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empty_handed_painter -- I don't know what to say to people that contend
that this universe was designed for our species. Outside of the planet Earth which has a great deal of area upon it that is decidedly unihabitable, the universe is anything but designed for us. From sub zero temperatures that are beyond anything we can survive to radiation, to the atmospheres of some of the planets and moons that we know of being highly poisonous to us. How can this possibly be construed as being designed for our frail species?
posted by
gomedome
on February 10, 2005 at 6:51 AM
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universe planned? , RAME
it's too huge too enormous.
a question then
Did God plan all the destruction that occurs on this Earth?
posted by
Xeno-x
on February 10, 2005 at 6:03 AM
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RAME -- that doesn't make any sense
On one hand you say that God designed everything with a purpose then finish it of by saying that we will probably destroy ourselves as a species. Is this destruction by design as well or just a design blunder?
I don't disagree with the latter notion however. It is a given that our species will soon outgrow it's one and only hospitable habitat and probably destroy ourselves in the process.
posted by
gomedome
on February 9, 2005 at 4:59 PM
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Of course this galaxy was designed for us.
God didn't do anything by accident. Every planet in every galaxy was planned with a purpose just as every molecule in my body or yours was planned with an exact purpose. As far as two galaxies colliding sometime in the next billion years, who says humanity will still be here then? The way things are going, humanity could wipe itself out in the next day or two, never mind in a billion years.
posted by
RAME
on February 9, 2005 at 1:47 PM
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empty_handed_painter -- that is a good point
but again much like our previous esteemed commentor gets away from my conclusion in that this universe does not seem to be designed with our species in mind.
posted by
gomedome
on February 9, 2005 at 9:35 AM
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odd -- I thought Steelerman's
concept was the shiny, attractive concept.-- you know, God is good, we are all children of God, good Christians will be saved and go to Heaven -- this life is only temporary and eternity will be joyous and all that.
whereas an evolving, tumultuous universe wherein is no guarantee that any individual will be alive tomorrow -- where disaster could strike at any minute -- earthquakes, hurricanes, asteroids striking the earth, new viruses sweeping the globe, the sun expanding and evaporating the earth, two galaxies colliding, the universe ending in a number of unfortunate ways -- oh yes that is very shiny and attractive.
actually any ideas about the future are just conjecture -- billions of years from now -- interesting but not important to our puny lives -- seems like some scientists want to find an apocalyptic vision of the universe -- just like some religionists.
do we feed on disaster?
posted by
Xeno-x
on February 9, 2005 at 8:40 AM
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gomedome ...
Excellent and most interesting indeed ...While reading, I suddenly had flash backs of a book I read long ago called, "The Red Planet" (printed in the early seventies if I recall correctly), obviously about the colonization of mars etc.... Was a good book...
Thanks for posting ~ great morning read 
posted by
Dark_Dreamer
on February 9, 2005 at 12:10 AM
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Steelerman61 -- you're not all there are ya buddy?
personally, I could not care less what clap trap nonsense you let yourself swallow. Illustrative numbers put forth with the qualifying concession of their likely innacuracy is not asking people to believe in guesses but don't let that little subtlety spoil your fun. If you want to believe things like a person parting the Red Sea with a magic stick you be my guest.
posted by
gomedome
on February 8, 2005 at 8:41 PM
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Guesses!?
I enjoy the fact that some people in this world try to inform us that all of these guesses MUST be right and how dare we believe in GOD. Why there is no way GOD could have created the galaxies and us too! But, hey, look at this shiny little pretty guess. This is so much more interesting! So wild and new and mysterious; so interesting as if we are babies discovering a shiny toy. I
guess we all are truly GOD's children; with thoughts displayed in the form of this post. We certainly always go for the shiny pretty concept everytime, rather than the truth.
posted by
RedStatesMan
on February 8, 2005 at 7:40 PM
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Okay pappy -- I get the sense that you are trying to draw me into your
discipline, maybe subconsciously you are doing so,.... but hey I'll take the bait. The so called co-incidence is a manufactured parrallel. One is a known quantity while the other is a conjectured quantity. The co-incidence is therefore in the eyes of, or more accurately the perceptions of the beholder. I'm not suggesting that it is as simple as the beholder seeing what he wants to see but more a case of the perceptions being influenced or prejudiced by what is known versus the unknown. We simply do not know the numbers of stars in any given galaxy. I have no idea where you got a fixed number to draw the parrallel with? The milky way for example is guestimated at 3-5 billion stars with astronomers and scientific minds settling on 4 billion simply because it is a round number.
posted by
gomedome
on February 7, 2005 at 5:27 PM
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Good pictures, gomedome
Did you know the Andromeda Galaxy is the only thing you can see in the sky with your unaided eye that is outside our galaxy? There are about as many stars in a galaxy as there are cells in a body. Coincidence? Maybe, but maybe the galaxy is a life form. There are also about the same number of galaxies. Another larger life form?
posted by
pappy
on February 7, 2005 at 4:00 PM
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Sounds like a hell of a ride.
posted by
roofpig
on February 7, 2005 at 8:51 AM
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