- Satyr wrote:
- Given the beginning of civilization on earth, and the speed of light.....how would we even be aware of them at this time?
Regarding the speed of light, they are the ones who would be broadcasting their presence during/after the beginning of a new cycle so the universe should be flooded with their signals, doesn't matter when civilization began on earth.
- Satyr wrote:
- Your speculation on the kind of technologies that a hypothetical alien civilization might have developed is based on your human understanding.
Maybe there's a limit that cannot be surpassed.
Maybe aliens developed and went extinct before man even emerged.
Maybe they are already here....que music...
Yes, there are a huge number maybe's, of variables/filters involved in civlizations becoming space-borne. But even if we assume most do not make it, given the vast number of potential candidate planets the number who do will still be huge. It really is just about the numbers.
(Interestingly, the point about them already being here is a possible outcome given your cosmological viewpoint).
- Quote :
- Chaos implies that there is only so far that order can take us.
Have you concluded that the "Big Crunch" is what will happen to our universe?
Now here's a kicker...cyclic universes does not mean every universe will be like this version...
Some never develop life.....some are too unbalanced and quickly give way to the next...
Eternal return does not mean of the same.
In fact, chaos - randomness - implies that the same is never repeated.
Yes, life may only be possible within certain limits, certain constants of nature, and these are forged in the beginning. Heavier elements are also necessary... these must be synthesized somewhow. Most universes maybe duds. But with endless cycles this becomes a mute point no?
There must be a process for recycling - a crunch seems the most obvious. But whatever it is will have to regurgiatate the extant matter/energy.
There's no evidence of this increasing chaos that you talk about. Only increasing entropy... a gradual dissolution of energy into the vacuum. This was discussed in another thread, there are laws which govern this... Second Law of Thermodynamics, for example. A technologically advanced civilization might be able to arrest this through the construction of technologies like a Dyson Sphere for example. Chaos was at its greatest during the Big Bang, and is gradually diminishing over time.
- Satyr wrote:
- I sense you want to believe man is unique and will never be surpassed.
Maybe...you want the universe to be made for us....and nobody else.
Were we chosen? Was it all for our sake?
I do not consider man to be unique, far from it, just another link in a great chain of being. Consider our ancient ancestors who survived in the shadows of the dinosaurs. For 75 million years they persisted until an asteroid strike presented them with an opportunity. Evolution did the rest. Our ancestors had the genetic potential, the physical substrate, upon which evolution could build.
When we look at the world today what animals are in a similar position? Those living in the shadow of other creatures yet with the genetic potential to be greater should the opportunity arise?.... Mice! They have the nascent physicality of a humanoid-like race but much smaller. They may lose their hair as we did, evolve opposoble thumbs if they need to, increase their brain capacity. They will make ideal space-faring creatures due to their size. They could engineer smaller tech, with a smaller energy footprint. This is a probability should humans meet their demise. People laugh at this though because of human hubris... but we are, of course, only hairy apes ourselves.
Imagine that. Humans die out because like the dinosaurs they were simply too big (size being an indicator of primitiveness. Earlier life on earth - animal and fauna - was larger, more raw; earlier stars likewise were much bigger in scale... but shorter lasting).