Letters to the Editor
rupert_c
Published Letters: 1213 Editor's Choice: 12
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@brightstar65
[Read the article: The most interesting debate yet]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Don't get me wrong, I believe that there is life out there, I just don't believe that is it likely that they would come here. Of all the millions of species on earth and over all the millions of years of life on earth, the only sepcies which as developed technology has been humans and that realistically has been only for the last couple of hundred years. This is an infintesmal slice in the life of the planet.
So what are the odds that a technological species are going to evolve and achieve radio transmissions, much less space travel in the same time frame so that they could actually communicate with each other?
What are the odds that a species that developes technology doesn't end up screwing up their environment or killing each other off with that same technology in relaitvely short order? (global warming, nuclear holocaust, ecological catastrophe or gamma ray burst)
Now how much energy does it take to move a couple of thousand tons of spacecraft, life support and fuel from one star to another in a reasonable amount of time?
We have been broadcasting radio for enough time that anyone within a 70 light years or so around us could recieve it. Nobody anywhere has been able to send an intelligent radio transmission that we could recieve and interpret.
The majority of alien or earthly species have no need for technology whatsoever. Even intelligent ones, such as dolphins and whales. Apes and birds can use simple tools as that is all they need.
Odds of a technologically capable species - one in a million.
Odds of a technologically capable species being contemporaneous with us - one in a million.
Odds that they could spend the enourmous resources required to send a vessel 70 or more light years away - one in a billion.
Put them all together, and those a generous odds mind you, and the chances are infinitesimal.
The reality is that we may be able to explore the planets, but not the stars and the same would be true for alien species. The majority of species probably would be totally unaware that there were even stars in the first place.
It is much easier to believe in parallel universes or the multiverse concept in my version of string theory which is way beyond what you see on PBS. You can have things winking in and out just as flatlanders would percieve a three d object moving through their two d space (through 4 d time). Our entire concept of dimensionality is corrupted by the 3d space that is required for making buildings from blocks measured in length width and depth or height. In reality there are as many dimensions as you chose to, or are able to perceive. Instead of dimensions, think of variables, characteristics, orientations, motions, rotations, mass, strength, reflectivity, color, texture, specularity, systemic interactions, context in culture and mechanics etc., etc.. I got that from working with Maya.
We are limited in our ability to discern and conceptualize higher order dimensions but that is how things actually work. Molecules act as machines and it isn't just a collection of mass, it is a higher order system that we can only percieve the gross physical aspect of.
It is the how and why of DNA, RNA, ribosomes and all the other machine molecules that inevitably form living systems. It is as if we see the letters written on a page with no understanding that there is an author and a code to be intepreted. In other words, if an iPhone had a dead battery and an aboriginal would pick it up, would they have any clue as to what it was other than just a shiny rectangular rock?
Until there is evidence of aliens, the real attraction is the reality which is right in front of us and is far more vast than we can imagine.
BTW, the flying triangle pictures on the web that I have seen seem to be real, but that is probably Lockheed Martin's toy.
BTW, I once saw a UFO following me as I walked to a bus stop before sunrise. It was absolutely convincing. When I got out from the trees I saw that it was right where Venus was supposed to be in relationship to the stars. It looked close and substantial but it wasn't, it was Venus.
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I hope so.
[Read the article: Their terrifying sounds]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My favorite music and composers never get played on classical radio. Classical radio killed classical music. Composers need an audience. So music types go to the forms which allow them to have an audience.
You also need to have music appreciation classes in schools so that people can see the evolution of music forms and understand the social philosphical and intellectual elements and vectors in the music. (there is a rumor that 12 tone was code for german spies!?)
There is a plethora of great new music but there is no outlet for it. People are doing it for themselves and somehow that is just as worthwhile as doing it for an audience.
People have been conditioned to like mediocre pop music but at the same time millions now have the power of a symphony orchestra, rock and roll, pop or bluegrass group in their inexpensive laptop, computer or synth hardware.
If he can market it, that is great, but there are far too many creators and far too few willing listeners to difficult musics.
But hey, I love it.
But a sillly love song makes them happy.
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Blowing my own horn
[Read the article: Their terrifying sounds]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://youtube.com/watch?v=RilW_Io-Rqs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jgFmaXEd1l8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xkx39R9TpzU
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Wytx4JN6tJc
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qm8bKGXaAUo
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y1WlvegSSPQ
http://youtube.com/watch?v=98OM3KQSEa8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=P946lG52J60
This is all off the cuff. I grew up listening to the greats.