Atheists & Agnostics

DetlefK

(16,482 posts)

14. Let's take Proxima Centauri as an example.

Mon Mar 5, 2018, 04:46 AM

Mar 2018

The star Proxima Centauri is 4 light-years away, has planets, but none of them is habitable for humans.

Let's say, there was an alien civilization on Proxima Centauri and it stopped sending radio-signals 100 years ago. That means, their very last signals arrived on Earth 104 years ago, in 1914.

We would never know that these signals passed by us, because we weren't listening, despite their home-planet being just around the corner and their civilization going through crisis just a few centuries ago.

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Bear with me on this: What if we can't find aliens because they are religious? [View all] DetlefK Feb 2018 OP

If they are stuck at medieval technology then dhol82 Feb 2018 #1

They are following the Prime Directive Bayard Feb 2018 #2

I remember reading a short story in high school TlalocW Feb 2018 #3

Could this be another foundational arguement... NeoGreen Feb 2018 #4

"What if we can't find alien civilizations because they are stuck at medieval technology?" AZ8theist Feb 2018 #5

Yep, the first aliens to land will probably be interstellar religious zealots... Freelancer Mar 2018 #6

It would appear that edhopper Mar 2018 #7

They neednt be rare, they might be brief. Voltaire2 Mar 2018 #8

The problem with brief edhopper Mar 2018 #9

Time is still one of the factors in the Drake Equation Pope George Ringo II Mar 2018 #10

Though since we are a third generation edhopper Mar 2018 #11

Frequency is the question, admittedly. Pope George Ringo II Mar 2018 #12

Let's take Proxima Centauri as an example. DetlefK Mar 2018 #14

True edhopper Mar 2018 #15

Wouldn't be surprised if that's the case for some Bradical79 Mar 2018 #13