Should NASA send HONEST messages into Space?

[Ripley]

I support NASA's missions that send unmanned spacecrafts outside our solar system that carry discs containing information about us Earthlings. I believe that both Voyager's 1 and 2 have left our system with wonderful images of the variety of life and especially humans on Earth.

But it disturbs me. Yes, this planet has great beauty in it's diversity both in the natural world and the human population. However, it also has great horrors. Has there ever been a time on "civilized" planet Earth where wars where NOT being waged on one or more continents?

I know, I know. We want to send a message of "Peace" when we make contact so we don't "scare" them away, whoever them may be.

But I think we should be more honest in our "Earth Discs" and represent all of what has happened here. A segment of Hitler should be included, and followed by a segment of Hitler's defeat. And the ongoing...

Can't we even be honest in ET outreach about who we are and have been as humans on this planet?

[tom_paine]

1. We Semi-Evolved Monkeys are incapable of even being honest

with ourselves.

To be honest with Alien Species we've never met, well, that just shows a lack of understanding of the Human Animal and the Extinction Process.

[Ripley]

2. Hell, Tom I know we can't be honest with ourselves...

but when we have billions of dollars writing a golden disc to send out to the entire Universe...

Shouldn't it at least be more representative of all things human? War, greed, hate. Those are human things too.

I'm just disappointed with the scientists who put these things together.

[tom_paine]

5. 'S like a First Date?

Do you announce boldy, all of your faults and shortcomings, or do you put your best foot forward?

I know, I know, one is a $100 dinner, the other a $2,000,000,000,000 project.

But the analogy stands. Do I agree? No.

[Ripley]

8. Hah!

The Humanity of it all! We must always put our best foot forward!

I didn't say we should make a disc about war only did I? I just think it is complete and utter bullshit for Earth folks to say lookie at us...we are so pretty, so nice, so varied. And not have at least one section describing how our type of carbon matter has evolved to the point of considering death in wars as a GOOD THING at times.

That's all.

On edit after re-reading your post: A lie is a lie. Earth is not a Planet of Peace. To describe it only in terms of peacefulness and nurturing is a LIE.

Had some bad first dates huh?

[tom_paine]

26. Haven't we all? That wasn't why I brought it up

And I wasn't saying I agreed with the policy, just stating "how it is" with the Semi-Evolved Monkeys of Planet Earth.

I've also had some VERY GOOD :loveya: first dates, too?

And haven't we all had that, as well?

[lanparty]

21. Let's be REALLY HONEST!!!!!

No one will EVER find those things. They will be floating in space forever!!!!! So it's really doesn't matter WHAT we put on those discs.

[Ripley]

24. So, your position is EARTH IS ALONE?

How do you know that our spacecrafts are going to float in space forever with no one finding them?

lanparty, try hard to imagine what it would be like for people to "discover" certain areas of livlihood when Austrolopithicine ventured out into the "unknown" world....

[lanparty]

25. My position is ....

It would be like finding a particular grain of sand on a beach. There are oceans of nothingness out in the void. The chance that ANYTHING will ever find it is next to nil!!!!!

The chance of us ever getting off this rock is pretty small. The energy requirements to send a vessel to another solar system is outrageously high. There are some physics that suugest that one could break the universal speed limit (c), but that still only applies to things as lite as ... light.

We can dream about fantasies of travelling to other solar systems. But we should plan as a species to spend the rest of existence right here on Earth and possibly terra-forming/colonizing Mars.

As far as the moon goes, one would colonize Antarctica LONG before you would colonize that lifeless barren rock.

[DrWeird]

3. Don't forget the vaginal slit.

In order to represent what humans looked like, the disc included two naked humans. They both, of course, happened to be caucasian, and the woman had no vaginal slit, she looked straight out of a renassiance painting.

I guys we don't want to offend the aliens.

:eyes:

[Cronus Protagonist]

4. You mean Nietzche's "bloody gash"

Couldn't have that in there.... it would scare them away.

BLAME BUSH FIRST!

Click here for "BLAME BUSH FIRST", and other fair and balanced yet stunning buttons, magnets and stickers

[Ripley]

7. Well, if you want to go there...

There was an extremely simplistic draft of "humans" showed a simple outline of a man waving (penis depicted) and a woman (behind him) with no visible sexual organs. I guess I should be pissed the woman wasn't waving either.

I don't know the full context of the discs...so there may be more detail about vaginas okay?

Beside the point I was making.

[TlalocW]

13. What exactly...

Was the naked man "waving?"

TlalocW

[Ripley]

14. His arm was raised.

In a gesture of a wave.

[DrWeird]

27. I think that's just meant to show...

our arms bend at the elbow.

[lanparty]

22. Why don't we just ...

We should just start sending hardcore pornography into space. No one is going to EVER see it anyway.

[Lisa]

6. actually, we ARE broadcasting the truth ...

CNN aside, all those radio and TV signals are racing far ahead of the poor old Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft, at the speed of light. Any ET with telecommunications equipment (and even if they don't have spacefaring technology sufficient to snag one of those probes, they'd likely have that) -- they'd be able to listen in on our accomplishments. Good and bad.

The closest stars, I think, would already know about Selection 2000 -- and the locals are probably saying "that Earth Bush is just like Dictator @%!!XX^& who caused that terrible war with the Proximans".

[Ripley]

9. Hee hee ho ho!

Good point Lisa!

But do you think we should not send out Earth info on discs? Let the "Rush Radio" do our talking...yech...

I like the idea of "Earth representative" discs. I just want it to be honest.

[Lisa]

17. "Planet Out of Order -- Please Use Solar System Next Door"

I think that sums things up nicely.

[TexasMexican]

10. IMO we shouldnt send any messages into space...

but thats pretty much impossible with all the radio and tv waves and whatnot.

I think its better we find them before they find us.

[Ripley]

11. Why not?

Are you afraid all ET's are bad ones?

[TexasMexican]

12. nope there is always that chance...

so its better to keep a lower profile till we get better tech.

[Ripley]

15. You seem to be in the wrong forum...

The pot forum is in the Lounge I think.

[TexasMexican]

16. ¿Que?

well your the one that brought up this mostly useless topic.

[Ripley]

18. Earth's representation is useless?

Well, maybe to yall who figure God only looks over your ass in this tiny part of the Universe and no one else is home out there....

NASA spends lots of tax dollars Bud...THAT is not a useless topic.

[lanparty]

23. I don't think it matters!!!!

The amount of energy required for inter-stellar travel wouldn't justify operations like we run in the 3rd world. They'll either leave us alone, or wipe most of us out and make us slaves.

Advanced intelligences would have the good sense to know that meddling with the progress of a civilization is destructive. They would realize that irregardless of what kind of "advanced peace" they tried to force us into, we would just resent it and try to kill them until they left our world.

[Joanne98]

19. They can drop the "we come in peace" bull shit

and say "We come to get your natural resources" or "We come to give you Wal Mart factory jobs" or " Give us your stuff and enslave your people" .............

[Cicero]

20. Let's just hope we don't first meet up with the Vogons

It would suck to have Earth destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass.

:nuke:

Later,