Not a Drill: SETI Is Investigating a Possible Extraterrestrial Signal From Deep Space

[Asbo Zaprudder]

For someone not at all well acquainted with the field, and especially not with the equilibria arguments or the complexity bound, it's fascinating to learn that Gould is so poorly rated among evolutionary biologists. To paraphrase John Maynard Smith, at least Gould wasn't a creationist.

 

[locutus101]

Please enlighten us then. What is the point?

Cultcross is intimating that there is some sort of necessity behind evolution. Why is it necessary for an elephant to have a bigger brain than a human being?

 

[locutus101]

For someone not at all well acquainted with the field, and especially not with the equilibria arguments or the complexity bound, it's fascinating to learn that Gould is so poorly rated among evolutionary biologists. To paraphrase John Maynard Smith, at least Gould wasn't a creationist.

It's not an exact science.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

It's not an exact science.

Care to back this up? Papers that I've seen by Dawkins on the selfish gene are quite mathematical in nature -- but it's not my field and I'm not familiar with current research.

Cultcross is intimating that there is some sort of necessity behind evolution. Why is it necessary for an elephant to have a bigger brain than a human being?

Cos' it's got a bigger body, a higher surface area and there are therefore more sensory inputs?

 

[{ Emilia }]

With the scientific acumen you've displayed so far, I really doubt if you've read any science books.

Given your contribution to this thread I don't doubt that you know very little about science beyond how it is spelled.

When you two are done with your petty kindergarten fight you might want to get back to having a civil discussion here.

And that time is right about now. I don't want the aliens to read this thread and go: "Man, @locutus101 and @BillJ sure can be petty for very little reason. Let's just gamma-mega-ray that planet out of existence to be safe."

Behave or I'll unleash Schrödinger's cat on you. She may or may not be having her claws out and she may or may not be handing out infractions right now, but you'll find out when she gets out of that box.

 

[locutus101]

Care to back this up? Papers that I've seen by Dawkins on the selfish gene are quite mathematical in nature -- but it's not my field and I'm not familiar with current research.

Cos' it's got a bigger body, a higher surface area and there are therefore more sensory inputs?

I seriously doubt that. for one thing his skin is much thicker than ours. How much sensory inputs do you need when you're wearing oven mitts? Plus the brain matter is not about sensory inputs it's about treatment. What's so brainy about an Elephant that he needs such a big processor. When was the last time that an elephant won a Nobel Prize?

 

[ozzfloyd]

Brain size does not necessarily equate to more processing power...

 

[locutus101]

When you two are done with your petty kindergarten fight you might want to get back to having a civil discussion here.

And that time is right about now. I don't want the aliens to read this thread and go: "Man, @locutus101 and @BillJ sure can be petty for very little reason. Let's just gamma-mega-ray that planet out of existence to be safe."

Behave or I'll unleash Schrödinger's cat on you. She might or might not be having her claws out and she might or might not be handing out infractions right now, but you'll find out when she gets out of that box.

As far as I am concerned all is forgiven. I am not even sure what this all was about.

 

[locutus101]

Brain size does not necessarily equate to more processing power...

Not the point.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Ask a Neuroscientist: Does a bigger brain make you smarter?

 

[Crazy Eddie]

It's a lot easier and safer to fix your planet on a large scale (say, geoengineering) if you have a test planet where screwing up won't wipe out your species.

This is why Mars.

Any solutions you come up with to alter Mars' environment will be inapplicable to Earth, so that's not much of a solution there. Especially since testing geoengineering theories on Earth in the small scale would cost considerably less than even BEGINNING to explore Mars, let alone colonizing it with enough infrastructure to start testing it.

 

[locutus101]

Ask a Neuroscientist: Does a bigger brain make you smarter?

Still not the point.

 

[ancient]

Then, suddenly a drought killed an animal that had developed super-intelligence rather than a giant ass to hold water.

There were no survivors.

The end.

 

[Finn]

I seriously doubt that. for one thing his skin is much thicker than ours. How much sensory inputs do you need when you're wearing oven mitts? Plus the brain matter is not about sensory inputs it's about treatment. What's so brainy about an Elephant that he needs such a big processor. When was the last time that an elephant won a Nobel Prize?

Are you really comparing elephant skin to oven mitts?

The elephant will still feel a fly land on its skin... Or it wouldn't have that flyswatter of a tail....

 

[locutus101]

Are you really comparing elephant skin to oven mitts?

The elephant will still feel a fly land on its skin... Or it wouldn't have that flyswatter of a tail....

FYI: Pachyderm means "Thick Skin". It's obvious that the thicker the skin the less you're able to feel through it.

 

[Finn]

So that would mean mouse's skin is so sensitive they can feel the cilia of a single celled animal wiggling on the epidermis?

You don't know what you are talking about.

 

[JWPlatt]

I'm really looking forward to the journalism olympics gymnastics talent required to bring this line of discussion circling back around to the topic. It should be quite the spectacle.

Scores to be posted.

 

[locutus101]

So that would mean mouse's skin is so sensitive they can feel the cilia of a single celled animal wiggling on the epidermis?

You don't know what you are talking about.

Neither do you. What would you know about what a mouse feels?

 

[JWPlatt]

0

 

[Awesome Possum]

Neither do you. What would you know about what a mouse feels?

There's this thing called science and evidence. We know they feel emotions and empathy now, they can feel sensations just like everything else.