ICANNWiki:"Philosophy" essay by Marc Perkel: Difference between revisions
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# We could be the first life in our galaxy to get to this level. | # We could be the first life in our galaxy to get to this level. | ||
# Advanced life in the Universe is at least extremely rare. | |||
# When life reaches a level shortly beyond where we are it usually destroys itself. | |||
# The galaxy is teaming with advanced life and we just don't have the technology to find it yet. | |||
# Some other reason not listed here. | |||
The one that should concern us most is number 3. That our technology gets away from us and because we don't get out in front to see where we are going in time we are doomed. We are at a critical point in human development where we are transitioning into and engineered form of evolution that we might not survive, unless of course we learn to live in right relationship with reality and we make sure that the coming disaster never occurs. | |||
But possibilities 1 and 2 are also very plausible. The more we learn about this planet and how we formed we are becoming more aware of how lucky we are to be here. The right distance from the Sun. The right amount of gravity. Just the right amount of water on the surface. Not too thick or thin of an atmosphere. We have Jupiter acting as a giant vacuum cleaner sucking up asteroids. We are at the outer edges of the galaxy where things are more stable. Because of this, we may be it. | |||
What if we were the only intelligent life in the galaxy or even in the whole universe? That means if we blow it and destroy itself then the universe goes back to being a dumb universe. Nothing in the universe that understands what particles are. No one to know about the big bang. No one to appreciate mathematics or the meaning of reality. The universe goes back to rocks colliding in space, stars exploding, and on one there to witness and comprehend it all. | |||
Would that not be a great loss? Should we not put out the effort to stick around long enough to at least see where this is all heading? Wouldn't going extinct now be like walking out of a movie right before it ends and just after it started to get interesting? | |||
=== Testable Outcomes and Values === | === Testable Outcomes and Values === | ||