Neil DeGrasse Tyson: ET and DNA

If someone has already created a thread on this subject, feel free to delete this thread. This is a lecture given by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, discussing the common chemicals in the universe and DNA, particularly the 1% difference in DNA between a chimp and a human, and if we were to encounter an ET species that was 1% smarter than us, what would happen. This is worth a watch if you haven't seen it before:

a reply to: undo

Thanks for sharing and I found it very interesting. I have read plenty of books talking about how man is unique and how we seem the only being suited perfectly to earth as if it is a "miracle" or proof that "God" created us here. And yet this makes a good argument that we are not in fact unique to the universe at all. In fact it says we are EXACTLY made up of the most comment elements of the universe.

a reply to: undo
Tyson blows holes in the common argument "How can you not believe in UFOs when there are billions and billions of stars and some must have life?"

Obviously Tyson and others in his field think life outside Earth is very likely, but the interpretation of UFO sightings is another matter entirely that he discusses in this other video, apparently from the same session as the OP video.

Neil Tyson talks about UFOs

That's a must watch video about UFOs for anybody who hasn't seen it.

Back to the OP video, I usually agree with Tyson, but I think his argument about aliens not being interested in communicating with us is a little over the top. I think we are very interested in trying to communicate with other life forms like chimps, dogs, cats, dolphins, whales, etc. Researchers study whale songs trying to figure out their meaning, and the TV show Sea Quest shows one sci-fi view of a computerized translator converting dolphin language to English, which tells me somebody thought conversing with dolphins would be an interesting thing to do.

So yes some aliens might be many times smarter than us but I wouldn't presume that means they aren't interested in communicating with us. It might be as interesting for them to figure out what we are saying as it is for them to try to figure out what their toddler is saying, using Tyson's alien toddler example.

a reply to: undo

I love Neil, he just has a way of explaining complex problems in a easy to understand way.

He is so much like Carl sagan in that way.

SNF op

There are 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe.
100 octillion stars.

To think we are the only ones around.....

originally posted by: Arbitrageur
a reply to: undo
...I think his argument about aliens not being interested in communicating with us is a little over the top. I think we are very interested in trying to communicate with other life forms like chimps, dogs, cats, dolphins, whales, etc.

I totally agree. Assuming that an alien race would be smarter than us (as apparently everyone assumes), I would still think they would find benefit with communicating with us just as we would be quite interested in and benefit from communicating with "lower forms" of life on our earth if we could figure out how. Having said that, I can also accept the possibility that another race could be so far advanced or intelligent that communication with us could be next to impossible. There are many who believe that there are beings in the universe that communicate telepathically for example. If that sort of race came here and we were incapable of telepathic thought then perhaps they would have a very hard time to communicating with us. They may have "forgotten" how to use words or simply "evolved" beyond the need for mouths or vocal chords and are incapable of communicating in that manner.

a reply to: Arbitrageur
Good post.

Some food for thought there

a reply to: undo

Hadn't seen that. Interesting possibility!

To the OP, I'm a fan of this guy, I wanted to thank you for posting and comment so that I can come back later and watch the video.


a reply to: Arbitrageur
I haven't watched the video you posted yet (but I will), but I did want to reply to your comment about how aliens would be interested in communicating with us because we are interested in communicating with other species. In my opinion, your idea is ethnocentric, making the assumption that aliens would be anything like humans. I don't believe that is the best approach to considering what alien life might be like, it almost seems egotistic to assume aliens would be like humans.

Also, I guess I should post the disclaimer that I'm not even sure I believe in aliens. I just enjoy discussions!

a reply to: johnwick

Did Carl Sagan believe in intelligent lifeforms "out there"?

a reply to: undo

Tyson attempts to pick up where Sagan left off and where KuKu failed to establish a foothold. The rule is simple: Lead the public slowly to the truth but deny, deny, deny UFOs as existing evidence of everything they are telling us. Understand that position of the establishment and you can cock a weary eye at each one of these fellows as they start some utterance.

a reply to: Arbitrageur

he's got a great sense of humor. thanks for the vid.

originally posted by: johnwick
a reply to: undo

I love Neil, he just has a way of explaining complex problems in a easy to understand way.

yeah that's an useful talent. fun listening to him.

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: undo

Tyson attempts to pick up where Sagan left off and where KuKu failed to establish a foothold. The rule is simple: Lead the public slowly to the truth but deny, deny, deny UFOs as existing evidence of everything they are telling us. Understand that position of the establishment and you can cock a weary eye at each one of these fellows as they start some utterance.

oh that didn't make me weary at all. i thought it was great fun. i know its frustrating about the ufo argument, but the discussion of how a more intelligent et species would view homo sapiens, is interesting.

the word PRIMITIVE and warring or tribal- like comes to mind!

a reply to: undo
Thanks for sharing. I like the way he talks he is super accessable and entertaining with content.
I am not sure what I think about the comparison with a chimpanzee. Maybe different means just that. It rings a bit wrong to assume they couldn't have achieved technological superiority, simply because they would have had more time, i.E. come from an older galaxy. Maybe they are even "dumber", just lucky enough to have researched for the right tools and now can enjoy the luxury of just following their intuition, guided by A.I.s. But who knows.
It's interesting S&F.

a reply to: Arbitrageur
Ah well he is right, human perception is easy to trick. Not knowing is part of the fun and so on...
But honestly this doesn't discuss many good encounters away, like the Belgian UFO wave in the 90s and others. Radar, many trained wittnesses, to me it is enough to say, there is another intelligence testing ours. While I really still don't know what it really was I saw. So he has a point.

originally posted by: grey580
There are 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the universe.
100 octillion stars.

To think we are the only ones around.....

...would be incredibly arrogant?

Except very few people these days and, as far as I see, nobody in this thread or in this forum has started that they think we are alone.

a reply to: Peeple

But honestly this doesn't discuss many good encounters away, like the Belgian UFO wave in the 90s and others.

Of course not, but what it does do is make it impossible to tell the difference between what a good encounter is and what is purely a misperception. The other issue is that even if there was a real encounter with aliens, you STILL have to deal with the limitations of perception. ...and their alien technology that makes us hallucinate.

Radar, many trained wittnesses, to me it is enough to say, there is another intelligence testing ours. While I really still don't know what it really was I saw. So he has a point.

I am not sure what a trained witness is. I dont know of any training that makes people immune to human perception.

Just a quick comment on the "amateur astronomer" remark...

Here is what happens when an amateur astronomer actually does say something...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

AS you can see...he becomes just the same as the guy who saw a UFO in his backyard...the extra data is ignored, and the astronomer is made a fool.

While this isn't the best of example, it is what we have...

The issue stems from the reality that most people simply don't have the expertise, knowledge, etc. to evaluate the data properly, so...they make it "fit" what they already know...to the detriment of all.

originally posted by: ZetaRediculian
Except very few people these days and, as far as I see, nobody in this thread or in this forum has started that they think we are alone.

I'll jump in. We're alone until we find somebody else.

You can throw out numbers and talk about probabilities versus possibilities all you want. But hypothetical aliens don't really exist. If there's a real alien somewhere in a galaxy a hundred million light years away that we'll never know about or interact with, on a practical basis, they don't exist.