tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post6650906129327161689..comments2024-03-11T07:26:04.670-05:00Comments on Posthuman Blues: Machttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11074004681516756703noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-22837662345713726442008-04-29T20:36:00.000-05:002008-04-29T20:36:00.000-05:00The "Great Filter" is indeed an intellectual toy. ...The "Great Filter" is indeed an intellectual toy. The problem is that he wields it as cosmological fact when it's nothing of the sort. This would hold true regardless of whether we're being visited by ETs.Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11074004681516756703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-17148235636478666752008-04-29T20:25:00.000-05:002008-04-29T20:25:00.000-05:00"UFO spotters, Raëlian cultists, and self-certifi..."UFO spotters, Raëlian cultists, and self-certified alien abductees notwithstanding, humans have, to date, seen no sign of any extraterrestrial civilization." I wonder how long it took to write that sentence. "Humans" means "the serious scientific community", perhaps. Anyways I don't think it's willfully obtuse. His Great Filter is a fun toy for him, and UFO phenomonae spoil the fun.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-69345989065761954052008-04-29T11:22:00.000-05:002008-04-29T11:22:00.000-05:00Despite the glaring holes in Bostrom's thesis, no ...Despite the glaring holes in Bostrom's thesis, no one seems to be too concerned. That bugs me.Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11074004681516756703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-31614654802729333412008-04-29T09:37:00.000-05:002008-04-29T09:37:00.000-05:00Alien talk based in this dimension alone usually s...Alien talk based in this dimension alone usually stimulates me mentally as much as SETI has chance of finding ET life.Dedroidifyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04099287776750072366noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-16243846992473222462008-04-29T09:07:00.000-05:002008-04-29T09:07:00.000-05:00What Chris said.Ditto squared.What Chris said.<BR/><BR/>Ditto squared.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-53423074043391156822008-04-29T00:03:00.000-05:002008-04-29T00:03:00.000-05:00I've never seen someone make not only such anthrop...I've never seen someone make not only such anthropocentric but ethnocentric arguments in my life and be so entirely f**king clueless about it. <BR/><BR/>Once and for all: the Fermi Paradox is worthless because one of the many assumptions it operates on is that galactic colonization is an inevitable end result of sufficiently advanced space-faring technology. <BR/><BR/>This is a Western conceit, based on the assumption that our own colonial history MUST be the norm for all intelligence in the universe. But there is absolutely no good reason to believe that advanced intelligences would have the slightest interest in colonizing the galaxy, in person or via Von Nuemann-esque devices - or engaging in activities that would be visible to anyone half a galaxy or more away. <BR/><BR/>Frankly, I honestly doubt that we would possess the wits to recognize a super-advanced ETI civilization if one was sitting right on top of us. The whole Fermi Paradox/Great Filter argument is meaningless without more information. As the old saying goes, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02303755181174414108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-6254818315192845942008-04-28T13:17:00.000-05:002008-04-28T13:17:00.000-05:00Absurdity after absurdity, stating there is no and...Absurdity after absurdity, stating there is no and has been no evidence of ET. If we were in any danger from ET, our goose would have been cooked a long time ago. We are however, in constant danger from a lack of intelligence right here on our own little rock!<BR/><BR/>MichaelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-4718532871894764842008-04-28T03:28:00.000-05:002008-04-28T03:28:00.000-05:00See also:http://ufologie.net/htm/davies01.htmOh, a...See also:<BR/><BR/>http://ufologie.net/htm/davies01.htm<BR/><BR/>Oh, and I also have severe doubts about any human base on the far side of the moon. IMHO. FWIW. YMMV.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-75769432258155703342008-04-28T03:08:00.000-05:002008-04-28T03:08:00.000-05:00I tend to think that Bostrom's musings are far too...I tend to think that Bostrom's musings are far too anthropocentric without his being clearly aware of it. <BR/><BR/>It's a "cinch" that when you only have one sample of one intelligent species on one planet (our own), it's pure speculation to suggest other nonhuman intelligent species elsewhere are like or might have gone through a similar pattern of evolution as life on this planet has. He may be correct or he may not; we just don't know. <BR/><BR/>As for the evidence of the Great Filter--that may be most applicable to our own species, given the known existential risks we have incurred.<BR/><BR/>Keying tangentially on the Fermi Paradox in relation to Bostrom's commentary, I'd have to polish off that old chestnut that posits that "the absence of evidence does not prove evidence of absence," especially considering the obscure patterns of data, or signal within the noise, of the very best "ufo" cases over the past century or more. <BR/><BR/>Like Vallee, I tend to think that data suggests a kind of reality that may be more weird and convoluted than we can possibly even conceive the actual origins or nature of, at present. His NIDS paper, co-authored with Eric Davis, regarding the "incommensurability" problem, and their suggestions as to how it might be dealt with, comes to mind. <BR/><BR/>See:<BR/>www.nidsci.org/pdf/vallee_davis.pdf<BR/>www.nidsci.org/pdf/vallee_davis_ppt.pdfAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-36935139917691983672008-04-28T02:23:00.000-05:002008-04-28T02:23:00.000-05:00Denny--Not that I agree with Bostrom, but how woul...Denny--<BR/><BR/>Not that I agree with Bostrom, but how would a secret space program negate his argument? He's talking long-term species viability. A base on the moon is a far cry from Bostrom's galactic colonization.<BR/><BR/>(BTW, there is no "dark" side.)Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11074004681516756703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4147219.post-66247075102523707112008-04-28T01:54:00.000-05:002008-04-28T01:54:00.000-05:00The whole argument (for me at least) falls apart f...The whole argument (for me at least) falls apart from word one. I'm one of those "quacks" who tends to listen to ex-military and related contract workers who have come forward in recent years to describe their knowledge of the black budget, covert world and related programs. <BR/><BR/>It becomes more and more clear to me and many others that in fact the US government has had a clandestine space program in place from as early as the late 60's. The paper trail is there to some degree but it's really the corroboration of information between unrelated parties that sinches the story for me. <BR/><BR/>Let your mind briefly play with the possibility that there is a joint Russian/US base on the dark side of the moon. Now ask yourself why it's there and why it's secret? <BR/><BR/>I consider academic elitists like Nick Bostrom to be the worst kind of pundits. Too scared, too brainwashed to honestly look at what can be gleaned from viable sources. Stuck in an inflexible reality formed mainly by the relentless status quo lies. <BR/><BR/>He actually thinks he's playing the part of an intellectual...snicker. I'm just saying, he really needs to fill in some of the more challenging blanks by doing a tiny bit of honest research instead of casting it all aside as fringe. <BR/><BR/>-DennyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com