Isn't it amazing that when you see a star, you are literally seeing the past. The light that hits your eye could be older than mankind. It could be older than the Earth itself. It could be older than the entire solar system. That just blows my mind.
When the light from a star 5 trillion light-years away from us was first made, humans didn't even exist. And now we get to see what happened on that star before we were even around, but we can't even see what's happening now, or even a billion years ago.
The star could be gone. It could have exploded millions of years ago. It could have exploded last year.
Imagine if you were an alien on that star. If you looked at where the earth is now, you couldn't see it. You would still be seeing what was here before our solar system was formed. By the time you finally saw Earth, humans could have been extinct for millions of years. And then say that you wanted to contact said Earthlings the moment you saw them. It would take another 5 trillion years to send us a message.
Here's what I think about aliens. The probabiltity that humans are the only intelligent species in the entire universe is very small. But so is the probability that we could ever FIND another intelligent species. I think aliens exist(or have existed) but I don't think we(as a race) will meet them.
But looking at the stars also makes me think about time. Here I am talking in galactic time. What is the length of a human life compared to the life of a star? The entire existence of the human race is only a brief flicker on the universal timeline. A civilization is only a brief flicker on the timeline of a race. And a single human life is only a brief flicker on the timeline of a civilization.
From this perspective, my entire life is over as soon as it has begun. I have only the length of a lightning flash.
My ever-so-small alloted amount of time on this Earth is priceless. And what will I do with that sliver of precious time?
I'm going to go watch T.V.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I have my rebuttal to our debate yesterday. I would've told this to you in person, but with our schedules and my memory, who knows when that would be.
They are asking the city to invest this money into the stadium they own. The city can decide to be stingy and not do it and the team leaves the area. When they are trying to convince a new franchise to settle down here, consider what potential investors will see. A city that was run down 10 years ago and now refuses to put more money into a ballpark that is in need of repair. That city let one of the most recognized minor league teams go because they didn't value it enough. Some of the largest employers in Lansing are closing. Do you think they could attract another quality organization? Plus, it would be more cost effective to do the minor repairs now and keep the team than to do large repairs later on as well as spending the time and money on attracting a new team. If they are unable to relocate a new team right away, the city will lose an entire year's worth of revenue from the team, the parking, and the additional business to surrounding restaurants.
Oh, and I do like your column.
Follow up:
Air conditioning...
I am entering survey data. Multiple people complained about the condition in the suites and the air conditioning. Although it may only be a few people who care, those people/groups pay lots of money for those suites... which eventually gets passed onto the city. If they are devalued or not sold due to poor AC, the city won't make as much money in the end.
Not that I disagree with you, but since I like to argue...
The stadium is in good shape right now. You have to admit it. It isn't perfect, but it's not falling apart. Sure the Lugnuts say that it "needs" repair, but I think one could make a strong argument that Lansing has more urgent needs than three million dollars for a baseball stadium that is in pretty good shape.
Spend 1 million on the stadium and spend the other 2 million on public schools.
And what will potential investors see if the Lugnuts leave town?
A big red bullseye.
How about a city with a good stadium, great location, and prime market. I'm sure there are plenty of clubs in smaller towns who would love to come to a city the size of lansing.
And I think that a new team would still draw a crowd. I had never heard of the Lugnuts until I came to Lansing. Just because the Lugnuts are "one of the most recognized minor league teams" doesn't neccesarily mean that they are recognizable.
I could be one of the most recognizable professional tiddlywinks players, but that doesn't make me famous.
What do you guys think about the existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe?
Post a Comment