Life as we know it

[Traveler]

 

5 hours ago, LDSGator said:

Trav, one of the signs of low intelligence is when you think everyone else is stupid.    
 

If you are so advanced and the rest of us are stupid, what are you doing around here? 

 

4 hours ago, LDSGator said:

The moment someone says how stupid everyone else is it shows they lack the intellectual abilities to understand how that sounds and how they come across. If you really were smarter than everyone you wouldn't have to say it. You’d simply know it. 
 

It’s like someone trying to say they are humble. Humble people don’t tell you how humble they are.  PR 101. 

It was suggested by a Russian scientist that we can determine the advancement (intelligence) of a civilization (galactic species?) by its ability to utilize resources (technology).   For example, the ability to communicate via text (outside of presents) demonstrates a certain level of intelligence.  There are many intelligent species on this earth (for example slime mold) but none with the technological advancement to communicate via written text. 

My observation is that for all that we have discovered in this universe – there is nothing to prove intelligent life beyond our own.  I would add the religious assumption that our life is tightly linked to G-d in that we are made in the Image of G-d – male and female.  If someone is wondering if they should be insulted by any of this thinking – My only response is how such a person compares themselves (and their use of technology) to other lifeforms they encounter (with the emphasis on extraterrestrial life forms).   If they do not know of any other extraterrestrial life forms, then the discussion is mute.

As a side note – I would define stupid, not as the opposite of intelligence but rather the inclination to ignore whatever intelligence one has achieved and deliberately select the unintelligent possibility.   I believe the only occurrence that I have experienced concerning this is with individuals within my own species.   I would not include anyone on this forum in such a category.  I would be very shocked to learn that anyone on this forum would so classify themselves.

 

The Traveler

[NeuroTypical]

41 minutes ago, Traveler said:

It was suggested by a Russian scientist that we can determine the advancement (intelligence) of a civilization (galactic species?) by its ability to utilize resources (technology).

Probably not what a Russian scientist would envision, but this satisfies his general criteria:

1.  Pick up club, bash neighbor.
2. Get neighbor to bash other neighbor for you, pay with shiny beads.
3. Civilization based on the exchange of the value of it's members' labor for wads of exchangeable paper.
4. Civilization based on the exchange of the value of it's members' labor for electronic ones and zeroes.
5. Order everything on Amazon.
6. Become this guy, the pinnacle of ability to utilize resources:  

[Carborendum]

Young Ravens Rival Adult Chimps in a Big Test of General Intelligence | Scientific American

[Jamie123]

7 hours ago, Traveler said:

We have information from Voyager 1 and 2.  Here is a fun link to NASA https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/  (note that the Cosmic ray detection system is still operating.)

 

The Traveler

Surely the start of "interstellar space" is something that has been defined by humans. Like ol' wassisface Branson saying he can put you on "outer space" - if you assume "outer space" begins exactly 100km above sea level. (I'm making like Shania there; it don't impress me much.) How do we know that whatever Voyager is passing through isn't something like the van Allan belt? In any case, it'll be a long time before or gets close to the Oort cloud.

Edited May 21, 2024 by Jamie123

[Vort]

It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.

It's worse than that! It's physics, Jim!

[Jamie123]

8 hours ago, Vort said:

It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.

It's worse than that! It's physics, Jim!

I used to get so excited every Friday evening when Star Trek TNG came on. I would unplug the phone (no interruptions!) and sit in front of the TV rubbing my hands together and singing this song - with Jean Luc Pickard inserted instead of Captain Kirk.

Then a couple of days later I'd wonder why I'd had no phone calls and realize the phone was still unplugged.

Edited May 22, 2024 by Jamie123

[mordorbund]

On 5/21/2024 at 5:58 PM, Carborendum said:

Young Ravens Rival Adult Chimps in a Big Test of General Intelligence | Scientific American

I don’t really follow sports teams

[Phoenix_person]

On 5/21/2024 at 4:48 PM, NeuroTypical said:

6. Become this guy, the pinnacle of ability to utilize resources:  

Pharm-to-Table is the way of the future.

[NeuroTypical]

On 5/21/2024 at 9:17 AM, Traveler said:

We have information from Voyager 1 and 2.  Here is a fun link to NASA https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/  (note that the Cosmic ray detection system is still operating.)

Sad news everybody!

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/science/voyager-2-plasma-nasa-experiment-power/index.html

Quote

Mission engineers sent a command to shutter the Voyager 2’s Plasma Science, or PLS, experiment — which was used to observe solar winds — on September 26 using the Deep Space Network, a series of massive radio antennae that can beam information billions of miles through space.

 

[JohnsonJones]

12 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Sad news everybody!

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/science/voyager-2-plasma-nasa-experiment-power/index.html

 

Looks like it is to conserve energy as the plutonium core slowly fades.  Still, the article mentions it will continue to give us information until the 2030s, which is astounding.

Just think of the technology utilized and then think of what we could do now if we launched a similar probe out there into the great wide space!

[Jamie123]

On 5/21/2024 at 4:03 PM, Vort said:

Can you imagine getting your bachelor's degree in meteorology so that you can be a TV weatherman?

Laura Tobin has a degree in physics and meteorology.

"One shoe off and one shoe on...diddle diddle dumpling...etc."

[Vort]

4 hours ago, Jamie123 said:

Laura Tobin has a degree in physics and meteorology.

"One shoe off and one shoe on...diddle diddle dumpling...etc."

People with degrees in physics often have difficulty coordinating their wardrobe. Unless it's only a BA in physics rather than a BS, so Elon Musk is probably okay.

[NeuroTypical]

"The smarter you get, the more help you need coming in out of the rain." - LM's dad

Honestly though, one of my favorite bishops was a chemistry professor.  As a clerk, I worked closely with the bishop's wife to make sure he was properly fed, reminded of coming appointments, and eventually pushed out of his office so he wouldn't be too late getting home for things he and his wife had planned.

Edited October 17, 2024 by NeuroTypical

[Ironhold]

1 hour ago, Vort said:

People with degrees in physics often have difficulty coordinating their wardrobe. Unless it's only a BA in physics rather than a BS, so Elon Musk is probably okay.

It's person by person, really, and often unstated in this is the fact that many high-performing individuals are often dealing with some form of high-functioning autism. 

In my case, I'm a big dude whose skeletal structure has been deformed by scoliosis. It's difficult finding comfortable clothing in my size that is affordable enough for me to stock up, let alone the kinds of clothing I need given how quickly I can find myself having to shift gears since I'm constantly on-call with the newspaper. I've also recently (since late 2022) been dealing with a cardiovascular condition that has caused my feet and lower legs to periodically swell, so I'm now wearing Velcro athletic shoes wherever I go. 

Hard experience has told me that so long as I'm reasonably presentable the rest will generally sort itself out later. 

Yes, the white shirt I wear to church is actually a *fishing shirt* I picked up at Academy Sports because few local retailers stock proper white dress shirts in my size. 

[Traveler]

1 hour ago, Vort said:

People with degrees in physics often have difficulty coordinating their wardrobe. Unless it's only a BA in physics rather than a BS, so Elon Musk is probably okay.

This is not exactly true.  There is no difficulty coordinating their (our) thoughts with their wardrobe.   The difficulty is only in the perception of others that are caught up with self-absorbing concepts, that in the grand spectrum of this vast universe have no possible context or impact.🥸

 

The Traveler

[askandanswer]

On 10/3/2024 at 7:03 AM, NeuroTypical said:

Sad news everybody!

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/science/voyager-2-plasma-nasa-experiment-power/index.html

 

We'd better get someone out there right away to take a look at this!

[Emmanuel Goldstein]

It's almost as if the Earth was created by someone very powerful and place here.