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#1
02-22-2007, 02:34 PM
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A bunch of questions
Feel free to answer as many or as few as you please. I feel like Im going nuts due to taking an evolution class as well as a class called belief and unbeleif this semester.
1. What consitutes "intelligent life"? -what makes us human? 2. Is language neccesary in order to think? -or in other words, when someone with no sense of language "thinks" is it nothing more than a series of pictures popping into their head? Would this sort of person be capable of any sort of logic? 3. Do monkeys "think" or do they merely act and react based on a series of instincts, similar to when humans act based on instinct when forced to make an instant decision with no time to think? (e.g. someone throws a ball at you and your arms react to catch it without you actually thinking about catching it) 4. will the human race survive long enough to make signifigant evolutionary improivements in the area of mental capablilties? What additional capabilites could we potentially acquire, maybe something like ESP for example? 5. What do you think earth will be like when the sun burns out in 5 billion years or whatever. Will humans still be around? Will all of the current life have died off at some point and the process have started over? Will the sun burning out not even matter because we will have already vacated earth in favor of a better planet in a different solar system? 6. If you are an atheist, do you think life has any sort of intrinsic value? In other words, why is the matter that a human happens to be made up of any more important or sacred than any non-living matter and especially why is it more important/special/sacred than any other living matter? 7. Do you believe life exists on other planets, espeically those outside our galaxy? If so, is it only a matter of time before it evolves into something intelligent if it has not already done so? For theists-if we were to find life on other planets, would this be reconcileable with your religion? For christians-would you expect god to send another son to that planet if he has not already done so? If the life on this other planet is similarily intelligent to us, and the creatures act like christians even though they have never heard of jesus or christianity would you expect them to see them in heaven? OK I know some of these (number 7) are pretty ridiculous, and some may cause me to come off as stupid or ignorant, and most obviously dont have a definitive answer, its just a bunch have stuff I have been thinking about that I wanted to hear some other peoples thoughts on. also sorry if most/all of this has already been discussed on here. Thanks. 
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#2
02-22-2007, 04:13 PM
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Re: A bunch of questions
[ QUOTE ]
Feel free to answer as many or as few as you please. I feel like Im going nuts due to taking an evolution class as well as a class called belief and unbeleif this semester. 1. What consitutes "intelligent life"? -what makes us human? [/ QUOTE ] Wow. I so don't have time to field this. There are a large number of different hypothetical standards, some empirical but most philosophical. [ QUOTE ] 2. Is language neccesary in order to think? -or in other words, when someone with no sense of language "thinks" is it nothing more than a series of pictures popping into their head? Would this sort of person be capable of any sort of logic? [/ QUOTE ] I think this is false. I would even say that lower mammals "think" in some ways similar to our own. This is a controversial subject, but most scientists do agree that the development of our brain was a result of a growing capacity to communicate, so in that sense it's true. [ QUOTE ] 3. Do monkeys "think" or do they merely act and react based on a series of instincts, similar to when humans act based on instinct when forced to make an instant decision with no time to think? (e.g. someone throws a ball at you and your arms react to catch it without you actually thinking about catching it) [/ QUOTE ] Again, it's hard to say. If I ask what you mean by "think," then it'll be semantic. Monkeys can definitely accomplish tasks and solve puzzles that few other animals can. Their brain development also makes some kind of "thinking" very likely, if we assume that our own brain is a good basis for comparison. Moreover they seem very much to feel, and I'm not sure if that's a relevant distinction for you. [ QUOTE ] 4. will the human race survive long enough to make signifigant evolutionary improivements in the area of mental capablilties? What additional capabilites could we potentially acquire, maybe something like ESP for example? [/ QUOTE ] Well, between those who think we'll have augmented brains ten years from now and those who think we'll kill ourselves off by 2050 (and some very intelligent people are in both groups), we reasonable folks tend to believe something in-between. I do think technology has already outpaced evolution, and am confident that someday (maybe millennia from now) we will be able to improve our brains directly by using technology. To me that makes the evolution question largely irrelevant - the degree to which technology will change everything in the relatively near future (thousands of years) is so great that we can't begin to predict events on an evolutionary scale (tens or hundreds of thousands of years). [ QUOTE ] 5. What do you think earth will be like when the sun burns out in 5 billion years or whatever. Will humans still be around? Will all of the current life have died off at some point and the process have started over? Will the sun burning out not even matter because we will have already vacated earth in favor of a better planet in a different solar system? [/ QUOTE ] I think speculation is premature. 5 billion years is a very long time. [ QUOTE ] 6. If you are an atheist, do you think life has any sort of intrinsic value? In other words, why is the matter that a human happens to be made up of any more important or sacred than any non-living matter and especially why is it more important/special/sacred than any other living matter? [/ QUOTE ] I'm trying to. No, I think there is, but right now I'm not exactly at a high point on feeling there is. There are definitely ways to consistently be atheistic and value humanity in a universal sense. Most Buddhists are atheists, for example. But even a hard scientific atheist can have spiritual experiences without collapsing into a vacuum of paradox. [ QUOTE ] 7. Do you believe life exists on other planets, espeically those outside our galaxy? If so, is it only a matter of time before it evolves into something intelligent if it has not already done so? [/ QUOTE ] I have no idea. Some say yes, some say no, none of their logic seems compelling to me.
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#3
02-22-2007, 05:02 PM
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Re: A bunch of questions
[ QUOTE ]
What constitutes "intelligent life"? [/ QUOTE ] What ever you say it is. Are Chimps or dolphins intelligent? They are certainly more intelligent than mice. Its just a matter of calibration, is the coffee I am drinking hot? [ QUOTE ] what makes us human? [/ QUOTE ] We can breed with other humans. [ QUOTE ] Is language necessary in order to think? [/ QUOTE ] Language is certainly necessary to think above a certain level. So when does automatic linking between impulses from external sensors and various “RUN”, “FEED”, “SEX” impulses become sophisticated enough to be labeled thinking? I believe thinking came before language. [ QUOTE ] will the human race survive long enough to make significant evolutionary improvements in the area of mental capabilities? [/ QUOTE ] We probably will be in a position to make significant changes to the human condition within the next fifty or so years or so. Whether we will actually implement such changes is another matter. [ QUOTE ] 5. What do you think earth will be like when the sun burns out in 5 billion years or whatever. Will humans still be around? [/ QUOTE ] I doubt it not but you never know. I assume by “will humans still be around” you mean will there be some chick alive that I would be able screw and get with a child in 5 billion years. [ QUOTE ] all of the current life have died off at some point and the process have started over? [/ QUOTE ] Maybe, however I think that it is also likely that most current spices will have just evolved into completely distinct species during the 5 billion year time period. [ QUOTE ] Will the sun burning out not even matter because we will have already vacated earth in favor of a better planet in a different solar system? [/ QUOTE ] I think you are confusing humans and life. Even if humans were to leave the earth we will still leave some life forms behind. Who is going to bother going to the bottom of every ocean trench just to make sure every last bacteria has been cleared out. [ QUOTE ] If you are an atheist, do you think life has any sort of intrinsic value? [/ QUOTE ] Life has an extra value, however I would not describe it as intrinsic. It is the same as the extra value a work of art has over the matter and energy of which it is made. This extra value is manifested in the form of patterns in the consciousness of observers. [ QUOTE ] Do you believe life exists on other planets, espeically those outside our galaxy [/ QUOTE ] Yes, I consider this a fairly obvious consequence of our own existence. [ QUOTE ] If so, is it only a matter of time before it evolves into something intelligent if it has not already done so? [/ QUOTE ] You are switching from the plural to the singular in a most confusing way. It is just as clear that there is intelligent life elsewhere and for exactly the same reason that it is clear that there is life elsewhere.
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#4
02-22-2007, 05:16 PM
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Re: A bunch of questions
[ QUOTE ]
1. What consitutes "intelligent life"? -what makes us human? [/ QUOTE ] I'd say that consciousness (not just doing things based on instinct or conditioning) is the #1 factor. [ QUOTE ] 2. Is language neccesary in order to think? -or in other words, when someone with no sense of language "thinks" is it nothing more than a series of pictures popping into their head? Would this sort of person be capable of any sort of logic? [/ QUOTE ] It is isn't but it certainly helps. The first humans to notice various causal relationships are not thought to have had language. [ QUOTE ] 3. Do monkeys "think" or do they merely act and react based on a series of instincts, similar to when humans act based on instinct when forced to make an instant decision with no time to think? (e.g. someone throws a ball at you and your arms react to catch it without you actually thinking about catching it) [/ QUOTE ] Instincts mainly but it's tough to say. [ QUOTE ] 4. will the human race survive long enough to make signifigant evolutionary improivements in the area of mental capablilties? What additional capabilites could we potentially acquire, maybe something like ESP for example? [/ QUOTE ] No idea. I'd say that evolutionary incentives are going in the opposite direction of higher intelligence at the moment though. [ QUOTE ] 5. What do you think earth will be like when the sun burns out in 5 billion years or whatever. Will humans still be around? Will all of the current life have died off at some point and the process have started over? Will the sun burning out not even matter because we will have already vacated earth in favor of a better planet in a different solar system? [/ QUOTE ] I doubt humans will be around. The sun will incinerate all life before it burns out but I'm thinking that a more gradual extinction is imminent as the sun gets hotter. [ QUOTE ] 6. If you are an atheist, do you think life has any sort of intrinsic value? In other words, why is the matter that a human happens to be made up of any more important or sacred than any non-living matter and especially why is it more important/special/sacred than any other living matter? [/ QUOTE ] It's only more important because of the fact that it is so very unique when compared to everything else we have observed in the universe. [ QUOTE ] 7. Do you believe life exists on other planets, espeically those outside our galaxy? If so, is it only a matter of time before it evolves into something intelligent if it has not already done so? [/ QUOTE ] Yes, odds are that it does. As for your second question, it depends. Humans evolved intelligence because it was the best tool for survival in the rapidly changing climates of the past 5 million years (only very adaptive animals could thrive) and a few of our ancestors were lucky enough to recieve these gifts. [ QUOTE ] For theists-if we were to find life on other planets, would this be reconcileable with your religion? [/ QUOTE ] Not a theist but I'm sure I could come up with "God is the God of the universe" or something.
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#6
02-22-2007, 11:10 PM
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Re: A bunch of questions
I'll address the life elsewhere thing. I think it's probable, but I think it's improbable that it will ever matter. A lot of light in the universe will never actually hit earth. Ever. It's a big place. In that much space, with such varied conditions, well, I think it's unlikely that we're the only group. I think it's more unlikely that we'll develop some sort of FTL travel that will allow us to explore a large area of the universe, and the same goes for the potential aliens.
So... I think they probably exist out there, but I don't think we'll ever come into contact with them - even if we colonize the entire galaxy over the next 5 billion years.
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