• HardlightCereal@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    > there is a zero chance we’ve made contact with non Earth life

    Yeah! Because heavier than air flight is impossible, and there’s no way aliens could hold enough helium to fly to another planet!

    (Our ideas about what is possible change as our technology advances)

    • imaqtpie@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      People tend to misapply this argument frequently. It is definitely a bit excessive to say there is zero chance, but still.

      It’s less about what is possible, and more about what is likely. Our understanding of physics (and by extension, reality) is extremely advanced. There isn’t much that is going to surprise us going forward. Even relativity and quantum theory didn’t make Newtonian mechanics obsolete, they simply covered the fringe cases.

      I just hate when people imply that we might suddenly learn that we were completely wrong about everything. It’s dismissive of the scientists who have given their lives to bring humanity to this level of understanding the universe.

      • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        I think when people imply we might suddenly learn that we were completely wrong about everything they are actually talking about how fast science seems to evolve these days, at the very least the public’s understanding of science.

        I have coworkers with who i can talk about 3+ dimensions, quantum mechanics, time travel, uap and while none of us are experts in any of those fields it no longer feels like we should be wearing a tinfoil hat simply for being fascinated by such topics because we now understand these are real (nuanced) scientific topics and not “something from the movies”.

        • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Ufology, at least what we saw in Congress recently, is not remotely in the same boat as quantum, higher level dimensions, or time travel in terms of being a real scientific topic.

          The other stuff I’ve all heard discussed seriously by actual non crackpot employed physicists.

          • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
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            1 year ago

            Who’s to say that? The people testifying said themselves they are open minded to these other explanations, they coined the terms higher dimensional and quantum mechanics.

            At this point with what we know a uap can be super Secret human tech. A propaganda lie, Aliens, an, hidden advanced intelligence co existing on our planet. A 4d dimensional something going trough our space, timetravelers,… there is nothing scientific said about their nature or theyd be identifief objects.

            • eestileib@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              I think I must be completely missing what you’re trying to say.

              Quantum mechanics came out of conversations related to Planck’s proposed resolution of the Ultraviolet Catastrophe, the term was not just coined by a crackpot in a Congressional hearing.

      • corq@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        It’s okay to be ‘wrong’ in science within the observable world, much of Newton’s theories were rendered nearly obsolete by Einstein, but Newtonian physics was “good enough” until technology improved, and was “good enough” for most of his generation and later:

        "While general relativity has been more precise, Newtonian gravity is still incredibly accurate and can be used for simpler situations. General relativity uses complex calculus that makes it difficult to compute. But Einstein has opened up the world to more complex physics, like black holes and gravitational waves that continue to develop our understanding of the universe. " https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/educators/programs/cosmictimes/educators/workshops/docs/InquiringIntoNatureUniverse/Newton_Einstein_FactCards.pdf

        Epistemology allows for us to work within the framework of knowledge we currently have until something better is proven to be the case.

      • HardlightCereal@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Well, cutting edge science currently suggests spacetime is an illusion, so I think antireal science might have some interesting places to go as far as FTL travel. But we don’t need FTL travel to talk to new forms of life, because there are sentient nonhuman species on Earth, and they speak English.

    • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      If an alien civilization was developed by the same survival mechanism as on earth, they’d value survival and expansion over things like discovery. So if an alien civilization had gotten to earth, it’d be advanced enough to have strip minded or taraformed the whole planet by now. And why wouldn’t they, since we’d be the intelligence of ants comparatively

      • Lojcs@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Why would they strip mine earth when there are so many other planets around? There’s no point

      • HardlightCereal@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Well I’m a Star Trek fan, and I’m optimistic that maybe the community between the stars is less narrow minded than the people on Earth today

        Maybe climate change is the reason why. It’s a great filter that requires long term thinking and global cooperation to overcome. Maybe all the species similar to modern humanity end up polluting themselves back to the stone age and have to try again.