A brand new world awaits ., Puts matters in perspective. Options

[SirWilliam]

Thought this may be a little light relief to the antics of May , JC and the Brexiteers .( available on itunes ).

Saw a report today that the eminent physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawkins has concluded that Man needs to prepare plans to leave this planet in the not to distant future . ( Sorry to all you geeks out there but I have not the foggiest how to post a link on here ).
Anyway he has proposed building a small spacecraft called a starchip , ( just a few inches in length ) , which will travel along laser beams at a fifth the speed of light , ( roughly 100,000,000 mph ) , reaching it's proposed destination , Alpha Centauri , in a mind blowing 25 years .
Though it would not be able to land it would send back images in the hope that it would show a habitable world that we could exploit , ( my words not his ) , though getting there may be a little problematic .

The debatable question is...........should we even consider it ? It is assumed that the reason we have not been "visited "by intelligent life forms is 1 . The distances involved , and 2 . Intelligent life is probably extremely rare as they have undoubtedly destroyed themselves by war or disease before attaining the ability to transverse the cosmos .

[Andy Capp]

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something in your life"

[Turin Machine]

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something in your life"

So you've been standing up a lot then I guess?

[Andy Capp]

So you've been standing up a lot then I guess?

Yes; there are a lot of ignorant people about.

[SirWilliam]

Yes; there are a lot of ignorant people about.

Ignorance is forgivable, the inability to learn from that position less so.

[Andy Capp]

Ignorance is forgivable, the inability to learn from that position less so.

It is a human trait, but it depends on whether the issue is properly understood. It sometimes takes more than one go. You can take a horse to water but it won't always drink!

[SirWilliam]

It is a human trait, but it depends on whether the issue is properly understood. It sometimes takes more than one go. You can take a horse to water but it won't always drink!

But it undoubtedly will kick you/ run off or some other unforeseen action. Do we address each scenario from a point of complete ignorance and so have no preconceptions of what is the "correct" response, or go into with all the baggage that life has bestowed on us but in turn shapes our outlook?

[Andy Capp]

But it undoubtedly will kick you/ run off or some other unforeseen action. Do we address each scenario from a point of complete ignorance and so have no preconceptions of what is the "correct" response, or go into with all the baggage that life has bestowed on us but in turn shapes our outlook?

Sorry, you've lost me there; I don't know what you are trying to say.

[SirWilliam]

Sorry, you've lost me there; I don't know what you are trying to say.

Nothing new there. What i was trying to portray, albeit badly, was that we all have views on most subjects and our response is coloured by those inherent values, but sometimes that knowledge can be interpreted by others as being subjective.

There again it could be that I am entering that fantasy world of lostus plotus .

[Andy Capp]

Nothing new there. What i was trying to portray, albeit badly, was that we all have views on most subjects and our response is coloured by those inherent values, but sometimes that knowledge can be interpreted by others as being subjective.

It is one of the challenges we all face and I believe is a result of our relatively sophisticated method of communication and vivid imagination. Look at the potential for a mistake: we dont always accurately see or hear things, we don't always accurately remember things, we don't always accurately say or describe things and on it cycles, but to get on in life we have to get things done, so we will often interpret information we receive rather than to stop and check everything.

[SirWilliam]

It is one of the challenges we all face and I believe is a result of our relatively sophisticated method of communication and vivid imagination. Look at the potential for a mistake: we dont always accurately see or hear things, we don't always accurately remember things, we don't always accurately say or describe things and on it cycles, but to get on in life we have to get things done, so we will often interpret information we receive rather than to stop and check everything.

I guess that has a lot to do with our complicated lives. I remember a little while back some trick cyclist forwarded the hypothesis that those who read quickly are more likely to interpret the content in a positive light whereas those who digested every word would be more likely to question the subject. Pretty obvious I know but it does prove your point that no two people will interpret the information in front of them in the same way.

Thus is the beauty of debating.