Are we the only members of the Galaxy that can actually understand what a galaxy is? Could Homo sapiens really be the pinnacle of Creation - the cleverest critters in the cosmos? If we learn the answer is 'no,' that would affect our philosophies forever.
Interpretation
This quote questions humanity's unique understanding of the cosmos and suggests that discovering other intelligent life would profoundly change our worldviews.
Seth Shostak's quote challenges the notion that humans are the apex of intelligent existence in the universe. It prompts us to consider the implications of uncovering extraterrestrial life and intelligence, which could reshape our philosophies, beliefs, and understanding of our place in the cosmos. If we were to find that we are not alone in our capacity to understand the universe, it would compel us to rethink our self-perception and significance in the grand scheme of things.
In practice
During a science conference, one might use this quote to introduce a discussion on extraterrestrial life.
The thing to keep in mind is that we're still in the very early days when it comes to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Saying there's a silence is a bit like if Columbus, looking to discover a new continent, only sailed 10 miles off the coast of Spain before turning back to say, 'Nothing out there!'
Clearly, unless thinking beings inevitably wipe themselves out soon after developing technology, extraterrestrial intelligence could often be millions or billions of years in advance of us. We're the galaxy's noodling newbies.
It's hard to imagine anything more interesting than learning how we're woven into the enormous tapestry of existence. Where did our universe come from? How special is our world, and how special are we? We allocate tens of billions of dollars annually to NASA, NSF and academia in search of the answers.
The fact that we can't easily foresee clues that would betray an intelligence a million millennia farther down the road suggests that we're like ants trying to discover humans. Ask yourself: Would ants ever recognize houses, cars, or fire hydrants as the work of advanced biology?
Humans have existed only for the last 0.001 percent of cosmic time. All of which says that - unless the Homo sapiens brain is the one-and-only instance of cogitating machinery - nearly all the intelligence that's out there is beyond our level. And that intelligence is more than just a little bit beyond.
Sure, our three-pound brains might be inadequate to understand the universe. But perhaps they're just good enough to build something that can.
You all know," said the Guide, "that security is mortals' greatest enemy.
Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.
Heathenism is a state of mind. You can take it that I'm referring to one who does not see his world. He has no mental light. He destroys almost unwittingly. He cannot feel any Gods presence in his life. He is the 21st century man.
A really spiritual person will live life as an art, will create a deep harmony between the body and the consciousness. And this is the greatest art there is. His life will be a joy to see. And he will be fragrant, for the sheer reason that there is no split in his being. The very unity makes him organic; the wound of division is healed.
Thinking is the most unhealthy thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease. Fortunately, in England at any rate, thought is not catching.
People must be free to work, to save, to own their own home, to take risks, to invest in each other and, in essence, to control their own lives.
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