(October 29, 2016 at 12:18 pm)Alex K Wrote:

(October 29, 2016 at 12:14 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: He probably elided the word "million" ... easy to interpolate, to me.

Guess again...

I wasn't addressing the accuracy of the numbers, I was guessing at the language.

Language shmanguage. It's billions, baby. Billions.

Oh, I forgot aliens. I believe in aliens. I think there are, among others, six-legged and ten-legged aliens.

Not to mention the sentient, practically immortal mosses of Glackto IV.

Boru

(October 28, 2016 at 11:47 pm)SteelCurtain Wrote: I believe that there is an almost p=1 probability of the existence (past or present) of intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe.

I also believe that the reason we have never made contact is that the nature of intelligent life is to destroy itself.

I on the other hand, believe intelligent life reaches the point where it has the power to alter itself via genetic engineering and/or synthetic augmentation. They soon become something we could not distinguish from gods. We would have about as much success trying to comprehend their goals as ants would have trying to understand ours. The expansionist view of the so-called Fermi Paradox is incredibly simplistic. It assumes beings of our level of intelligence. By the time a species is capable of practical interstellar travel, they will have become something far, far, greater.

I believe intelligent beings exist in the universe that are not vertebrate / simian bipedal two armed two forward facing eyed E.T. looking things. The likelyhood is slim to none that another evolutionary process would end up yielding grey, prunish versions of ourselves. Maybe highly intelligent cuttlefish resembling creatures?

(October 29, 2016 at 4:20 am)robvalue Wrote: I'm pretty sure I can open a door.

how can you be sure? maybe its locked. 

(October 29, 2016 at 4:34 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:   I do, however, insist on what is called 'the reasonableness of belief', i.e. that belief is justified if such belief is more reasonable than the absence of the belief. 

that is wise. thats what makes finding a legitimate reason to believe in god so difficult. ive managed to find very few things that make sense enough to say..."yeah sure, that makes sense"

most of these things coincide with scientific discoveries, which ironically dont always make a lot of sense to me.

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(October 29, 2016 at 7:04 am)Atheist_BG Wrote: All the more the Stupidity book (a.k.a bible) 

i hope you dont pretend to respect other peoples beliefs.

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(October 29, 2016 at 8:55 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: My point is that I DON'T ' wonder whether reality is ultimately external or internal '.  I don't know how I can make that any clearer to you.

Boru

we get it, you believe that we are all inside your head.

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(October 29, 2016 at 5:59 pm)Alex K Wrote: Oh, I forgot aliens. I believe in aliens. I think there are, among others, six-legged and ten-legged aliens.

why not 7? makes me think about how symmetry is prevalent thoughout most things.

(October 29, 2016 at 9:46 pm)AFTT47 Wrote:  reaches the point where it has the power to alter itself via genetic engineering and/or synthetic augmentation. They soon become something we could not distinguish from gods. 

sounds reasonable

(October 29, 2016 at 10:17 pm)chimp3 Wrote: I believe intelligent beings exist in the universe that are not vertebrate / simian bipedal two armed two forward facing eyed E.T. looking things. The likelyhood is slim to none that another evolutionary process would end up yielding grey, prunish versions of ourselves. Maybe highly intelligent cuttlefish resembling creatures?

possible. all depends on the conditions of their environment. seems on earth, 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 eyes, 2 ears, 1 nose, etc, is common with mammals. i dont know everything about evolution.

is it that common ancestry thing? or just the most efficient form? someone lmk

(October 29, 2016 at 5:56 pm)Alex K Wrote: Language shmanguage. It's billions, baby. Billions.

Oh, I know that. IIRC, anywhere from 100 million to 250 billion stars in each galaxy.

(October 30, 2016 at 12:38 am)goombah111 Wrote:

(October 29, 2016 at 4:20 am)robvalue Wrote: I'm pretty sure I can open a door.

how can you be sure? maybe its locked. 

Simplez -- have the master key, a/k/a a little C-4.

(October 30, 2016 at 1:22 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(October 30, 2016 at 12:38 am)goombah111 Wrote: how can you be sure? maybe its locked. 

Simplez -- have the master key, a/k/a a little C-4.

i wouldve tried knocking but that works too. :P