Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


DaveB

1139 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 456
Inactive user


#237547 7-Jun-2018 09:11
Send private message

Regardless of tomorrow mornings major announcement by Nasa - it was at least a great song!

 

Are we about to find out something amazing? Life changing or just thought provoking?


View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic

This is a filtered page: currently showing replies marked as answers. Click here to see full discussion.

freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
80652 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41044

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

  #2031810 8-Jun-2018 07:03
Send private message




Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies 

 

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

 




Hammerer
2480 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 802

Lifetime subscriber

  #2034133 12-Jun-2018 09:02
Send private message

Rikkitic:

 

What would it do to religious belief if we are no longer alone in the universe? Genesis would have to be rewritten in any case. Would we still have a special place in the Kingdom of Heaven? If our kind of life isn't unique, are we still made in the image of God? Religion has adapted, with some difficulty, to the understanding that the sun is not the centre of the universe, nor the earth, nor even the solar system. As knowledge has progressed, the perception of the significance of our existence has radically changed. The discovery of any life form, however humble, increases to the point of near-certainty the existence of alien intelligence somewhere in the cosmos. Suddenly we are no longer so special.

 

 

That looks like a list of straw men.

 

Genesis would not have to be rewritten. It already includes non-human life: animals, angels, "nephilim".

 

The special place of humanity in the Bible does not depend upon being "alone in the universe". The Biblical accounts of this appear to make it God's choice. Likewise, the concept of being "made in the image of God" is not defined by being "alone in the universe". As an aside, I'm not sure why you use the phrase "Kingdom of Heaven", which has a different meaning and is only used in the book of Matthew, against the more usual "Kingdom of God".

 

The Bible doesn't make the sun the centre of the universe. It can be interpreted that way at a stretch by, for example, taking phenomological descriptions (e.g. the sun rises) and making them scientific absolutes. However, it is true that the Ptolemaic viewpoint, which was the dominant viewpoint in the Roman Empire, was adopted by the imperial church and finally abandoned last century.

 

You are overstating the case by saying "The discovery of any life form ... increases to the point of near-certainty the existence of alien intelligence somewhere in the cosmos". Just turn it around to see how silly that sounds. It is like saying that "the non-discovery of any life form increases to the point of near-certainty the non-existence of alien intelligence somewhere in the cosmos". Both are tenuous conclusions not based on the data.


View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic








Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.