Hawking: Aliens may pose risks to Earth

[SmokeyD]

Whatever this man says, I will believe. I wrenched and struggled my way way through three years of astrophysics and quantum theory, but the one thing I remember is that if S. Hawking says it... IT IS TRUE...

Mankind will not be brought down by machines, and we won't lose to 10 foot high blue (3 meter) aliens... it will be the little things that get us...

Think of "Attack of the Tribbles"...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36769422/?GT1=43001

[Nick]

Stephen Hawking is a smart guy and all, but it sounds to me from those quotes that he's seen one too many alien invasion movies.

[Sym]

I think he is right. Who is what makes us believe that the human race is superior? We are not even able to get along with us. The universe and large, impossible to "be alone." The others would do to us, only what we have done for centuries others.

[Heiots]

Mankind will be brought down by mankind.

[SmokeyD]

Mankind will be brought down by mankind.

Always the optimist...

I guess I look at it more as the 1%,1%,1%,1%,1%,1% notion. (And, no, not my theory, but I like it)

Current estimates put the number of stars in the Universe at roughly 1.00E+24, or: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = (1 Septillion) Stars in the universe... (As per the European Space Agency)

and if 1% of those stars have planets: (Which, BTW we are already finding that 1% is probably low!!! There are some agencys that think this could be as high as 5%)

.01 X 1.00E+24 = 1.00E+22 or:

10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (10 Sextillion)

And then of the stars, that have planets... 1% of them have planets capable of supporting (any) life...

.01 X 1.00E+22 = 1.00E+20 or:

100,000,000,000,000,000,000 (100 Quintillion)

Now of those 1.00E+20 stars that capable of supporting life, if 1% of them actually have some type of life (even simple):

.01 X 1.00E+20 = 1.00E+18 or:

1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1 Quintillion)

Now, of the 1.00E+18 that have "life", if you carry the 1% to the idea of a star having life that could be dangerous or hazardous to us... (This is the level that Hawking is refering to)

.01 X 1.00E+18 = 1.00E+16 or:

10,000,000,000,000,000 (10 Quadrillion)

And, upon that, if 1% would have "Intelligent" life, either as well, or the life itself is both intelligent, and dangerous...

.01 X 1.00E+16 = 1.00E+14 or:

100,000,000,000,000

And that's 100 Trillion folks!!!!

And, one more for you, if you would (And this is also extremely generous to us)... put us at the 99% percentile of intellegence or development, there would be 1% smarter, and/or more advanced than us...

So, .01 X 1.00E+14 = 1.00E+12

Or

1,000,000,000,000 = 1 Billion stars, that have dangerous life, more intelligent and/or more advanced than us...

Pardon me while I get my tin foil hat, and go hide under the bed!!!!

[Heiots]

Mankind will be brought down by mankind.

Always the optimist...

You know it! Besides, us puny humans are so boring. Who'd be interested in us? That's a big 'if' there for me. I'm sure there're things out there in space that we haven't noticed yet though.

I'm awful at Math.

[SmokeyD]

Mankind will be brought down by mankind.

Always the optimist...

You know it! Besides, us puny humans are so boring. Who'd be interested in us? That's a big 'if' there for me. I'm sure there're things out there in space that we haven't noticed yet though.

I'm awful at Math.

So am I, I first heard the theory in college, and then again in 'Contact' (Jodi Foster). I think that sometimes people don't realize how vast our universe is. We can get pretty tunnel visioned into thinking/suspecting our own brand of centerism. It wouldn't have to be a matter of how interesting we are, it could be more of a matter that 'we' (or at least this planet) has something 'they' want...

But, and the end of the day, you can go the 'tin foil hat' route, and worry about everything. Which is no good either.

Heck, anyone could die tomorrow when they cross the street to get the paper.

In the end, you chances are 50/50... so are everybody elses...

[Heiots]

Has V got something to do with this interest of yours? But I totally agree with your statement on humans getting 'tunnel-visioned into thinking our own brand of centerism'.

Anyway, my dad likes reading stuff on aliens and UFOs as well. He likes to check the skies for chem trails and always gets me to notice them. It's all really interesting but I think it's more likely we'll die of natural causes then alien attacks at this point of time.

ETA: Have you seen YT videos of the universe? It's beautiful.

[SmokeyD]

Has V got something to do with this interest of yours? But I totally agree with your statement on humans getting 'tunnel-visioned into thinking our own brand of centerism'.

Anyway, my dad likes reading stuff on aliens and UFOs as well. He likes to check the skies for chem trails and always gets me to notice them. It's all really interesting but I think it's more likely we'll die of natural causes then alien attacks at this point of time.

Actually its the inverse, where my interest in this is probably why I like "V". (Let me guess... Dad's a George Noory fan?!?!)...

I have always had an interest, probably since seeing Close Encounters of the Third Kind as a kid, and yes, I did get a few nightmares from it (I was in third grade when it came out). But as an adult, I have never subscribed to conspiracy, or sublimated plots.

I have listened to Coast to Coast AM, but not seriously though. It goes back to my other statement, that people are thinking to small.

My best friend is a deeply religious person, and he thinks my perspective is completely wrong. In his opinion, God only created the earth, and man... and he believes that there is nothing, and no one else out there. Where my point comes is that I think God is bigger, and created a universe full of life, and that man is not unique.

This really **** him off good...

And, your dad is right about how will will probably die. Even with the 'big' numbers, our chances are still 1%, of 1%, of 1%, of 1%...etc...

As it was said in 'Contact', "[para] If we're the only ones out there, it seems like an awful waste of space!!!"

[Heiots]

I doubt my dad knows who George is, but then again, I've never asked him. I'll give him a Google.

I think humans will never understand how vast it is out there. It's just beyond our comprehension, imo. As much as we like to think we're intelligent and oh-so-awesome, we're not God-like, to be honest. There's a limit to how much we can think and do.

Deeply religious as in? If he's Christian, the Bible never said God created only Man. My dad's a Pastor (I hope that doesn't freak anyone here) and he believes there're UFOs out there in space.

[SmokeyD]

Some of Hawkings other (earlier) writings had been critical of 'God'. And, my friend of faith sees the later. Where both Hawking & my friend see the two beliefs as exclusive. Where if you believe in science, you cannot believe in god, and if you beleive in god, you must discount the science.

Where, and this also really **** my friend off as well, see it more as you have to expand your belief in god to include the science. Where understanding the science is actually realizing how large God can be. Where God created the science to do his work. The part that upsets him is when I tell him that he sees God as too small, and that he should see him as something much bigger...

I believe in the science, and I made a living with it for many years. But when you try to tell me about ideas such as "The Big Bang", where something essentially comes from nothing... even I have to say

If you have never seen the movie 'Contact', I would recommend it. It really gets into the idea where people see things exaclty this way. It does a nice job of framing the arguement...

[Heiots]

He sounds like an interesting person to have discussions with. I'd like to know what exactly is his stand on this universe/aliens issue and ask him why he believes that too.

Ah, so you don't believe in 'The Big Bang'. I almost expected you to! Most believers in science around me do. There are some scientific theories that contradict my beliefs so I can understand why they don't think one can believe in both science and faith.

I'll check out the movie. Is it an old one?

[SmokeyD]

He sounds like an interesting person to have discussions with. I'd like to know what exactly is his stand on this universe/aliens issue and ask him why he believes that too.

Ah, so you don't believe in 'The Big Bang'. I almost expected you to! Most believers in science around me do. There are some scientific theories that contradict my beliefs so I can understand why they don't think one can believe in both science and faith.

I'll check out the movie. Is it an old one?

Yeah, he's a trip. We sit around an open fire, he drinks whiskey, I drink beer... and we argue about the nature of everything...

He's a good dude...

I actually believe in "The Big Bang", but I think the idea of something from nothing (or something infinately small little point) needs to have a spiritual aspect. Bascially, god created the Big Bang...

'Contact' - Jodi Foster, Mathew McConaughey, 1997. I don't think there's a Blue-Ray, but it is on DVD. It's not a shoot-em-up, aliens blow up national monuments thing... it's more on an intelectual level about understanding people perspectives... Some didn't like it, but I still highly recommend it...

[Heiots]

Great. If I ever join you guys in the discussion, I'll drink water.

I actually believe in "The Big Bang", but I think the idea of something from nothing (or something infinately small little point) needs to have a spiritual aspect. Bascially, god created the Big Bang...

Very interesting! I never thought about it that way. I'll ask my dad about it.

Will def check out Contact. In the meantime, what do you know about black holes?

[SmokeyD]

Great. If I ever join you guys in the discussion, I'll drink water.

I actually believe in "The Big Bang", but I think the idea of something from nothing (or something infinately small little point) needs to have a spiritual aspect. Bascially, god created the Big Bang...

Very interesting! I never thought about it that way. I'll ask my dad about it.

Will def check out Contact. In the meantime, what do you know about black holes?

I could start another thread on Black Holes, and the funny part is they are as big a contraversy in the scientific community as this topic is...