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NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

nasa.gov

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Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#21

Post by mixmax »

phreeza wrote: post #17

Perhaps a good moment to re-read this: Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Nothing: http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf tl;dr: "Because it means life is not incredibly unlikely (after all, it occurred on two planets in our own solar system); ergo what must instead be incredibly unlikely is the ability for life to progress to the point where it can spread across the galaxy (after all, no…

Or a good moment to remember what happens when a less advanced civilization meets a more advanced one.

It never goes well for the less advanced civilization.

Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#22

Post by phreeza »

mixmax wrote: post #21
phreeza wrote: post #17

Perhaps a good moment to re-read this: Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Nothing: http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf tl;dr: "Because it means life is not incredibly unlikely (after all, it occurred on two planets in our own solar system); ergo what must instead be incredibly unlikely is the ability for life to progress to the point where it can spread across the galaxy (after all, no…

Or a good moment to remember what happens when a less advanced civilization meets a more advanced one. It never goes well for the less advanced civilization.

In the words of Iain M. Banks, the kind of problem "most civilisations would encounter just once, and which they tended to encounter rather in the same way a sentence encountered a full stop."

Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#23

Post by nhebb »

I keep seeing stories pop up here that NASA has some upcoming announcement, but I never remember to follow up on the announcement day to find out what the hubbub was about. I'm starting to get annoyed that a government agency thinks it needs to save "the big reveal" for a press conference. Why not just make the announcement?

Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#24

Post by jimbokun »

mixmax wrote: post #21
phreeza wrote: post #17

Perhaps a good moment to re-read this: Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Nothing: http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf tl;dr: "Because it means life is not incredibly unlikely (after all, it occurred on two planets in our own solar system); ergo what must instead be incredibly unlikely is the ability for life to progress to the point where it can spread across the galaxy (after all, no…

Or a good moment to remember what happens when a less advanced civilization meets a more advanced one. It never goes well for the less advanced civilization.

Same goes for a Singularity.

Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#25

Post by patrickaljord »

PostOnce wrote: post #19
phreeza wrote: post #17

Perhaps a good moment to re-read this: Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Nothing: http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf tl;dr: "Because it means life is not incredibly unlikely (after all, it occurred on two planets in our own solar system); ergo what must instead be incredibly unlikely is the ability for life to progress to the point where it can spread across the galaxy (after all, no…

The other theory being that galaxy-spanning life is incredibly common, it's just that we're too immature/uninteresting to bother coming to visit. How often do you stop and try to communicate with the queen of a particular anthill?

The article mentions this theory, it says that if life is incredibly common, it would only take one civilization to be curious and come visit us.

Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#27

Post by mikeknoop »

PostOnce wrote: post #19
phreeza wrote: post #17

Perhaps a good moment to re-read this: Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Nothing: http://www.nickbostrom.com/extraterrestrial.pdf tl;dr: "Because it means life is not incredibly unlikely (after all, it occurred on two planets in our own solar system); ergo what must instead be incredibly unlikely is the ability for life to progress to the point where it can spread across the galaxy (after all, no…

The other theory being that galaxy-spanning life is incredibly common, it's just that we're too immature/uninteresting to bother coming to visit. How often do you stop and try to communicate with the queen of a particular anthill?

But how often are the ants in the presence of another living species?

If the ants were to one day take note of the living creatures around them they would most certainly come to the conclusion that they are not alone.

Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#28

Post by aperiodic »

itistoday wrote: post #18
tejaswiy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An incredibly huge one. If they've found microbal life reasonably close by, then atleast on a personal level, I'd think the possibility of intelligent extraterrestial life can be taken MUCH more seriously. That said, I'd think it'll be much less spectacular, possibly yet another condition added to the pre-requisites required for life.

Considering your existence, that possibility should already be taken seriously. What's interesting though, is that if they actually find evidence for microbial life on another planet far away, then it's mighty likely that said planet already has far more complex life on it (taking into account the time it takes for light to travel through space, we'd be viewing outdated information).

Ever heard of anthropic bias?

The question is not whether it's possible, but whether it's common.

Re: NASA to Hold News Conference on Astrobiology Discovery

#29

Post by rewind »

amichail wrote: post #8

Would the discovery of microbial extraterrestrial life have any significant impact on your life?

Does it matter? Most significant discoveries have little (if any) impact on the average person's life. The importance of many discoveries can take decades to become apparent, and are little-understood when they are discovered. And if that doesn't matter, sometimes just knowing something instead of not knowing it is reason enough to be excited by it.

And if nothing else, it helps to close a gap (well... turn a big one into two smaller ones) for those who like to make leaps of faith between points of understanding instead of looking for answers in the middle.

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