Neil deGrasse Tyson took a moment on Bill Maher's HBO show to reply to creationist nutter Ken Ham, who recently said that we shouldn't explore space because not only are aliens Not Out There, but if they are, we must avoid them because they're bound for the Everlasting Lake of Fire.
Oh, no, I'm sure he had programmed himself well in advance. Even I can do that. Hell, you know this. If there is even a tiny chance you are going to be recorded (even by written notes), you have to be "polite". You can argue for the ritual sacrifice of political refugee children, or for the retroactive impeachment and termination with really extreme prejudice of former Vice Presidents, but don't, for fuck's sake, utter a "bad" word.
If you could actually write an entire novel that included all the above, and also made sense, you would win all the Nebulas and probably a Pullet Surprise.
This is one of those things. We (well, I) think it's a good idea to look for, and listen for, and try to contact extraterrestrial life. But what if they turn out to be the ET equivalent of fundamentalist Muslims, or fundamentalist Protestants?
My answer, for what it's worth, is it's better if we know.
The second set of jaws was fucking cool. I&#039;m old enough that I saw <i>Alien</i> when it came out (I was 31). Star Wars had been a great space opera, and <i>Close</i> was close to perfect at humanizing contact, but Alien was plain nasty sci-fi-political-horror. With a heavy dose of horror. Damn, that was a scary movie.
Not as scary as Ken Ham, but there you go, fiction versus warped reality.
As I remember <i>The Fountains of Paradise</i>, there is a small subplot where a sublight robot explorer passes through the solar system and chats with folks on Earth. (I could be wrong about the novel. Correct me). The probe has been to hundreds of stars, and remarks that belief in a Big Sky Daddy is very common among intelligent species that are mobile and tribal. Then it flies back out of the solar system.
Watched the last episode of &quot;Cosmos&quot; this morning. How beautiful and hopeful it was, how humbling, and how powerful a refutation of the monstrous egocentricity of those who believe dOg chose this planet and these people over all the other possibilities.
And you can replaced &quot;messed&quot; with other words and it still works.
It&#039;s the only way to be sure .... with VOTES!
Oh, no, I&#039;m sure he had programmed himself well in advance. Even I can do that. Hell, you know this. If there is even a tiny chance you are going to be recorded (even by written notes), you have to be &quot;polite&quot;. You can argue for the ritual sacrifice of political refugee children, or for the retroactive impeachment and termination with really extreme prejudice of former Vice Presidents, but don&#039;t, for fuck&#039;s sake, utter a &quot;bad&quot; word.
If you could actually write an entire novel that included all the above, and also made sense, you would win all the Nebulas and probably a Pullet Surprise.
This is one of those things. We (well, I) think it&#039;s a good idea to look for, and listen for, and try to contact extraterrestrial life. But what if they turn out to be the ET equivalent of fundamentalist Muslims, or fundamentalist Protestants?
My answer, for what it&#039;s worth, is it&#039;s better if we know.
<i>The Secret Profession of Jonathon Hoag</i>.
Also, <i>Job, A comedy of Justice</i>.
Heinlein had a kind of thing about this.
Dude, they are <i>Elders</i>.
The second set of jaws was fucking cool. I&#039;m old enough that I saw <i>Alien</i> when it came out (I was 31). Star Wars had been a great space opera, and <i>Close</i> was close to perfect at humanizing contact, but Alien was plain nasty sci-fi-political-horror. With a heavy dose of horror. Damn, that was a scary movie.
Not as scary as Ken Ham, but there you go, fiction versus warped reality.
As I remember <i>The Fountains of Paradise</i>, there is a small subplot where a sublight robot explorer passes through the solar system and chats with folks on Earth. (I could be wrong about the novel. Correct me). The probe has been to hundreds of stars, and remarks that belief in a Big Sky Daddy is very common among intelligent species that are mobile and tribal. Then it flies back out of the solar system.
There is Talmud theory? Admittedly, I went to college a long time ago, but that would have beat the shit out of Introductory Astrophysics.
sloshalist!
See, this is why I look for your nonexistent comments.
Hold your breath.
Yes. No. YMMV.
Watched the last episode of &quot;Cosmos&quot; this morning. How beautiful and hopeful it was, how humbling, and how powerful a refutation of the monstrous egocentricity of those who believe dOg chose this planet and these people over all the other possibilities.
And That Man in the White House is one of the benighted sons of Ham, as devout slaveowners used to call them. This explains so much.