A post that will annoy my brother if he reads it
So I was reading this thread at MeFi. And I am so weirded out by the sentimental ideas people have about the possibility of intelligent space-faring life elsewhere in the universe. It really strikes me as an atheist's form of religious hope, a yearning for the transcendental when no proof of its existence is in evidence. And I'm totally cool with that, if it can admit to what it is. But everyone wants to pretend the blithe assumption that there is alien life in the universe that wants to talk to us is real science.
Don't get me wrong. I love sci-fi and see great value in it, but I do think it's fiction. Sci-fi stories are thought experiments and metaphors, to me. They are as useful to me at literally describing possible future realities as fantasy novels-- that is to say, not at all.
It would be amazing to be proven wrong, and I will happily change my position when I am given reason to, but if we're going to pretend that we care about the scientific method, well... extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Frankly, if alien life does exist, this comment pretty much sums up my thoughts about their motives.
The moving of goalposts is annoying. Of course there is life in the universe. I'll grant you intelligent life, too; it's not all that unlikely, given the size of the universe. But octopuses are intelligent. Dolphins are intelligent. They aren't good enough; we eat them. So then, life just like us, but better? Smarter? More resource-rich? Both capable of and interested in sowing its seeds throughout the universe?
It's a fantasy, in the truest sense of the word. We wish we could do those things. And we're the best and smartest critters in town. So clearly, any alien intelligence with the means would do what we would want to do, and share their knowledge with us. Right?
Don't get me wrong. I love sci-fi and see great value in it, but I do think it's fiction. Sci-fi stories are thought experiments and metaphors, to me. They are as useful to me at literally describing possible future realities as fantasy novels-- that is to say, not at all.
It would be amazing to be proven wrong, and I will happily change my position when I am given reason to, but if we're going to pretend that we care about the scientific method, well... extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Frankly, if alien life does exist, this comment pretty much sums up my thoughts about their motives.
The moving of goalposts is annoying. Of course there is life in the universe. I'll grant you intelligent life, too; it's not all that unlikely, given the size of the universe. But octopuses are intelligent. Dolphins are intelligent. They aren't good enough; we eat them. So then, life just like us, but better? Smarter? More resource-rich? Both capable of and interested in sowing its seeds throughout the universe?
It's a fantasy, in the truest sense of the word. We wish we could do those things. And we're the best and smartest critters in town. So clearly, any alien intelligence with the means would do what we would want to do, and share their knowledge with us. Right?