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[–] 16 points 5 months ago* (4 children)

what resources do we have that wouldn't be elsewhere, in likely greater abundance/concentration?

latest estimate is there are 6 billion earth-like planets in our galaxy. and 200+ confirmed temperate rocky planets we have catalogged already out of 2000 ID'd exoplanets.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago

    We don't have to be unique, we might just be the next stop that has the resources. Maybe they're supernaturally interstellar and can move on. Maybe they're barely interstellar and can't afford to skip. Maybe nearly every earth-like has life and it's all deemed lower-ranking than this interstellar society. Maybe nearly every earth-like has life but this interstellar species has no anthropomorphic mammalian qualities and they don't care. There's no reason to beleive we can negotiate with aliens when humans largely do not respectfully negotiate with other species now. Hell, we don't negotiate respectfully between ourselves

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  • [–] 0 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

    Soil. Go look around for soil on any other planet. There isn’t any.

    There might also be a lot of value in studying alien intelligence. We don’t know because we’ve never met any, but imagine doing so is a serious way to discover something new about how the universe can be understood at all.

    Edit: by that, I mean the taxonomy on our phenomenology. There’s nothing ontological about feeling “good” or “bad,” nor “confused,” “scared,” or “horny.” Not even of those “aha” moments when you figure something out.

    We have hundreds millions of years worth of systems evolution in our head, creating a damn fine survival engine. Hell, it even helps us feel a little like we understand the universe and how it works. Surely theres not just our way to do that, and aliens could be interested in our way.

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