RE: So, a new kind of non-boolean, non-digital, computer architecture

Mon, 26 May 2014 18:28:26 -0700 

 

 

From: [email protected] 
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of LizR
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2014 5:41 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: So, a new kind of non-boolean, non-digital, computer architecture

 

On 27 May 2014 11:24, 'Chris de Morsella' via Everything List 
<[email protected]> wrote:

 

On Sun, May 25, 2014 at 1:15 PM, LizR <[email protected]> wrote:

I guess it would be pedantic to point out the silliness of aliens wanting to 
have sex with humans. I mean, we're more closely related to grass, jellyfish 
and slugs than we are to aliens...

 

Unless, of course life had already spread throughout our galaxy billions of 
years before our star was born and we are just the local Sol branch off the 
same galactic (or who knows perhaps even larger scale) tree of life.

 

Which would put us on a par with, say, slime mould as far as our ability to 
reproduce with aliens went. That is, we might have the same genetic code, as I 
think everything on Earth does - but everything on Earth can't interbreed.

 

Unless, sexual reproduction is also widespread throughout the galaxy… and that 
species after species on planet after planet reproduce with sperm and eggs. Now 
that does not mean viable offspring – but the sexual act and the sex drive may 
be quite common and function in essentially the same way. Pure conjecture on my 
part of course J

 

But so what? Generally speaking, we don't want to have sex with all the species 
on Earth that uses the same method of reproduction as us. Why would you expect 
aliens to want to have sex with us, any more than we want to have sex with, 
say, dogs?

Perhaps… but an alien species may want to inject its code into our species DNA 
– If it could travel across the gulf of interstellar space I assume it would 
also have sophisticated abilities to directly edit our DNA without the need for 
sex. If DNA life forms are in fact widespread and common throughout the galaxy 
then presumably this hypothetical alien species would already have vast 
knowledge from a diversity of planetary systems and reading and then editing 
our code would not present much of an issue.

Chris

I can conjecture SF-y scenarios in which this might be likely, but nothing that 
seems reasonable under what seem remotely likely assumptions. For an example of 
something like this, see James Tiptree's story “And I Awoke and Found me Here” 
- in which humans have a pathological desire for sex with aliens (which the 
aliens don't reciprocate).

But assuming some aliens do have a pathological desire for sex with other 
species due to some evolutionary kink, then obviously if they have suitable 
genitalia and can get the other species to agree, they can. However, generally 
humans don't have a desire for sex with other species, or even with the 
majority of members of their own species, and most other species on Earth are 
similarly disinclined, for obvious evolutionary reasons. So I don't see that 
this is at all likely.

Or is this all some blokeish thing?

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