The radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The lack of results has led to a reassessment of search strategies. Some exotic ideas about where to look and what to look for were discussed at the Royal Society meeting

If we are prepared to look for scientific evidence of intelligent activity beyond our planet, why are we so hesitant about applying exactly the same thinking to what is on our planet? There seems here to be a glaring inconsistency which brings us to the nub of the question we referred to in the introduction: Is the attribution of intelligent design to the universe science? Scientists, we emphasize, seem quite happy to include forensic medicine and SETI in the realm of science. Why, then, the furore when some scientists claim that there is scientific evidence of intelligent causation in physics (small furore) or biology (large furore)? There is surely no difference in principle. Is the scientific method not applicable everywhere? ~ John Lennox

What about the positive evidence for intelligent design? It seems that here we may be getting to the heart of Eugenie Scott's concerns. I submit that there is indeed positive evidence for intelligent design. To see this, let's consider an example that I recycle endlessly in my writings (if only because its force seems continually lost on Darwinists). Consider the movie Contact that appeared summer of 1997, based on the novel by Carl Sagan. In the movie radio astronomers determine that they have established contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence after they receive a long sequence of prime numbers, represented as a sequence of bits.

Although in the actual SETI program (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) radio astronomers look not for something as flamboyant as prime numbers but something much more plebeian, namely, a narrow bandwidth of transmissions (as occur with human radio transmissions), the point nonetheless remains that SETI researchers would legitimately count a sequence of prime numbers (and less flamboyantly though just as assuredly a narrow bandwidth transmission) as positive evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. No such conclusive signal has yet been observed, but I can assure you that if it were to be observed, Eugenie Scott would not be complaining about SETI not having proposed any "testable models." Instead she would rejoice that the model had been tested and decisively confirmed. ~ William Dembski

if they're stronger than us, we play nice and steal their stuff.
if they're weaker than us and have nothing we want, we enslave them.
if they're weaker than us and have something we want, we make pretend treaties with them and then break them while subjecting them to slow motion genocide.

*sniffle*

God I love humanity! we're awesome!

Weaver95: if they're stronger than us, we play nice and steal their stuff.
if they're weaker than us and have nothing we want, we enslave them.
if they're weaker than us and have something we want, we make pretend treaties with them and then break them while subjecting them to slow motion genocide.

*sniffle*

God I love humanity! we're awesome!

And the Japanese will come up with new and kinky ways to have sex with them.

I think a lot of the problem lies in that almost no one involved on any side of any issue regarding any of this fully grasps the enormity of the universe.

Our puny human brains can only comprehend so much. The number of galaxies in our universe might as well be infinite as far as we can grasp. Yes, they've pinned down a number but it's not a number that we can really wrap our heads around. We're talking billions. Of galaxies like ours.

The number of star systems in each of these billions of galaxies...same thing. Might as well be infinite as far as we're concerned.

And each star system...you get the point.

So for the religious types, "Earth" is the center of all creation, that God chose to shoot down his ONLY Son to us, a mere 2000 years ago in a universe that has been around longer than (again), longer than anyone of us could possibly conprehend?

So yeah, if we found definitive proof that extraterrestrial life exists, it would cause a shiatstorm. A shiatstorm that could have been prevented if the religious types found a way to shoehorn their beliefs into a theory that fits in with what we now know about the universe.

I imagine that they'd taste like rubber, anyway.

I like to take the optimistic view and believe that if extraterrestrials do visit Earth, they'll only wish to serve man.

Hi. Could you gives a ride to your home planet so we can put you people on reservations while we take the rest? We promise to force our religion, diseases and social norms upon you while ignoring any contributions your religion and ways may offer.

Then in a couple of hundred years, we'll let you operate casinos and unregulated banks on your reservations. So we'll call it even.

whistleridge: Weaver95:

And the Japanese will come up with new and kinky ways to have sex with them.

if william shatner is still alive when we make first contact, he should get to fark an alien first.

IKanHazaBukkit: Drink_Outside_The_Box: Perhaps we should stick them in a room with Bevets for an hour.

They'll either leave or annihilate us...

1. Leave extraterrestrials with Bevets in a sealed room for 1 week.
2. Extraterrestrials worship Bevets.
3. Extraterrestrials take over Earth and install Bevets as leader Prophet.
4. ?????? Profit?

Bevets: The radio search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The lack of results has led to a reassessment of search strategies. Some exotic ideas about where to look and what to look for were discussed at the Royal Society meeting

If we are prepared to look for scientific evidence of intelligent activity beyond our planet, why are we so hesitant about applying exactly the same thinking to what is on our planet? There seems here to be a glaring inconsistency which brings us to the nub of the question we referred to in the introduction: Is the attribution of intelligent design to the universe science? Scientists, we emphasize, seem quite happy to include forensic medicine and SETI in the realm of science. Why, then, the furore when some scientists claim that there is scientific evidence of intelligent causation in physics (small furore) or biology (large furore)? There is surely no difference in principle. Is the scientific method not applicable everywhere? ~ John Lennox

What about the positive evidence for intelligent design? It seems that here we may be getting to the heart of Eugenie Scott's concerns. I submit that there is indeed positive evidence for intelligent design. To see this, let's consider an example that I recycle endlessly in my writings (if only because its force seems continually lost on Darwinists). Consider the movie Contact that appeared summer of 1997, based on the novel by Carl Sagan. In the movie radio astronomers determine that they have established contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence after they receive a long sequence of prime numbers, represented as a sequence of bits.

Although in the actual SETI program (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) radio astronomers look not for something as flamboyant as prime numbers but something much more plebeian, namely, a narrow bandwidth of transmissions (as occur with human radio transmissions), the point nonetheless remains that SETI researchers would legitimately count a sequence of prime numbers (and less flamboyantly though just as assuredly a narrow bandwidth transmission) as positive evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. No such conclusive signal has yet been observed, but I can assure you that if it were to be observed, Eugenie Scott would not be complaining about SETI not having proposed any "testable models." Instead she would rejoice that the model had been tested and decisively confirmed. ~ William Dembski

Why didn't you just save everyones time and say SETI as yet has found nothing, therefore God exists? Because this is clearly what all your babble about bandwidth and prime numbers up there is...

To the People of Earth:
We have interccepted a documentary called "Avatar". After acquiring the correct codecs (which contained a virus thank you), we have seen how you treated the peaceful planet of Pandora.

Since Pandora lies in Protected Space, you are in violation of Space Charter 1: (Not a Prime Directive but Should Be) - "Do no harm to planets where the species can't easily defend themselves without a non species turncoat."

Your sentence is Death. Your planet will be vaporized. We are telling you this up front so you won't go in to the afterlife thinking a rogue meteor did you in.

Chances are that if we did find someone, they would be way way ahead of us. We only gained the technology to be heard 100 years ago out of the billions of years that it has taken us to develop, chances of meeting someone at exactly our level that just developed the ability to communicate as we did are small, so they will most likely have been around for a very long time and encountering them would be very dangerous for a number of reasons. Even their ideas could be dangerous to us stupid tribal humans that will start worshiping them or something.

Even if we don't think that it would be a good idea to respond (hint: it wouldn't), some idiot will, hoping to gain some advantage by doing so. Iran will probably build a giant transmitter to do so and tell them about Islam or something and no amount of strongly worded letters will stop them. "They" would be foolish not to wipe us out immediately once they see what we are like because otherwise someday we could pose a threat to them.

Harry Freakstorm: To the People of Earth:
We have interccepted a documentary called "Avatar". After acquiring the correct codecs (which contained a virus thank you), we have seen how you treated the peaceful planet of Pandora.

Since Pandora lies in Protected Space, you are in violation of Space Charter 1: (Not a Prime Directive but Should Be) - "Do no harm to planets where the species can't easily defend themselves without a non species turncoat."

Your sentence is Death. Your planet will be vaporized. We are telling you this up front so you won't go in to the afterlife thinking a rogue meteor did you in.

Dear Aliens,

You have violated copyright laws by illegally acquiring the Avatar^TM film. Attached is a Cease and Desist letter along with a fine of $1,000,000,000 (payable in US funds) for your illegal usage of said movie.

Have a nice day.

Sincerely,

MPAA

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