"My God, its full of stars!"

Originally posted by Helmkat
Sometimes when I look at a picture of the ocean I see no signs of life...

Yet I know that every drop is swarming with life forms beyond counting and amazing beyond my understanding.

I feel the same way when I look into the night sky.

Wow..This is a wonderful way to put the possibility of the unknown into perspective....

Wow this started as a great thread couldn't make it past the first pg though to much God bashing starting right off of the rip. You guys make me sick.

Originally posted by randomname
you can't look at these pictures and not believe in God.

just like you can't look at these pictures and not believe in other worldly life.

Originally posted by sacgamer25

God has told me this so I know that I do not need to argue this point with you.

edit on 23-1-2012 by sacgamer25 because: (no reason given)

Did God speak to you from a burning bush? What was his tone? What language did he speak? Was his spoken words feminine or masculine? Did anyone else hear God with you? How do you know it was God? Whose God? There are many proposed. Zeus, Apollo, Neptune....Allah....Do tell.

It appears you had an episode. Try lithium, it may help with the delusions.

I spent many years at a many churches watching people acting like they were possessed. I longed to hear, feel and see what they claimed. I was told I just had to believe. I did. Nothing changed. Then I realized, it's all in their minds.

reply to post by HomerinNC

It might be inconceivable that we're alone.

But consider the possibility that this is all a simulation. The rest of the universe doesn't exist because the simulation cannot simulate it. The simulation also cannot afford to simulate other life for the same reasons. So it's just a fake projection of white matter wrapped around us. This technique of faking things is common practice in computer games and simulations. Maybe as the simulation advances and upgrades its number crunching it will add some aliens out there that will meet us in the future. Maybe it programs us to grow when it upgrades. But always continually the simulation will be faking the outside universe because it will always have resource limits. Another possibility that comes to mind is that god truly made us and this is the only place in the universe that has any divine meaning.

I'm being mildly sarcastic. Maybe I'm playing the devils advocate. I don't actually believe we're alone. There're a multitude of explanations for these things. We haven't even scratched the surface.

This is a wonderful thread about the astonishing scale of the universe. I feel bad that its getting derailed over gods and men.

Back on topic: When I was 11 years old, I had the chance to attend science camp out in the wilderness. (Mind you, I am a city boy and the only 'star' I had seen up to that point was the planet Venus.)

So here we are 40 kids, blindfolded and led through the trees and up a hill in the middle of the night. We laid back on the ground and were told to take off our blindfolds. I opened my eyes and immediately shut them again! It was so bright! The sky was spackled with thousands of stars-and the band of the Milky Way glowed in an arch over my head. I was then aware of the Numinous. The pervasive feeling of reverend awe. I just can't describe the intensity of the feeling.

Years later I discovered the works of Carl Sagan and the meaning of life suddenly clicked into place. I am grateful that I had this experience.

Some of you are funny, you are so interested in "intelligent" life on other planets but could care less about the intelligent life next to you. I can't understand the fascination with a concept that goes no where, such as alien life, while the life here is killed off as if it has no meaning. Probably some of the same people from the pro-Iran war, chemtrails are contrails, Monsanto is no big deal, Ron Paul weak foreign policy crowd. Not to tread on your OP but you people need to get a grip.

Even if there was the slightest chance, and I mean slight, that there are life forms in space, what difference would it make? You or me will never know about it. You will live and die on earth. I suggest paying a little closer attention to things that matter, like say, nov. elections

Originally posted by tkwasny

Originally posted by ButterCookie

Originally posted by randomname
you can't look at these pictures and not believe in God.

Actually, its quite the opposite.

How can a person think that the same thing that created all the stars, galaxies, etc. be the same person that cannot heal the sick, stop wars, and defeat the 'devil'?

edit on 22-1-2012 by ButterCookie because: (no reason given)

Who told you it is the job of God to to present Itself so that we interpret It as either good or not? Why would you think God would cherry pick events to intervene in and other events to not intervene? Why do humans think we need to tell God how to conduct Its business? Ego may need some rachetting back. We're not that important.

ah yes; that same old reply . who are you to question God. I question everything who are you to blindly believe in something that there is no proof of . don't be afraid it is ok

reply to post by MentalData

If a dog goes to the bathroom in your cheerios you throw them away. You don't eat em. That was your first mistake today. Your second mistake was to come into this thread with a judgmental attitude. Have a look at the images posted by the OP. The scale of those images is beyond imagining. Even our own earth is immense, especially when you consider its depth not just its surface. You're right that life on earth is seemingly alien to us, but maybe we need to meet aliens like ourselves and see our shortcomings in them before we can see them in ourselves. Or maybe it's just the cheerios.

reply to post by MentalData


I am very serious in working to make life better for us stuck on this rock...however, I subscribe to the Cosmic perspective of life. We are all interconnected and understanding these connections make life more bearable.

I believe when we look out to the stars we are looking at one multi faceted view of the Universe
The Universe is a wonder to behold and how many other wonders and dimensions are there that our senses and technology can not detect.

Every time I hear someone say "alien life doesn't exist" I can't help but laugh in their face and reply with an "lol k buddy".

To say our planet is the only one with life after we have photos like those is the most ignorant thing a human could ever say.

Originally posted by tkwasny

Originally posted by ButterCookie

Originally posted by randomname
you can't look at these pictures and not believe in God.

Actually, its quite the opposite.

How can a person think that the same thing that created all the stars, galaxies, etc. be the same person that cannot heal the sick, stop wars, and defeat the 'devil'?

edit on 22-1-2012 by ButterCookie because: (no reason given)

Who told you it is the job of God to to present Itself so that we interpret It as either good or not? Why would you think God would cherry pick events to intervene in and other events to not intervene? Why do humans think we need to tell God how to conduct Its business? Ego may need some rachetting back. We're not that important.

He can question god (lower case for a reason) because MAN (upper case for a reason) created god!

Now can we stick to astronomy and keep the god delusions in the fairy tale sorry religious forums!

I am not religous but I totally get it when someone of a religous belief sees the workings of a God in The Creation.
Why look to our differences rather than common ground. I for one believe a greater force and Intelligence is the key source. I do not believe that it is all by accident.

Let everyone believe in whatever they want, have you actually internalized what those pictures contain?
We are meaningless.
"Out there" has existed for aeons, millions of years before us, and will exist for millions of years after we are gone.
This beautiful planet has gone through so much, the Anthropocene will not bring it down.

I do not see god out there, just what it is, eternity, it is awe inspiring and overwhelming as it is, without bringing forth fantastic constructs of belief, we do not know what is out there here in our own matterspace, how can we even begin to try to explain the aetherspace? the "beyond"the grave?

We know nothing, and accepting that and our real place in the Universe, is in itself a feat of consciousness, so lets not argue about things we know nothing about and instead appreciate the unknown universe for what it is , the greatest mystery, just like us.

reply to post by artistpoet


Its design was no accident.
Its just that we are wired to comprehend and know things on "our" level, once we get to the amazing scales of the micro and the macroverse things start to appear real weird to us, stuff has other arrangements, arrangements beyond our grasp, we can try to explain it of course, its our right, but our explanations are not a "true"description of the phenomena "observed" as there is so much we can actually "perceive".

We can perceive eternity in those pictures, but that reality is as foreign as can be from us, we have nothing in common with that, remember that those pictures are not "True Color" pictures but colored renditions of several layers of data pieced together, xrays and gamma rays and the like made "visible" by machinery, the machine portrays what it is capable of, but ultimately is the one giving sense to it all that matters in the end, in this case us, awing at something that isn't quite as the objects we can see in those pictures, much like god, much like the spirit, much like imagination.

great post OP

Earth (sq. miles): 196,939,900 miles
48x48 peripheral vision (sq. miles): 2304 miles
Number of 48x48 squares on earth: 85477.38715
At 550mph, time to travel to every 48x48 square:
((85476.38715 * 48) / 750) / 24 = 310.823226 days

True peripheral areas would be circles so this estimate is inaccurate. And flying at 550mph at a high altitude would allow you to maybe see further than 24 miles to the horizon.

Did I get that right? It's not as large of a number as I thought it'd be.

Additionally, I could travel 100 million miles at 550mph in 20 years. That's at least to Mars, right?

Originally posted by Helmkat
reply to post by soulwaxer

 

Maybe they visit us because they visit everyone...

Perhaps the world of science reaches an end. At some point you know all that you can know. Maybe at that point the only thing to do is visit other worlds and see new art, new struggles and enjoy the universe through the eyes of a primitive. Maybe the more advanced we get, the more like everyone else we become. Boring.

edit on 23-1-2012 by Helmkat because: where did that a come from?

I started writing a response to what you wrote, but in doing so, I realized you have a very interesting point. I just wish I could wrap my head around it... There is definitely something there though. Thanks!

reply to post by TheOneEyedProphet


There is nothing that is meaningless in the Cosmos - nor are the Human Race.
In a cosmos that is itself alive and teeming with life we are small in stature yet potentially great.
Think about how vast the perceived Cosmos is and ask yourself why in all the planets in all the galaxies should we find ourselves here. If you think you are merely the body you inhibat you miss the whole point.
This Earth is a part of something greater as are we yet we divide ourselves from one another with war and greed for self - I wonder if other beings do as we do - perhaps but perhaps they honour and respect all life

reply to post by soulwaxer

Interesting comments. We always assume advancement goes into infinity.

But if there're limits... what then?