The great Sir Arthur Clarke once said...

Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.

Do you agree? Or is one more terrifying than the other?

I'd say they're equally terrifying.

To be alone in the universe would make some feel worthless, like we have this vast and expanding universe and yet we're the only ones to evolve in such a way with no one else or nothing else to potentially share with.

On the other hand, what if we're not alone and can be easily vanquished by a far more advanced race? That's just as scary. Fear of the unknown.

If it is the case that we are alone then that doesn't really bother me much, it didn't bother the millions of people that were born before the concept of Alien life forms so why should it bother me?

If we aren't alone then the only thing that would worry me would be if the 'others' were unfriendly.

I agree that there are two possibilities regarding life outside of Earth. Mr. Clark is 100% correct.

ETA: which is more terrifying? I would agree both are.

Originally posted by Versa
If it is the case that we are alone then that doesn't really bother me much, it didn't bother the millions of people that were born before the concept of Alien life forms so why should it bother me?

... well it didn't bother them precisely because they were born before the concept of alien life forms. How can you be 'bothered' by a concept you can't imagine? That's hardly a comfort to us, in my opinion.

Voltaire said "Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't". That pretty much sums up my feelings on this.

Ben Jonson said "Curiosity killed the cat" which also sums up my feelings, thing is, this cat can't stop being curious!

Originally posted by FOXMULDER147

Originally posted by Versa
If it is the case that we are alone then that doesn't really bother me much, it didn't bother the millions of people that were born before the concept of Alien life forms so why should it bother me?

... well it didn't bother them precisely because they were born before the concept of alien life forms. How can you be 'bothered' by a concept you can't imagine? That's hardly a comfort to us, in my opinion.

Because its a 'concept' its not a proven reality that I would have to live without. Its not like I'd actually be loosing anything.

Originally posted by FOXMULDER147

Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.

Do you agree? Or is one more terrifying than the other?

Perhaps it may sound off topic but the most terrifying is that we as a human race are divided.

Does it really matter that we are alone out there or not?

We exist, for the others what to say, we are waiting for them,
because it is in our nature, if there were only two entities in
the whole universe, for what would they speak.

reply to post by FOXMULDER147
Clarke said a lot of things and they weren't always on the cutting edge of objectivity.

Back in 1958, during a discussion about the UFO phenomena, he was clear that aliens had probably visited Earth in the past. He then stated that he didn't believe they'd done so in recent centuries.

Eh!?

He was a great man (I'm a fan) and this kind of thinking showed that he was as prone to 'intuition' and 'guesswork' as anyone else.

Arthur Clark was the one of the greatest magicians, someone
who could make Ivanhoe a space traveller.

Originally posted by curious7Fear of the unknown.

THAT is the reason man invented good... yet they fear god too

Well don't worry about it... Soon enough a giant space rock will wipe us out like the Dinos and all our history, our art and our concerns will go POOF in a cosmic instance and no one will ever know we existed

Have a nice day

NIBIRU the DESTROYER?



Now when NASA and the Military ask for 'Mo Money' to shoot down space rocks ( which are now CLASSIFIED) you be sure to whip out that checkbook right quick

Military Hush-Up: Incoming Space Rocks Now Classified
www.space.com...

INCOMING!!!!! DUCK!!!

Alone is more terrifying.

Alone we can be categorized as the only intelligent life around - in fact the best. This is a terrifying fate for all other life - ecosystems, primates, cetaceans - as we continue to live out our role as lords of our dominion and take what is available for the needs of the most intelligent life the universe has ever created.

Bigotry of the kind classist, sexist, and racist, are so self involved, such scrupulous labels inside this isolated species that it eventually picks its society apart into extinction.

Alone, in this huge and apparent wasteland of a universe, the drive to set out and explore such a huge and empty space is meaningless in the face of our unchallenged dominance on this planet.

Alone, nihilism is true, and we produce nothing of any value but chatter for ourselves in complete emptiness. There are no brother species to learn from, and there is no enemy to direct our efforts towards as a species of brothers.

This is the seductive power of our belief in the ETH (extra-terrestrial hypothesis), and of our passion for the government to truly be hiding the secret answer to our existential crisis. Our purpose could be to learn and coexist and become galactic citizens. It could be to defend our planet with success or to our deaths. Or, we could be organisms with a burden of awareness; utterly unique and aware of our short time to be alive in a silent, purposeless medium of space.

Originally posted by windus
Alone we can be categorized as the only intelligent life around - in fact the best.

Your right!!!

If we are 'the best' the Universe can come up with, that IS terrifying

reply to post by zorgon


edit: "Alone, we [can] categorize ourselves as the only intelligent life around - even as the best.