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Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

nytimes.com

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Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#31

Post by WalterBright »

dylan604 wrote: post #28
bellowsgulch wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I don't like that our culture has developed statements like this. Every single action you make on planet Earth is more consequential and impactful than the countless parsecs of worthless unobtainable space dust that astrophysicists and science promoters like to glaze over. Space is nothing compared to the unfathomab…

You can think they are old and pointless, but that's you just brushing off the fact that the universe is much much older than however old you think these ideas are. The entirety of the human species from its beginning to its eventual ending is merely a blip of time for the universe. You can argue that makes it that much more special, but so what? To the universe, there very well could have been numerous other special…

In the meantime, enjoy your life, and what a wonderful gift you have.

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#32

Post by bogota »

Waterluvian wrote: post #22
owlninja wrote: post #7

I love stories like this. A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I look forward to reading HN with my breakfast each morning then going to a job that helps me raise a family and have fun on the weekends. I read stories of war, corruption, sadistic leaders, and great suffering. I've learned to appreciate the joys of life and have come to terms that we are n…

Just don’t think about all the suffering you or I could ease with the money we spend on a “good time.” We’re not the good guys. We rationalize the inescapable selfishness placed there by ages of evolution.

[dead]

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#33

Post by dylan604 »

Herring wrote: post #27

This is like your typical 2-story US house "eating" a baseball. Completely trivial occurrence, cosmologically speaking, unless you're specifically looking for it.

To me, the fact that we can look at it is what's neat here. People have been theorizing how things work/behave in the universe, and we are finally starting to make observations to test those theories.

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#34

Post by BuyMyBitcoins »

Waterluvian wrote: post #22
owlninja wrote: post #7

I love stories like this. A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I look forward to reading HN with my breakfast each morning then going to a job that helps me raise a family and have fun on the weekends. I read stories of war, corruption, sadistic leaders, and great suffering. I've learned to appreciate the joys of life and have come to terms that we are n…

Just don’t think about all the suffering you or I could ease with the money we spend on a “good time.” We’re not the good guys. We rationalize the inescapable selfishness placed there by ages of evolution.

Some of the proceeds spent on having a good time will go towards reducing misery and suffering elsewhere.

I see no malice in the decision to make peace with the fact that no mere mortal is capable of putting a dent into the level of suffering around the world as a whole.

Living one’s life reasonably and not being a burden is remarkably beneficial to society. At the very least, it’s one less unhappy and broke individual.

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#35

Post by bogota »

blightful wrote: post #11
im3w1l wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a pretty significant chance that ours will be a starfaring civilization and that our children will reshape the very heavens.

Very doubtful when you really dig into what is involved. We probably will never make it out of the solar system. To another star is a pipe dream. We will wreck our planet soon enough and the likely outcome is our species will go extinct. This will probably happen in the next few thousand years or sooner.

[dead]

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#36

Post by WalterBright »

stouset wrote: post #16
im3w1l wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a pretty significant chance that ours will be a starfaring civilization and that our children will reshape the very heavens.

I suppose zero is a pretty significant number. Without new physics that isn’t even remotely visible on the horizon and that utterly contradicts most of what we believe to be true, this isn’t going to happen. Robotic AI probes sent to other star systems to send back telemetry? Sure, fine. Flesh bags sent to self-replicate on terraformed worlds out in the stars? Not a whisper of a microscopic chance.

If you can sent probes to other star systems, you can include with it information of the DNA of life forms and a device to create terran life.

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#37

Post by tartoran »

owlninja wrote: post #7

I love stories like this. A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I look forward to reading HN with my breakfast each morning then going to a job that helps me raise a family and have fun on the weekends. I read stories of war, corruption, sadistic leaders, and great suffering. I've learned to appreciate the joys of life and have come to terms that we are n…

Things can be meaningless on a cosmic timescale and still matter a great deal on a human one. Most of us will never influence the universe, but we'll influence our families, friends, coworkers and even future generations, that's enough...

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#38

Post by gpm »

mproud wrote: post #30

It just happened 1300 of years ago! (Reminds me of an episode of Flight of the Conchords.) But it is really interesting to read.

It happened sometime between whenever we observed it and 2600 years ago. It's equally valid to say that light travels from there to here instantly (but takes twice as long on the outbound trip) or the reverse. Taking the average is just a convention.

Hence why the articles title - which is based on when the light cone of the event reaches us - is actually the better way to think about it. At least there's no "depends how you feel like defining the speed of light today" in it.

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#39

Post by gorgoiler »

owlninja wrote: post #7

I love stories like this. A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I look forward to reading HN with my breakfast each morning then going to a job that helps me raise a family and have fun on the weekends. I read stories of war, corruption, sadistic leaders, and great suffering. I've learned to appreciate the joys of life and have come to terms that we are n…

I will show you fear in a handful of dust

Re: Star Just Ate a Planet, and It's Not Done Yet

#40

Post by altmanaltman »

im3w1l wrote: post #8
owlninja wrote: post #7

I love stories like this. A subtle reminder how inconsequential our actions are on this planet in the grand, unplanned scheme. I look forward to reading HN with my breakfast each morning then going to a job that helps me raise a family and have fun on the weekends. I read stories of war, corruption, sadistic leaders, and great suffering. I've learned to appreciate the joys of life and have come to terms that we are n…

There is a pretty significant chance that ours will be a starfaring civilization and that our children will reshape the very heavens.

Even if you colonize the entire solar system or even the entire galaxy, you will still be insignificant in terms of the universe. Also there is a pretty significant chance we destroy ourselves before any of that happens.
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