant of humans to think that we're the only ones floating around "out there." |
Even is a species was able to learn all that I doubt there is anyway they would be able to survive the death throws of a dying star, or any other cosmic disasters. if so then we should have known of them by now.. or maybe it is that we are alone. I mean no radio transmissions, nothing.. There was a theory that quasars are navagation beacons.. Their precise pulsing had been thought too precise to be a random anomally. But wtf do I know.. |
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For some reason...I just thought of this guy....master pontificator... www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuJ3Tjj40P8 Anybody remember this show when it was on TV? |
Sagan rocks. Cosmos is still shown on the Science channel. I have the DVD set. It's a shame he died so young. |
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With the staggering number of possibilities, just in this small Galaxy alone, I do not see how we could be all that there is. The probabilities are just too great. On the same theme, suppose that, out of the millions of reported sightings/encounters/meetings, Etc., that just One is/was true...... If, by some chance it is/was true...Then >The< most significant thing in the history of this world has happened....and we don't even know it...   Tall Shadow 
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I'm confident other intelligent life exists. It's possible we have been observed. I'd just like to know for sure. |
Same here buddy, Same Here!  Tall Shadow
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| Hey,here's my take,It's already happened a few times,however,in a few choice cases,the technology was good enough for a relocation of sorts,right here to earth!!!Hear me out folks,what we call africans,african americans,aborigine's,ect,are the actuall inhabitants of earth(as it is this particular group,groups' of people's that fit rather neatly into the idea of evolution)Thus satisfying the evelution crowd.Now,other groups of people have through the ages shown up here on good old earth,the chinese/orientals,the caucasions/celts/germanics,the mayan/incan/native americans.each choosing an area of the planet least likley to incure the contact of another race/species.Each most likley thought they would re-create the culture of thier home planet when,oooops,where did that fucking rock come from,poof,back to the stone age,all bets are off,here we are.This may have happened several times and not to all of us at the same time,the mere exeptance of extraterrestrial life explains many of the cercomstances found in the bible,koran,kabala,hierogliphs,native american creator myths,ect.And also the great feats of construction by the Egyptians,Mayans,Chinese.The technologies,without freshly educated minds,simply vanished,or was left un useable(Crystal skulls of the maya)......Theory by Wasnme,anyone else want to expand on this??? |
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"It has yet to be proven that intelligence has any survival value." -- Arthur C. Clarke ***** I think intelligent life forms are doomed because they can never overcome their wired-in biological impulses. The biochemistry in their brains dictates how they can think...unless they download their consciousness into computers, in which case they would no longer be what they were. But then they would need a new self-identity of what they now were; biological imperatives wired into our brains give us that, but computer based personalities would not have that to fall back on, and lacking that they would transform themselves again and again until they lost their sense of self. If they advanced far enough but never became computer-based, their wired-in biological imperatives would eventually cause them to destroy themselves through one folly or another. In short, I think they would suicide before they reach the levels of omniscience you propose. ***** "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves" -- Shakespeare |
Frogs are more intelligent than some of the people I've met. I'm sure there is a dumbass to intelligent life ratio where ever they come from. So some maybe intelligent, some probably couldn't fit their Tinkertoys back in the box they came in. That's okay, we need someone to clean the shitters and ask if we what fries with that too.. |