leMel

rocksinmysocks

teejay333

oorat

Jesssssse

ziggit

a) If you consider life in the universe's entire existence as a timeline with a beginning and an end, the present moment is probably within the middle 95% of that timeline. In other words, we are unlikely to be living at the beginning 2.5% of life's entire existence, and we are also unlikely to be living at the final 2.5% of life's entire existence. We are most likely in the middle 95%.

b) It is unlikely that we are alive at an exceptional moment. If you take that middle 95% and pick a moment from it at random, the odds are very slight that you will pick an exceptional moment. The odds are enormous that you will pick a "mundane" moment--that is, a moment that is mostly interchangeable with any other moment. The overwhelming likelihood, then, is that we live in a moment that is indicative of 95% of the entire existence of life in the universe.

All of which adds up to this: speaking strictly as a matter of odds, there are only two probable cases. One, we are the only life that exists in the universe. Two, there may be other life in the universe, but we will never find it. Not much difference between the two cases, for all practical purposes.

It depressed me when I read it, being a space nut myself, but I can't find fault in the math.
Darn you, math!

Jesssssse

ideaman2020

and if an alien civilization could get to earth, they probably don't need inhabitable planets that much.

And we have only been sending and receiving messages for around 100 years, but those messages are much older due to distance travelled across space. So we can speculate that we are perhaps among the oldest advanced species there is, or that there is none dramatically older than us, because their messages would be currently hitting us. There might be some at a similar development stage to us and their messages just haven't gotten to us yet.

drewheyman

Also we have only been sending out communication signals for about the last 100 years. In the grand scheme of things we may not even have been heard yet. It may take 1000s (or any other random #) of years to reach a target. Not to mention the 1000s of years it would take for them to return our call.

Then again maybe we are just talking to our selves.

Rex Luna

aelver

We are a planet of xenophobes who believe in fairy tales and kill or oppress anyone who believes in a different fairy tale. Despite our recent technological advances, we are still so barbaric that our largest military and economic power tortures other people and considers a nuclear attack against a civilian population because their government might (but probably not) be developing nuclear weapons "on the table." If you confirm your existence to us, we will most likely hunt you down, kidnap you, and vivisect you in order to understand your biology. If we need a convenient excuse to strip our population of some more of their civil rights, we will invent some flimsy justification for invading your planet.

Won't you come and visit us soon?

Empire

if we didn't believe them to be "laws" or found other planets where they don't hold, then they'd really put the kibosh on our education systems. since they are thought to be laws, these same prinicples would guide alien development and if they had any intelligence, they would be able to understand them.

there probably aren't any aliens, but whatever.

drewheyman

Mathray

...to destroy us

DrChaos

CheapBastard

slingblade

@OMG!!! Ponies!!!: Yeah I wonder how many "personal" pictures or videos the Geek Squad has found on clients computers and kept.

idlemind

Even worse, transmitting pr0n to aliens might be like an Osama tape - a provocation of war sent on a semi-regular basis resulting in military retaliations. Our only hope in that event is that, like our war efforts in Afghanistan, the aliens half-ass it while engaging in a protracted war against Alpha Centauri.

Besides, what makes you think that aliens haven't hacked into the world's largest repository of internet porn - Geek Squad Corporate Headquarters

OMG! Ponies!

radikaled

frigg

loldeathray

Yonderboy

The-Simpsons-Rule!!

@EBone: Don't you know anything? Aliens hold hands to exchange long protein strands.

GOKOR

IF YOU ARE NECRONS, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND AS YOU ARE CREEPY AND YOUR FRIGGING STAR GODS KEEP BLOWING UP OUR TANKS.

Pope John Peeps II

EBone

GOKOR

(I kid.)

92BuickLeSabre

your suggestion is priceless. it coyly points out that we may be, in the opinion of the superior aliens, the "nigerian barristers" of the universe

again, PRICELESS!!!!

mtopper

europria

s017jrs

EMoShunz

sumocat

We are glad in that you are recieving of our communications, as we have need of your assistance in a matter of delicate.

It has come to our humble attnetion that one of your expansive comrade-ships has become crashed on our pitiful planet. We would be eternally grateful to be returning this vessil to you. However, we will require small deposit of 5 uber-death planet buster rays to veryfi your return-planet location. These rays will, of course, be returned to you with your wondrous ship.

We are thanking you for your assistance in this delimma.

Sincerely yours
Earth, Esq.

m4ximusprim3

Pope John Peeps II

Noobs-R-Us

tellahoohooo

nutbastard

Monty

But they may just blow it all up, if they misinterpret our social structure and get to thinking that what our governments do is what we want them to do.

nutbastard

iscangel

They've cleverly enveloped themselves in a banality field!

strider_mt2k

jellobrains

"Tonight on Krikkit's Guilty Pleasures: 'Who do you secretly want to boff? Eccentrica Gallumbits or Tila Tequila?'"

92BuickLeSabre

frigg

Gann

iamcrazyed

92BuickLeSabre

Guys please forward it, my friend didn't and now he is in jail...for something he did not do! That's bad luck."

youknowit

drewheyman

E.T., unimpressed by (what would perhaps be) the FIRST SIGN OF INTELLIGENT LIFE anywhere else in the universe, needs to be wooed with things that might interest them -- as if Earth were on an intergalactic date with Paris Hilton.

"E.T., it's Earth again."

"What-ever. I'm like so sick of watching the Honeymooners. You guys are like -- bo-RING!"

Phineas J. Whoopie

robbywil

No worries though. I imagine aliens' advanced technology also includes spam filtering technology far beyond our primitive programs. That's what has been happening to all of our transmissions - they're being filtered out as spam. So no, we're not scaring them or pissing them off. We're just clogging up their series of tubes.

OMG! Ponies!

__redruM

radikaled

I mean really think about, imagine if our first received transmission from another planet was the equivalent of terminator 2!?

radikaled

MJDeviant

TheVelourFogg

More on point, p'raps we could start beaming them reality television. That way, any hostility they may possess towards us will manifest itself as bitchy comments and hair-pulling instead of as death-from-above lasers.

OMG! Ponies!

gallasm

Waka in Japan

"If you understand English, please send back 1..."

And lets not forget about the Berserkers.

theimmc

EMoShunz

Good Day.
With warm heart I offer my friendship,and greetings,and I hope this transmission meets you in good time.However strange or surprising this contact might seem to you,as we have not meet personally or had any dealings in the past, I humbly ask that you take due consideration of its importance and immense benefit.I write to seek your cooperation as my foreign partner. I apologize if this transmission does not suit your personal or business ethics. Please, this is a matter of urgency and I need your assistance very urgent.

92BuickLeSabre