Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Nothing

Re:Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Not... by araneae on Sunday January 10, 2010 @12:39PM (#1043335)

Wait. So this guy doesn't want us to find life, which would be super cool and advance scientific knowledge significantly... because it might mean that human civilization might not last that long in the timescale of the universe?

I mean, I think we knew that already. The vast majority of species that have lived on Earth have gone extinct, and almost all of the rest have evolved to be completely unrecognizable. It's unlikely we'll be an exception to that rule, and I'm okay with that.

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Re:Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Not... by gort on Sunday January 10, 2010 @12:46PM (#1043347)

Bostrom is untroubled by the idea that humans will evolve to be unrecognisable; but he hopes we will indeed have those descendants.

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Re:Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Not... by araneae on Sunday January 10, 2010 @02:38PM (#1043518)

Yeah, but for all he knows they'll have the intelligence of the common house fly. And not only is that incredibly unlikely anyway, it's essentially no different from dying out altogether. And who really cares? None of us will live that long anyway.

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