Thursday, September 02, 2004
Hello From the Children of Planet Earth
I am a pretty tempered guy; it takes a lot to get me excited especially in regards to the news. But one thing that really has that potential is news about SETI (www.seti-inst.edu). Possibly because of the general social implications it would have, possibly because the potential it has to unite humans on the global level to each other and the universe, and possibly because I - like many others - have had a great interest in Astronomy and the unexplained questions of the universe since I was young.
For this reason, the SETI@home project was great. Not only did it take computer and their ability to acquire and store data and make it a social endeavors, it did this with the intent of answering one of, if not the, most important questions to human-kind - Are we alone in the universe? Distributive computing, despite the fact that the 'work' is done by hardware and software, is still a social process, but it is hidden behind machines. It is essentially the application of social structure, a phenomenon semi-unique to humans, for the purpose of aquiring knowledge, placed upon tools created by humans. Indeed, it kind of reminds me of the computer in A Hitchhiker's Guide. But I digress...
My main point is, today CNN posted this article:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/09/02/space.signals.reut/index.html
Upon reading it I think I actually exclaimed "YES!" and through my fist in the air like I was at a football came and my team just scored. Of course, the chances of this being anything of consequence is very slim, and there is also the possibility that inter-space contact could be very, very bad for the Earth. But those things aside, think how important it would be and indescribable consequential it would be to experience the first contact with extraterrestrial was made and to be able to see it unfold. There truly would be no comparable time in recorded history.
For this reason, the SETI@home project was great. Not only did it take computer and their ability to acquire and store data and make it a social endeavors, it did this with the intent of answering one of, if not the, most important questions to human-kind - Are we alone in the universe? Distributive computing, despite the fact that the 'work' is done by hardware and software, is still a social process, but it is hidden behind machines. It is essentially the application of social structure, a phenomenon semi-unique to humans, for the purpose of aquiring knowledge, placed upon tools created by humans. Indeed, it kind of reminds me of the computer in A Hitchhiker's Guide. But I digress...
My main point is, today CNN posted this article:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/09/02/space.signals.reut/index.html
Upon reading it I think I actually exclaimed "YES!" and through my fist in the air like I was at a football came and my team just scored. Of course, the chances of this being anything of consequence is very slim, and there is also the possibility that inter-space contact could be very, very bad for the Earth. But those things aside, think how important it would be and indescribable consequential it would be to experience the first contact with extraterrestrial was made and to be able to see it unfold. There truly would be no comparable time in recorded history.
1 Comments:
teset
By 
Bryan, at
September 4, 2004 at 11:38 AM
