Keith Hudson wrote: > On the radio this morning an astrophysicist was saying that we are now > discovering so many planetary systems elsewhere in our galaxy that the > number of planets with lifeforms must be at least a billion.
Note that this estimation is based on a computer simulation by 2 individuals. *Any* fancy assumptions can be entered into that simulation. Pete Vincent wrote: > if there were the occasional intelligent life, the expansion of > organisms suggests that by now at least a couple ought to have > come by our neck of the woods, so why haven't we seen any? The four > possible answers: 1) [......2).......3).......]; 4) there's lots > of folks out there, but they choose to stay hidden - probability > impossible to assess, but unless there are other possibilities > not yet though of, the probability must be 1 minus the total of > the others, which at the moment makes it look potentially pretty > large.) > Why stay hidden? Because there is no good reason to reveal yourselves > to a planet full of hyperactive ambitious barbarian savages who Btw, this variant 4) is basically what the esoterical book "Exopolitics" suggests -- and that the good guys' UFOs are just waiting around the corner to come and solve all our energy&enviro problems, so we shall NOT undertake the effort of developing enviro-friendly technologies, implementing Kyoto etc. This book even goes on to fake the Drake Equation, in order to make option 4) look much more likely (by increasing the number of planets with life by many orders of magnitude). Would you have guessed it, the author of that book (a lawyer!) is in the pocket of the oil industry. And I wouldn't be too much surprised if the 2 guys so respectfully mentioned by Keith are too. I think it's smarter to try and solve our earthly problems ourselves, instead of hoping for some (literally) remote source of salvation (a salvation which is pretty unlikely EVEN IF "they" would/could visit our planet -- a "1492 style" contact seems more likely!). Chris
