Ancient Aliens, modern obsessions

[Espresso]

@Brainspore

Ancient people DID dedicate resources to observing space with the tools available to them at the time. That’s how humanity charted the stars and the motions of the planets.

And that activity produced truly useful knowledge for travel/navigation, agriculture, even construction. Even when the astronomical observations were based on what turned out to be a faulty premise (such as a heliocentric universe).

[Brainspore]

@Mongrove

Every argument you’re making in favor of extraterrestrial life can be applied to almost any form of pseudoscience. We’re still discovering new species, so it’s possible that Bigfoot exists.

That’s a terrible analogy. We’re not looking for a specific species in a limited area, we’re looking for any number of possible forms of life in an unimaginably vast area.

@Espresso

And that activity produced truly useful knowledge for travel/navigation, agriculture, even construction. Even when the astronomical observations were based on what turned out to be a faulty premise (such as a heliocentric universe).

So you’re saying methodical investigation and empirical observation can yield unexpected benefits? Golly, maybe we should try that.

[Espresso]

@Brainspore

So you’re saying methodical investigation and empirical observation can yield unexpected benefits? Golly, maybe we should try that.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I’m completely for exploring the universe as best we can from our vantage point in an ordinary corner of an ordinary galaxy, in what will probably turn out to be an ordinary solar system, even when there are no immediately obvious practical benefits.

What I’m strongly against is the serious discussion of massively unlikely (however entertaining) explanations for perfectly explainable phenomena like remarkably precise ancient stonework, massive artworks, large ancient structures, and the like. (But I have nothing against those fanciful explanations being used as fodder for fiction.)

[Brainspore]

Works for me.