Monday, December 5, 2011

Hello? Is Anybody There?


Some philosophies teach us that Mankind isn’t so much. When we watch documentaries about how big the universe is, we inevitably hear about just how insignificant WE are. 
         We always get the message that we’re so small, but the way I see it, we're the only game in town. Think about it. We just launched a probe that is traveling thousands of miles per hour and it will take until next August to reach the nearest planet. If we could somehow figure out how to travel near the speed of light, it would take four years to get to the nearest star. Stars beyond that would take multiple generations. Let’s just face it. We’re stuck here.
         I think that's why as a species, we’re lonely. We're always looking for somebody to talk to. Why else would we shoot radio signals, and expensive pieces of junk out into space, teach gorillas sign language, and try to create robots and software that can carry on intelligent conversation? I think though, we have a larger challenge in front of us before we concern ourselves with talking to the inhabitants of Alpha Centari. I really think we need to learn how to talk to each other first.

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