A tiny fraction of our species made those advances with the help of a whole lot more people who toiled and made small advancements that made the big ones possible. Remember that thing about standing on the shoulders of giants? It's true. And besides, many technological advances have occurred multiple times independently of each other. Look at the telephone, or the light bulb, as an example.
Yes Balerion. The giants had help. Lol.
No, sorry, this is nonsense, and demonstrative of your severe ignorance of biology. Our great minds were not more than human, as you're suggesting here. They're exceptional examples of humanity, but humans all the same.
I suggested no such thing. I said they were more specialized. And they were. And the numbers of such highly specialized people were miniscule compared to the general population. Human yes, yet different. Much different.
Two problems (well, three, but we'll get to the other one): First, not all species on this planet have been around for millions and millions of years. Two, just because something has done something for millions of years doesn't mean it will always do that same thing or go extinct. Conditions change, adaptations occur.
True, not all have been around for millions of years. Yes, adaptations will occur. But as long as they remain (in general) in their present form, they will keep doing the same stuff they have always done. More or less. They sure as hell aren't going to leap from building a nest to radio.
Happiness has nothing to do with it. And I'm sure Homo erectus was pretty secure in its spot, but still there was a divergence and further adaptation (and so on) until we showed up. By your logic, because a species is successful it will never change, and thus it is incapable of leading to a species that does what we do. You say this even though we are an example of such a creature.
Balerion, of course 'happiness' has nothing to do with it. That was a euphemism for finding their niche. Good grief.
Right. Until homo erectus adapted/morphed/evolved into modern human form, they accomplished squat. At least, as far as building radios. And they had around 1.5
million years to do it. WE did it in 200,000.
Your argument is based on a complete misunderstanding of everything I have said. I never said a species couldn't evolve. Never said it couldn't lead to a species that can do what we can do (or to be more accurate, what a very tiny fraction of us can do).
And you continue to misunderstand me.
I have hypothesized that
only the human form can build radios. Sharks will never build them. Birds will never build them. Octopi will never build them. Ants, bees, beetles, mice, tigers, pit bulls ... whatever form you want to name ... WILL NEVER BUILD THEM.
My point about sharks was not that they had found their niche ... which they have ... but that because of finding this niche they had 400
million years as sharks to build a radio. And didn't. If they remain in the form of sharks, they NEVER WILL.
Apples and oranges. No other species has our intelligence. Of course, homo sapiens come from a line of non-radio builders millions of years long, so it's entirely possible that there's another radio builder just an adaptation or two away from it right now.
Sure. As long as they have
our specializations. If not, they won't be building a radio.
More logical fallacies and naked assumptions. One, you can't even tell me what it is about humans that makes our form a requirement for radio-building. And that's not a surprise, because you literally know nothing about biology. You've made the fallacy in assuming that because we're the only ones to do it, that we must be the only way it can be done. Easy mistake, but one that you should have worked your way out of after about five minutes of thought. That you still hold this position after what I can only assume is half a century is quite telling. Two, there's no guarantee we'd have their fossil record. Particularly if the species died out early in its existence.
Balerion, I did not
have this position for half a century. It took me half a century to
get to this position. I am amazed someone of your intelligence can make such absurd comments.
It's true that any number of species could have evolved into a radio-capable form. I am saying that the form would have to be (essentially) identical to ours. Why do I need to explain what makes us different? Obviously, our form can do things other forms cannot.
They've progressed plenty. Radio-building isn't all that much more complex than habitat-building, or fishing for termites in a log with a stick. And no, it does not suggest an extremely specialized form, it suggests an extremely intelligent brain. Intelligence in the key, not fingers necessarily or the ability to stand upright. (Though I'm sure both of those things made the effort easier) And even if all of those things were required, that still doesn't translate to "All radio-building species must be humans." That's just your 50's sci-fi books talking.
An extremely intelligent brain IS specialization. And I beg to differ. No matter how smart an octopus gets, without nimble, articulate fingers (not to mention working on dry land) it will never build a radio.
My observation is ... no other form made a radio. No other form ... given up to hundreds of millions of years ... ever made a radio.
I did not get my science from 50s sci-fi books. Perhaps in your society self-deprecating humor is non-existent.
You don't have anything legitimate to base that on.
Suppose there are 5 billion life-sustaining planets in each galaxy, and there are 200 billion galaxies in the universe. That's, what (my math sucks) a hundred trillion potential planets in the universe? Something like that? How the hell do you calculate there to be between 200-500 species? Where does that number come from? Even if advances species existed on one percent of those planets, that's still a trillion advanced species!
5 billion x 200 billion equals 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. That would be one
sextillion life-sustaining planets in the universe. If just 1% had technologically advanced, radio-capable species that would equate to 10 quintillion radio species. Or 10 million trillion technos. All (or most) of them broadcasting radio at
some point in the last 7? 8? billion years or so.
If this were the case, don't you think we would have detected an artificial signal? No, because you are certain the signals would have been too degraded.
I am suggesting that the only form that can build radios must be (virtually) identical to us. Further, I am suggesting that the odds of another species identical to ours existing in the observable universe is extremely remote. So remote that it could take not
one galaxy of planets to produce a species identical to us, but perhaps as many as a
billion galaxies to produce one. It's just a guess, but a guess based on how many variables were involved in our own evolution.
That we are here is practically a miracle. Yet we
are here.
If it can happen once, it can happen again.
There are an estimated 200 billion to 500 billion galaxies in the universe. The 500 billion comes from a German study a few years ago.
If it takes a billion galaxies to produce a replica of us, then there are around 200 to 500 radio-capable species in the observable universe.
This is simply not true, but you're clearly not intelligent enough or honest enough to grasp it, so I'm done trying to explain it. Have your fantasy, you already have for the last sixty years.
It's just a hypothesis Balerion. Posted in pseudoscience. Thank you for trying ...
Another shot in the dark by someone who knows nothing about it.
Then you needn't bother yourself anymore over this. Lol.
