(May 10, 2019 at 9:43 am)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote:(May 10, 2019 at 9:25 am)Mister Agenda Wrote: It may be that life is common but technological civilizations are vanishingly rare, like one per million galaxies. For now we should act as if we are the galaxy's (or even the universe's) one shot at a star-spanning civilization. If we don't do it, there's a good chance it will never get done. And that would be sad, IMHO.But wouldn't every civilization that reaches our current point have the same chance? Remember, we're a second generation star.
Well, I could think of situations where they wouldn't have the same chance (no nearby planets, impractical life support requirements, aren't even aware of other stars because their atmosphere is too opaque or their vision is too different or they rely on another primary sense entirely), but in general, another technological civilization like ours would have the same chance. If it exists. And practically, if a galaxy a billion light years away is teeming with alien civilizations that got started a million years ago, there's little likelihood we'll ever gain awareness of their existence. The only way we discover another technological civilization is if it's close enough to us in space and time to be perceptible within the lifespan of our species. If there is such a civilization, I hope it's close enough to someday discover; but until we confirm the existence of another technological civilization, I think we should proceed as if we're it, because we might be.
I'm not anti-Christian. I'm anti-stupid.
