Imagine a civilisation that's way in advance of us wants to communicate with us, and assist us in our development. The information we provide to them must reflect our highest aspirations and ideals, and not just be some crazy person's bizarre politics or religion.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of conveying our best qualities and ideals to advanced civilizations rather than our flawed aspects.
Paul Davies highlights the responsibility of humanity to present itself in the best possible light when communicating with advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. He implies that if such civilizations were to exist and attempt to assist us, the information we share should embody our highest aspirations and ideals, rather than our lower instincts or chaotic beliefs. This perspective encourages us to elevate our discourse and actions, reflecting our potential for greatness and wisdom.
In practice
During a seminar on extraterrestrial life, one could share this quote to prompt discussion about our expectations of advanced civilizations.
The temptation to believe that the Universe is the product of some sort of design, a manifestation of subtle aesthetic and mathematical judgment, is overwhelming. The belief that there is "something behind it all" is one that I personally share with, I suspect, a majority of physicists.
Science, we are repeatedly told, is the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypotheses. Religion, by contrast, is based on faith. The term 'doubting Thomas' well illustrates the difference.
Although the elusive 'cure' may be a distant dream, understanding the true nature of cancer will enable it to be better controlled and less menacing.
Many investigators feel uneasy stating in public that the origin of life is a mystery, even though behind closed doors they admit they are baffled.
Traditionally, scientists have treated the laws of physics as simply 'given,' elegant mathematical relationships that were somehow imprinted on the universe at its birth, and fixed thereafter. Inquiry into the origin and nature of the laws was not regarded as a proper part of science.
For me, science is already fantastical enough. Unlocking the secrets of nature with fundamental physics or cosmology or astrobiology leads you into a wonderland compared with which beliefs in things like alien abductions pale into insignificance.
Satan, the leader or dictator of devils, is the opposite, not of God, but of Michael.
You go on being reincarnated until you reach the actual Truth. Heaven and Hell are just a state of mind. We are all here to become Christ-like. The actual world is an illusion.
And to tell the truth I don't want to let go of the wrists of idleness, I don't want to sell my life for money, I don't even want to come in out of the rain.
Part of my ancestry is Cherokee. And in that tradition, you become an adult when you're 52.
Attention should be paid to this question of our soul, and not simply to accounting procedures. Attention should be paid to the interest of those who are yet unborn, who should be able to see this generation as it saw itself, and the past generation as it saw itself.
The beauty of darkness _x000D_ is how it lets you see.
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