| Personal background |
|---|
I was born, raised, and schooled in Detroit, Mi. After earning a degree in Phyics I worked on the electronics for the Minuteman base perimeter security system at Boeing in Seattle, followed by a stint in San Diego working on components for the Centaur liquid hydrogen engines, and then a few years at McDonnell in St. Louis in a development test program for small attitude control rocket engines. I then returned to Michigan, earned a J.D. degree, and worked in more mundane endeavors until I retired to a small farm in central Michigan.
So now I take care of the old horse who served my kids through 10 years of 4H, the barn cats, and the dog.
I do take some time to look up at night, but, this being Michigan, there's a 50/50 chance that what you see is clouds.
While I think SETI is interesting in an abstract sense, I do not agree with those who say that any proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life will result in an earthshaking reaction from the majority of my fellow earth dwellers. I will grant as a matte of fact, that there have been, and still are, sentient beings inhabiting other planets circling other stars. Giving the distances involved, however, barring a major breakthrough in quantum physics, transmission times for radio signals, let alone actual physical transport between star systems, will exceed several lifetimes, perhaps even millenia. Therefore, while interesting, I think the practical impact of "proof" of extraterrestrial intelligence will have little practical impact. Except, perhaps, on some religious philosophies.
So is SETI worth doing. Certainly, like so many other things that are worth doing without hope of immediate benefit other than the intellectual satisfaction on acquiring new knowledge, I am sure that the search and the development of search technology will rebound to the benefit of the inhabitants of this planet.
|
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
|---|
While I think SETI is interesting in an abstract sense, I do not agree with those who say that proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life will result in an earthshaking reaction from the majority of my fellow earth dwellers. I will grant as a matte of fact, that there have been, and still are, sentient beings inhabiting other planets circling other stars. Giving the distances involved, however, barring a major breakthrough in quantum physics, transmission times for radio signals, let alone actual physical transport between star systems, will exceed several lifetimes, perhaps even millenia. Therefore, while interesting, I think the practical impact of "proof" of extraterrestrial intelligence will have little practical impact. Except, perhaps, on some religious philosophies.
So is SETI worth doing. Certainly, I believe increasing our knowledge of the universe in which we live, from the core of the earth to the farthest star, is a good in itself. I think that all knowledge, even that which is acquired without an idea of immediate benefit other than the satisfaction of acquiring new knowledge, will rebound to the benefit of the inhabitants of this planet. We may never communicate with beings of another planet, but the search may wll provide with new techniques of acquiring and searching data, or new technologies. But, be that as it may, the search is the thing, and it would, after all, be interesting to know.
|
| Your feedback on this profile |
|---|
| Recommend this profile for User of the Day: |
I like this profile |
| Alert administrators to an offensive profile: |
I do not like this profile |
|
|
