Are we alone?

[Rick336]

From CNN news:

"This is a historical mission. It's not just a science mission," NASA Associate Administrator Ed Weiler said during a prelaunch news conference.

"It really attacks some very basic human questions that have been part of our genetic code since that first man or woman looked up in the sky and asked the question: Are we alone?"

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/0...rss_topstories


Rick

[Daniel]

But how is anyone out there going to get here? Or us there? Make no sense to me. Vast distances to deal with.....and even at light speed....

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Daniel

But how is anyone out there going to get here? Or us there? Make no sense to me.

Me neither. But, we're in the early 21st century after all. Who knows what the future will bring?

If somebody during George Washington's day said that someday we'd be able to communicate to anyone anywhere in the United States through a little device we carry around in our pockets....they'd probably say....."How would we do that? It makes no sense."

Rick

[BruceChris]

Stars out there, give or take a factor of 100. This Kepler project will probably show that most of them have planets. Of course, the speed of light will probably prevent us from bumping into any aliens that may be out there.

If all of recorded history is say 14,000 years, and the universe is 14,000,000,000 years old, then our history is about one one-millionth of the age of the universe. So alien life may have evolved to god-like inteligence, or it may be pond scum, depending on whether they're ahead of or behind us.

It ain't gonna be like Star Trek, where they're neck in neck with us.

."How would we do that? It makes no sense."

Warp Drive?

BC

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Daniel

But how is anyone out there going to get here? Or us there? Make no sense to me. Vast distances to deal with.....and even at light speed....

Originally Posted by Rick336

Me neither. But, we're in the early 21st century after all. Who knows what the future will bring?

If somebody during George Washington's day said that someday we'd be able to communicate to anyone anywhere in the United States through a little device we carry around in our pockets....they'd probably say....."How would we do that? It makes no sense."

Rick

What about worm holes?

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

What about worm holes?

That's one way we could do it, if we only knew how. Also, with a worm hole, in the future people may be able to travel through time. If somebody in the future invents a worm hold device, they could travel back to 2009 and tell us how they did it.

But have they done that yet? Nooooooo.....of course not! I guess they're just sooooo busy flying around in their space cars and having hot sex with their robots to give us people back here in 2009 a second thought.

Future people are so self-absorbed. Screw 'em.

Rick

[BruceChris]

Future people are so self-absorbed.

Kinda like Sponge Bob?

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by Rick336

That's one way we could do it, if we only knew how. Also, with a worm hole, in the future people may be able to travel through time. If somebody in the future invents a worm hold device, they could travel back to 2009 and tell us how they did it.

But have they done that yet? Nooooooo.....of course not! I guess they're just sooooo busy flying around in their space cars and having hot sex with their robots to give us people back here in 2009 a second thought.

Future people are so self-absorbed. Screw 'em.

Rick

It's the Temporal Prime directive. If they told us... they'd have to kill us ... then if we were their grandfather ... they'd be screwed.

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

What about worm holes?

Thing is, they are a theory at present. And the only ones that are posited to exist are inside neutron stars. You know.....the kind that suck light and matter into them.

Love the thought of it though.

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by u-dog

It's the Temporal Prime directive. If they told us... they'd have to kill us ... then if we were their grandfather ... they'd be screwed.

Rick

[BrianB]

Originally Posted by Daniel

Thing is, they are a theory at present. And the only ones that are posited to exist are inside neutron stars. You know.....the kind that suck light and matter into them.

Love the thought of it though.

Stephen Hawking and Kip Thorne have a wager going about the existence of worm holes. They were both on a NOVA episode about science fiction becoming science fact. Professor Hawking doesn't believe stable wormholes are possible. Dr. Thorne believes that they may exist. I think the stakes of the wager is loser buys the winner dinner.

[Rick336]

I've asked this question on other forums and I've never gotten a response. Apparently people think the question is too silly to respond to. Or maybe they just don't have an answer. I don't believe the question is silly. I think it's a perfectly legitimate, rational question that I think will eventually come up in the future of space exploration.

Here goes:

If in the future if we finally discover other earth-like planets with atmospheres like ours that supports some kind of intelligent life, not necessarily like humans, but living, thinking, beings with abstract thoughts - how does the belief in Jesus play into this equation?

If the only way to heaven is through Jesus, how would these intelligent beings get to heaven? Would each planet have their own Jesus? Would that Jesus be an alien Jesus? Could there be millions of Jesuses throughout the universe, one for each life giving planet?

And, would these foreign intelligent beings (aliens) have their own heaven or would we all share the same heaven? Would heaven have thousands of different intelligent life forms and look like that bar in Star Wars?

I'm not trying to be funny here. I know these questions sound a little like something a six-year-old might ask his Momma. But I just want your thoughts on this. Eventually, in the future, these questions are going to come up more often in discussions about space.

How will religion deal with future discoveries in space exploration?

Rick

[u-dog]

Rick,

In addition to being a Christian, I am also a Scifi fan so I have thought about this some.

Thing One: God is God no matter where you live or how many arms you have. God's fundamental nature or essence would be the same and if God has revealed Godself to intelligent, self-aware, story-telling creatures on other planets, that which God has revealed will be essentially the same as what is revealled to Earthlings in Jesus of Nazareth.

Thing Two: Christianity is pretty clear that in order for a savior to be helpful to human beings, that savior needs to BE a human being. Presumably, a savior that's helpful to the Vortons would need to be a Vorton.

Thing Three: Christianity is pretty clear that the big problem that requires intervention is our seeming inability not to sin and thereby offend the justice of God. So the Vorton's need for a savior would depend on whether they share that inability (and so require a savior) or if they don't (in which case, they would not.)

I personally think that Heaven is something that human beings can't even begin to imagine. We will all be surprised by who and what we encounter there. I am totally attracted by the notion that unimaginably alien minds and spirits will be there and that we will join our very different voices in praise of the creator of this amazing universe (multiverse?) I sort of like the image of the Bar on Tatoinne also.... hmmmm.... no murders or fist fights I think... certainly no Imperial Storm troopers.


Here is another question: If, as some physicists theorize, we live not in a Uni-verse but in a Multi-verse made up of an infinite number of universes all sort of nested in on themselves in some unimaginable way, will I, when I get to heaven, encounter all the infinite versions of myself? Will we all be somehow integrated into a single entity that reflects our infinitely divergent experiences? Or will we go to our individual uni-heaven which is actually part of a multi-heaven?

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by u-dog

Here is another question: If, as some physicists theorize, we live not in a Uni-verse but in a Multi-verse made up of an infinite number of universes all sort of nested in on themselves in some unimaginable way, will I, when I get to heaven, encounter all the infinite versions of myself? Will we all be somehow integrated into a single entity that reflects our infinitely divergent experiences? Or will we go to our individual uni-heaven which is actually part of a multi-heaven?

The CERN Large Hadron Collider in Europe is conducting experiments to see if proton beams will collide and send particles into other dimensions. According to their website:

"Prof. Etzion will be watching closely to see what happens to proton beams colliding at super speeds. While invisible particles are expected to leave a trace like a watermark after they collide, he believes that some particles will escape detection, possibly traveling to other dimensions."

The website also says: “...we’re expecting to explore the basic forces that hold the world together."

There's that whole "force" idea again. Could there actually be a "force" that holds the world together? It will be interesting to see what they find.

As far as multi-heavens.....I don't know.

Rick

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Rick336

The CERN Large Hadron Collider in Europe is conducting experiments to see if proton beams will collide and send particles into other dimensions. According to their website:

"Prof. Etzion will be watching closely to see what happens to proton beams colliding at super speeds. While invisible particles are expected to leave a trace like a watermark after they collide, he believes that some particles will escape detection, possibly traveling to other dimensions."

The website also says: “...we’re expecting to explore the basic forces that hold the world together."

There's that whole "force" idea again. Could there actually be a "force" that holds the world together? It will be interesting to see what they find.

As far as multi-heavens.....I don't know.

Rick

In other words, we could see evidence of another dimension (or other dimensions) soon. If this happens, it will be the biggest scientific discovery in the history of mankind. It will mean that there is another world or worlds besides this 3D world that we live in.

Could one of these "other" worlds be heaven? I don't know. But the idea of heaven only makes sense if humans possess a soul. And so far neuroscience hasn't found any evidence of a "self" or "soul" that controls us or makes us "us". And so far there's no evidence that something inside us keeps living after our physical body dies.

So if there is a heaven, how will we get there?

Rick

[u-dog]

As far as multi-heavens.....I don't know.

Rick

Me neither

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by Rick336

So if there is a heaven, how will we get there?

Rick

I believe a sweet chariot swings low to pick us up and carry us.

[BruceChris]

Perhaps there ARE 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 civilizations out there, and God is multi-tasking, with a clock speed somewhere out in the Google orders of magnitude. (She gets bored easily)

Bruce Chris

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by u-dog

I believe a sweet chariot swings low to pick us up and carry us.

All of us? In one chariot? Thanks, but I think I'll wait for the sweet bus.


Rick

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Bruce Chris

Perhaps there ARE 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 civilizations out there, and God is multi-tasking, with a clock speed somewhere out in the Google orders of magnitude. (She gets bored easily)

If there are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 civilizations out there, and they all have cats, think of the mountains of cat litter that is.

It boggles the mind.

Rick