Rocksolid Light

Welcome to novaBBS (click a section below)

mail  files  register  newsreader  groups  login

Message-ID:  

When God endowed human beings with brains, He did not intend to guarantee them.


arts / rec.arts.sf.written / Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":

SubjectAuthor
* From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbeLynn McGuire
`* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big Numbeted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan
 +- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigLynn McGuire
 +* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbWilliam Hyde
 |`* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigLynn McGuire
 | +* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, ???A Big Number???:Robert Woodward
 | |+* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbRobert Carnegie
 | ||+- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigMichael F. Stemper
 | ||+* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigLynn McGuire
 | |||`* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Paul S Person
 | ||| +* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Quadibloc
 | ||| |`* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Paul S Person
 | ||| | `* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Dimensional Traveler
 | ||| |  +* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Scott Lurndal
 | ||| |  |`* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":pete...@gmail.com
 | ||| |  | `* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Dimensional Traveler
 | ||| |  |  `- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Quadibloc
 | ||| |  `- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Paul S Person
 | ||| `- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Robert Carnegie
 | ||`* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbRobert Carnegie
 | || `- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigTitus G
 | |`- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbQuadibloc
 | +- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigMichael F. Stemper
 | `- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbWilliam Hyde
 +- Re: From_SRW_in_the_Fort_Bend_Journal: A_Big_Numbe?Mike Spencer
 +* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigDavid Johnston
 |`- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":Paul S Person
 `* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbTony Nance
  +* Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbQuadibloc
  |`- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A Big NumbTony Nance
  `- Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, “A BigLynn McGuire

Pages:12
Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":

<BKB6L.833321$BKL8.430727@fx15.iad>

 copy mid

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/article-flat.php?id=81128&group=rec.arts.sf.written#81128

 copy link   Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feed1.usenet.blueworldhosting.com!peer03.iad!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!fx15.iad.POSTED!not-for-mail
X-newsreader: xrn 9.03-beta-14-64bit
Sender: scott@dragon.sl.home (Scott Lurndal)
From: sco...@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal)
Reply-To: slp53@pacbell.net
Subject: Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
References: <tiuqqr$mhjd$2@dont-email.me> <jrga92Fp1tdU1@mid.individual.net> <cdf3b1cd-e573-4500-9aec-0a560a311d2bn@googlegroups.com> <tj27ml$18be$1@gioia.aioe.org> <robertaw-DB0874.21454622102022@news.individual.net> <55bf99b3-1a02-4fb6-b004-24c21908c0ccn@googlegroups.com> <tj56od$1pt1$2@gioia.aioe.org> <qhfdlhp3no95m525l72bhq83pge266smbq@4ax.com> <0ea67766-3e6c-4290-9f9b-0de052a0eb0dn@googlegroups.com> <fnbllh1hoedthngdigs6j7rg5atcu5m3k1@4ax.com> <tjeo7h$2r7q3$1@dont-email.me>
Lines: 45
Message-ID: <BKB6L.833321$BKL8.430727@fx15.iad>
X-Complaints-To: abuse@usenetserver.com
NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2022 20:20:49 UTC
Organization: UsenetServer - www.usenetserver.com
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2022 20:20:49 GMT
X-Received-Bytes: 3137
 by: Scott Lurndal - Thu, 27 Oct 2022 20:20 UTC

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> writes:
>On 10/27/2022 9:20 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
>> On Wed, 26 Oct 2022 22:25:16 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
>> <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>>
>>> On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 10:33:27 AM UTC-6, Paul S Person wrote:
>>>
>>>> They aren't a series. They are four different novels on an idea.
>>>>
>>>> Which was that, since God does not exist, and Evolution cannot explain
>>>> Man, it must have been Space Aliens that turned apes into sentients.
>>>
>>> That _would_ have been a crazy and stupid idea, if Clarke actually
>>> took it seriously. However, as a premise that makes for interesting
>>> story ideas, it's not bad.
>>
>> I still have a memory of having read /exactly/ that explanation
>> (differently phrased to sound more reasonable) from AC Clarke himself,
>> but I can't recall where and have never been able to find it. It's not
>> in the introduction/afterword (if either exists) in my current copy of
>> 2001, and may have been in a magazine.
>>
>>> Essentially, the biggest problem is the same as with panspermia as an
>>> explanation of the origin of life. Panspermia _could happen_, but in order
>>> to be possible, it must also be possible for life to originate naturally,
>>> otherwise, it would never have gotten started.
>>
>> You correct to the extent that you are pointing out that it merely
>> moves the problem back one level, so to speak.
>>
>> I make no comments on what might have happened on /that/ level.
>
>My problem with panspermia is _TIME_. It takes a rock 100,000 years to
>get from Mars to Earth and you think that method is going to spread life
>through an entire galaxy within the current lifetime of the universe?

The "rocks" that coalesced into the earth and into mars during the
formation of the solar system would have been able to seed both
of them with common building blocks of life, one might suggest.

Or the building blocks originated from the objects (asteroids)
remaining after the planets had formed which periodically
intersect the orbit of said planets.

Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":

<f900c7dc-f58a-4df5-bcb9-5d19e808d017n@googlegroups.com>

 copy mid

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/article-flat.php?id=81131&group=rec.arts.sf.written#81131

 copy link   Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
X-Received: by 2002:a05:622a:1c1:b0:39a:9da4:1177 with SMTP id t1-20020a05622a01c100b0039a9da41177mr43674763qtw.11.1666906778560;
Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:39:38 -0700 (PDT)
X-Received: by 2002:a05:6808:218c:b0:355:231d:54a6 with SMTP id
be12-20020a056808218c00b00355231d54a6mr6109848oib.4.1666906778284; Thu, 27
Oct 2022 14:39:38 -0700 (PDT)
Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feed1.usenet.blueworldhosting.com!peer03.iad!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!news-out.google.com!nntp.google.com!postnews.google.com!google-groups.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2022 14:39:38 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <BKB6L.833321$BKL8.430727@fx15.iad>
Injection-Info: google-groups.googlegroups.com; posting-host=136.226.18.68; posting-account=BUItcQoAAACgV97n05UTyfLcl1Rd4W33
NNTP-Posting-Host: 136.226.18.68
References: <tiuqqr$mhjd$2@dont-email.me> <jrga92Fp1tdU1@mid.individual.net>
<cdf3b1cd-e573-4500-9aec-0a560a311d2bn@googlegroups.com> <tj27ml$18be$1@gioia.aioe.org>
<robertaw-DB0874.21454622102022@news.individual.net> <55bf99b3-1a02-4fb6-b004-24c21908c0ccn@googlegroups.com>
<tj56od$1pt1$2@gioia.aioe.org> <qhfdlhp3no95m525l72bhq83pge266smbq@4ax.com>
<0ea67766-3e6c-4290-9f9b-0de052a0eb0dn@googlegroups.com> <fnbllh1hoedthngdigs6j7rg5atcu5m3k1@4ax.com>
<tjeo7h$2r7q3$1@dont-email.me> <BKB6L.833321$BKL8.430727@fx15.iad>
User-Agent: G2/1.0
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-ID: <f900c7dc-f58a-4df5-bcb9-5d19e808d017n@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":
From: petert...@gmail.com (pete...@gmail.com)
Injection-Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2022 21:39:38 +0000
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
X-Received-Bytes: 4139
 by: pete...@gmail.com - Thu, 27 Oct 2022 21:39 UTC

On Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 4:20:54 PM UTC-4, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> writes:
> >On 10/27/2022 9:20 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
> >> On Wed, 26 Oct 2022 22:25:16 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
> >> <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
> >>
> >>> On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 10:33:27 AM UTC-6, Paul S Person wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> They aren't a series. They are four different novels on an idea.
> >>>>
> >>>> Which was that, since God does not exist, and Evolution cannot explain
> >>>> Man, it must have been Space Aliens that turned apes into sentients.
> >>>
> >>> That _would_ have been a crazy and stupid idea, if Clarke actually
> >>> took it seriously. However, as a premise that makes for interesting
> >>> story ideas, it's not bad.
> >>
> >> I still have a memory of having read /exactly/ that explanation
> >> (differently phrased to sound more reasonable) from AC Clarke himself,
> >> but I can't recall where and have never been able to find it. It's not
> >> in the introduction/afterword (if either exists) in my current copy of
> >> 2001, and may have been in a magazine.
> >>
> >>> Essentially, the biggest problem is the same as with panspermia as an
> >>> explanation of the origin of life. Panspermia _could happen_, but in order
> >>> to be possible, it must also be possible for life to originate naturally,
> >>> otherwise, it would never have gotten started.
> >>
> >> You correct to the extent that you are pointing out that it merely
> >> moves the problem back one level, so to speak.
> >>
> >> I make no comments on what might have happened on /that/ level.
> >
> >My problem with panspermia is _TIME_. It takes a rock 100,000 years to
> >get from Mars to Earth and you think that method is going to spread life
> >through an entire galaxy within the current lifetime of the universe?
> The "rocks" that coalesced into the earth and into mars during the
> formation of the solar system would have been able to seed both
> of them with common building blocks of life, one might suggest.
>
> Or the building blocks originated from the objects (asteroids)
> remaining after the planets had formed which periodically
> intersect the orbit of said planets.

During the Hadean Era, when the planets were coalescing, the heat
of impact was enough to melt the entire new Earth and Mars from the
surface to the core (which is why we have an iron core).

No known biological life could have survived that.

pt

Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":

<tjf4f0$2saeh$1@dont-email.me>

 copy mid

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/article-flat.php?id=81134&group=rec.arts.sf.written#81134

 copy link   Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!aioe.org!eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: dtra...@sonic.net (Dimensional Traveler)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2022 16:32:50 -0700
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 60
Message-ID: <tjf4f0$2saeh$1@dont-email.me>
References: <tiuqqr$mhjd$2@dont-email.me> <jrga92Fp1tdU1@mid.individual.net>
<cdf3b1cd-e573-4500-9aec-0a560a311d2bn@googlegroups.com>
<tj27ml$18be$1@gioia.aioe.org>
<robertaw-DB0874.21454622102022@news.individual.net>
<55bf99b3-1a02-4fb6-b004-24c21908c0ccn@googlegroups.com>
<tj56od$1pt1$2@gioia.aioe.org> <qhfdlhp3no95m525l72bhq83pge266smbq@4ax.com>
<0ea67766-3e6c-4290-9f9b-0de052a0eb0dn@googlegroups.com>
<fnbllh1hoedthngdigs6j7rg5atcu5m3k1@4ax.com> <tjeo7h$2r7q3$1@dont-email.me>
<BKB6L.833321$BKL8.430727@fx15.iad>
<f900c7dc-f58a-4df5-bcb9-5d19e808d017n@googlegroups.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Injection-Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2022 23:32:48 -0000 (UTC)
Injection-Info: reader01.eternal-september.org; posting-host="1c882c0f405791de116c462d26824d3c";
logging-data="3025361"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+g+oFJ85u1PqfORBtpZ1Sq"
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:102.0) Gecko/20100101
Thunderbird/102.4.0
Cancel-Lock: sha1:Eg8V31ow7oaJPH9+ciAJm8L4faM=
Content-Language: en-US
In-Reply-To: <f900c7dc-f58a-4df5-bcb9-5d19e808d017n@googlegroups.com>
 by: Dimensional Traveler - Thu, 27 Oct 2022 23:32 UTC

On 10/27/2022 2:39 PM, pete...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 4:20:54 PM UTC-4, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> writes:
>>> On 10/27/2022 9:20 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 26 Oct 2022 22:25:16 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
>>>> <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 10:33:27 AM UTC-6, Paul S Person wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> They aren't a series. They are four different novels on an idea.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Which was that, since God does not exist, and Evolution cannot explain
>>>>>> Man, it must have been Space Aliens that turned apes into sentients.
>>>>>
>>>>> That _would_ have been a crazy and stupid idea, if Clarke actually
>>>>> took it seriously. However, as a premise that makes for interesting
>>>>> story ideas, it's not bad.
>>>>
>>>> I still have a memory of having read /exactly/ that explanation
>>>> (differently phrased to sound more reasonable) from AC Clarke himself,
>>>> but I can't recall where and have never been able to find it. It's not
>>>> in the introduction/afterword (if either exists) in my current copy of
>>>> 2001, and may have been in a magazine.
>>>>
>>>>> Essentially, the biggest problem is the same as with panspermia as an
>>>>> explanation of the origin of life. Panspermia _could happen_, but in order
>>>>> to be possible, it must also be possible for life to originate naturally,
>>>>> otherwise, it would never have gotten started.
>>>>
>>>> You correct to the extent that you are pointing out that it merely
>>>> moves the problem back one level, so to speak.
>>>>
>>>> I make no comments on what might have happened on /that/ level.
>>>
>>> My problem with panspermia is _TIME_. It takes a rock 100,000 years to
>>> get from Mars to Earth and you think that method is going to spread life
>>> through an entire galaxy within the current lifetime of the universe?
>> The "rocks" that coalesced into the earth and into mars during the
>> formation of the solar system would have been able to seed both
>> of them with common building blocks of life, one might suggest.
>>
>> Or the building blocks originated from the objects (asteroids)
>> remaining after the planets had formed which periodically
>> intersect the orbit of said planets.
>
> During the Hadean Era, when the planets were coalescing, the heat
> of impact was enough to melt the entire new Earth and Mars from the
> surface to the core (which is why we have an iron core).
>
> No known biological life could have survived that.
>
It also doesn't address my problem with panspermia, which is that the
universe isn't old enough for life to have come into existence in a
single point in a galaxy and then spread thru the entire galaxy, let
alone universe.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":

<5ff286cb-0a40-42cc-8b25-e547f8d97b09n@googlegroups.com>

 copy mid

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/article-flat.php?id=81140&group=rec.arts.sf.written#81140

 copy link   Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
X-Received: by 2002:ac8:5c0f:0:b0:39c:db4c:82af with SMTP id i15-20020ac85c0f000000b0039cdb4c82afmr43749220qti.538.1666924944581;
Thu, 27 Oct 2022 19:42:24 -0700 (PDT)
X-Received: by 2002:a05:6808:150a:b0:354:fb8b:be with SMTP id
u10-20020a056808150a00b00354fb8b00bemr7007138oiw.132.1666924944216; Thu, 27
Oct 2022 19:42:24 -0700 (PDT)
Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feed1.usenet.blueworldhosting.com!peer03.iad!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!news-out.google.com!nntp.google.com!postnews.google.com!google-groups.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2022 19:42:23 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <tjf4f0$2saeh$1@dont-email.me>
Injection-Info: google-groups.googlegroups.com; posting-host=2001:56a:fb70:6300:6947:3c86:73e1:a64e;
posting-account=1nOeKQkAAABD2jxp4Pzmx9Hx5g9miO8y
NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:56a:fb70:6300:6947:3c86:73e1:a64e
References: <tiuqqr$mhjd$2@dont-email.me> <jrga92Fp1tdU1@mid.individual.net>
<cdf3b1cd-e573-4500-9aec-0a560a311d2bn@googlegroups.com> <tj27ml$18be$1@gioia.aioe.org>
<robertaw-DB0874.21454622102022@news.individual.net> <55bf99b3-1a02-4fb6-b004-24c21908c0ccn@googlegroups.com>
<tj56od$1pt1$2@gioia.aioe.org> <qhfdlhp3no95m525l72bhq83pge266smbq@4ax.com>
<0ea67766-3e6c-4290-9f9b-0de052a0eb0dn@googlegroups.com> <fnbllh1hoedthngdigs6j7rg5atcu5m3k1@4ax.com>
<tjeo7h$2r7q3$1@dont-email.me> <BKB6L.833321$BKL8.430727@fx15.iad>
<f900c7dc-f58a-4df5-bcb9-5d19e808d017n@googlegroups.com> <tjf4f0$2saeh$1@dont-email.me>
User-Agent: G2/1.0
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-ID: <5ff286cb-0a40-42cc-8b25-e547f8d97b09n@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":
From: jsav...@ecn.ab.ca (Quadibloc)
Injection-Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2022 02:42:24 +0000
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
X-Received-Bytes: 2502
 by: Quadibloc - Fri, 28 Oct 2022 02:42 UTC

On Thursday, October 27, 2022 at 5:32:53 PM UTC-6, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

> It also doesn't address my problem with panspermia, which is that the
> universe isn't old enough for life to have come into existence in a
> single point in a galaxy and then spread thru the entire galaxy, let
> alone universe.

That's true. But if panspermia could be accepted as "merely" pushing things
back one level, then there's no need for life to originate only once. Panspermia
could simply be a mechanism for having it originate _slightly less often_.

After all, there is evidence that life has travelled between Earth and Mars on
meteorites. So instead of once per Universe, or once per galaxy, it could still
work on the scale of once per Solar System.

John Savard

Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":

<tn1olh11sapfsfc74uic9m7kidtqagsmqo@4ax.com>

 copy mid

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/article-flat.php?id=81159&group=rec.arts.sf.written#81159

 copy link   Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!paganini.bofh.team!eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: psper...@old.netcom.invalid (Paul S Person)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2022 09:46:08 -0700
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 47
Message-ID: <tn1olh11sapfsfc74uic9m7kidtqagsmqo@4ax.com>
References: <tiuqqr$mhjd$2@dont-email.me> <jrga92Fp1tdU1@mid.individual.net> <cdf3b1cd-e573-4500-9aec-0a560a311d2bn@googlegroups.com> <tj27ml$18be$1@gioia.aioe.org> <robertaw-DB0874.21454622102022@news.individual.net> <55bf99b3-1a02-4fb6-b004-24c21908c0ccn@googlegroups.com> <tj56od$1pt1$2@gioia.aioe.org> <qhfdlhp3no95m525l72bhq83pge266smbq@4ax.com> <0ea67766-3e6c-4290-9f9b-0de052a0eb0dn@googlegroups.com> <fnbllh1hoedthngdigs6j7rg5atcu5m3k1@4ax.com> <tjeo7h$2r7q3$1@dont-email.me>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Injection-Info: reader01.eternal-september.org; posting-host="123b0fbc02a09ccc60f1d1b4e32ee7ca";
logging-data="3307689"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1/ZmaGqM1y/d5jkOaa/fMf8QsJ4R1/seHg="
User-Agent: ForteAgent/8.00.32.1272
Cancel-Lock: sha1:mmR//sV4srAWxW2DOcg8GoGQ3vY=
 by: Paul S Person - Fri, 28 Oct 2022 16:46 UTC

On Thu, 27 Oct 2022 13:04:03 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 10/27/2022 9:20 AM, Paul S Person wrote:
>> On Wed, 26 Oct 2022 22:25:16 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc
>> <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>>
>>> On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 10:33:27 AM UTC-6, Paul S Person wrote:
>>>
>>>> They aren't a series. They are four different novels on an idea.
>>>>
>>>> Which was that, since God does not exist, and Evolution cannot explain
>>>> Man, it must have been Space Aliens that turned apes into sentients.
>>>
>>> That _would_ have been a crazy and stupid idea, if Clarke actually
>>> took it seriously. However, as a premise that makes for interesting
>>> story ideas, it's not bad.
>>
>> I still have a memory of having read /exactly/ that explanation
>> (differently phrased to sound more reasonable) from AC Clarke himself,
>> but I can't recall where and have never been able to find it. It's not
>> in the introduction/afterword (if either exists) in my current copy of
>> 2001, and may have been in a magazine.
>>
>>> Essentially, the biggest problem is the same as with panspermia as an
>>> explanation of the origin of life. Panspermia _could happen_, but in order
>>> to be possible, it must also be possible for life to originate naturally,
>>> otherwise, it would never have gotten started.
>>
>> You correct to the extent that you are pointing out that it merely
>> moves the problem back one level, so to speak.
>>
>> I make no comments on what might have happened on /that/ level.
>
>My problem with panspermia is _TIME_. It takes a rock 100,000 years to
>get from Mars to Earth and you think that method is going to spread life
>through an entire galaxy within the current lifetime of the universe?

My understanding of "panspermia" is /not/ that the alleged precursors
of life were delivered, but that /life itself/ was delivered.

It is the ultimate form of prejudice -- all life is like ours.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":

<8506fb93-bd97-4386-9a9a-622e2f78dd5bn@googlegroups.com>

 copy mid

https://www.novabbs.com/arts/article-flat.php?id=81209&group=rec.arts.sf.written#81209

 copy link   Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
X-Received: by 2002:a37:c44d:0:b0:6fa:271c:fd20 with SMTP id h13-20020a37c44d000000b006fa271cfd20mr772705qkm.35.1667127981783;
Sun, 30 Oct 2022 04:06:21 -0700 (PDT)
X-Received: by 2002:a05:6870:20e:b0:13c:de38:371d with SMTP id
j14-20020a056870020e00b0013cde38371dmr1170814oad.65.1667127981522; Sun, 30
Oct 2022 04:06:21 -0700 (PDT)
Path: i2pn2.org!i2pn.org!usenet.blueworldhosting.com!feed1.usenet.blueworldhosting.com!peer03.iad!feed-me.highwinds-media.com!news.highwinds-media.com!news-out.google.com!nntp.google.com!postnews.google.com!google-groups.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2022 04:06:21 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <qhfdlhp3no95m525l72bhq83pge266smbq@4ax.com>
Injection-Info: google-groups.googlegroups.com; posting-host=94.196.66.141; posting-account=dELd-gkAAABehNzDMBP4sfQElk2tFztP
NNTP-Posting-Host: 94.196.66.141
References: <tiuqqr$mhjd$2@dont-email.me> <jrga92Fp1tdU1@mid.individual.net>
<cdf3b1cd-e573-4500-9aec-0a560a311d2bn@googlegroups.com> <tj27ml$18be$1@gioia.aioe.org>
<robertaw-DB0874.21454622102022@news.individual.net> <55bf99b3-1a02-4fb6-b004-24c21908c0ccn@googlegroups.com>
<tj56od$1pt1$2@gioia.aioe.org> <qhfdlhp3no95m525l72bhq83pge266smbq@4ax.com>
User-Agent: G2/1.0
MIME-Version: 1.0
Message-ID: <8506fb93-bd97-4386-9a9a-622e2f78dd5bn@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":
From: rja.carn...@excite.com (Robert Carnegie)
Injection-Date: Sun, 30 Oct 2022 11:06:21 +0000
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
X-Received-Bytes: 4116
 by: Robert Carnegie - Sun, 30 Oct 2022 11:06 UTC

On Monday, 24 October 2022 at 17:33:27 UTC+1, Paul S Person wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Oct 2022 00:10:36 -0500, Lynn McGuire
> <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On 10/23/2022 8:02 AM, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> >> On Sunday, 23 October 2022 at 05:45:52 UTC+1, Robert Woodward wrote:
> >>> In article <tj27ml$18be$1...@gioia.aioe.org>,
> >>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> On 10/21/2022 3:12 PM, William Hyde wrote:
> >>>>> On Friday, October 21, 2022 at 3:29:43 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> >>>>>> In article <tiuqqr$mhjd$2...@dont-email.me>,
> >>>>>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>> From SRW in the Fort Bend Journal, "A Big Number":
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Overheard at the fish mongers:
> >>>>>>> Woman: "I see you're reading a book. Do you have a favorite?"
> >>>>>>> Man: 1984.
> >>>>>>> Woman: "Wow, so many!"
> >>>>>>>
> >>>>>>> Lynn
> >>>>>> Hmm. Are there any other SF titles which are just numbers? Many, of course,
> >>>>>> have number in the title, but I'm drawing a blank on another one with just
> >>>>>> a number.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Disch's 334.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> William Hyde
> >>>>
> >>>> Got a URL on that ?
> >>>>
> >>> It hasn't had a reprint since 1999 (which isn't bad considering it was
> >>> originally published in 1972). The ISFDB has an entry of course
> >>> (<https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?2481>)
> >>
> >> Incidentally, ISFDB seemed to be unhappy searching
> >> for a numeral as a fiction title. I got a lot of results
> >> that were Chinese and Japanese.
> >>
> >> And, depending on what you mean by title or
> >> subtitle: _2001_. Also, _2010_, _2061_, and _3001_.
> >>
> >> There's a parody short story, I've forgotten by whom,
> >> whose title is something like "4,285,714,285", but
> >> not that? (Mine is 30 billion / 7. I like the rhythm.)
> >
> >How could I forget 2001, 2010, 2061, and 3001 ?
> When I was reading/re-reading Clarke, I read those as a series.
>
> They aren't a series. They are four different novels on an idea.
>
> Which was that, since God does not exist, and Evolution cannot explain
> Man, it must have been Space Aliens that turned apes into sentients.

Evolution can't explain the four-footed Cretaceous
walking cuckoo, partly because I made it up
as the product of alien experiments while evolution
produced everything else. I don't think that the
_2001_ series argues that evolution wouldn't produce
the modern human mind, only that it didn't, the alien
monoliths did. And what we became isn't quite what
those aliens intended - or they changed their minds.

Pages:12
server_pubkey.txt

rocksolid light 0.9.7
clearnet tor