WOULD absolute confirmation of Space Aliens cause
some social/cultural/religious disruption ? Yep.

However there are ALWAYS disruptions/confusion ... so
what the hell ?

At this point I'd say MOST people, indeed the overwhelming
percentage, think "They" ARE out there - and likely HERE
to some degree.

IMHO, this is a path that has been PREPARED since the 40s.
From those outlandish "alien invasion" movies to Star Trek
and beyond. In the 50s 'aliens' were proxies for "Russians".
That got a bit more complex in the 60s and got really weird
thereafter. In any case, the ASSUMPTION of 'aliens' was the
hidden undertheme.

Based on what's been reliably SEEN - at least since WW2 -
the 'aliens' don't seem to DO anything - just watch.
There are indications of this since Roman times. Maybe
they're making a 'reality show' - "See The Stupid Humans" ?

Interstellar distances are far too great, as to preclude any chance of
travel, even at speeds approaching c , which is extremely unlikely in
any case.

Do the simple math : distance = speed x time .

At current maximum spacecrart speeds, a one way trip to closest star
neighbor would take many millenia !

On 12/15/23 1:54 PM, casagiannoni@optimum.net wrote:
> Interstellar distances are far too great, as to preclude any chance of
> travel, even at speeds approaching c , which is extremely unlikely in
> any case.
>
> Do the simple math : distance = speed x time .
>
> At current maximum spacecrart speeds, a one way trip to closest star
> neighbor would take many millenia !

'Machines' could make the trip. Organics, as we know
them, not so much.

Though doubtful, there MAY be a trick or two that allows
travel faster than 'c'. I doubt it involves big rocketships
with flames coming out the back. Quantum trick maybe, why
are things so stubbornly where they are ? :-)

'C' is already an extreme annoyance. Can't do telepresence
with a digger machine on Mars because of the delay - and Mars
is pretty close. 'C' makes satellite internet clunky and is
why news reporters had to learn to do the 'nodding' thing
while reporting live from far far away. 'C' is in the way
of how we want common things to work. As such an annoyance,
I'm going to predict that some speed trick WILL be found.
Might not work with 'spaceships' though, but comms at least.

Oh, and if Einie's equation can't be circumvented, it means
that "they", and "WE", are STUCK in our immediate stellar
neighborhood until the universe implodes. NOT fun - and
we've only got ONE good planet around here.

And finally, more psychological, if almost everyone comes
to *believe* there are space aliens everywhere then we
can expect one or more *religions* to evolve, led by
people who Just Know what the aliens want us to do,
think and say. The invisible aliens become authority
figures.

On 12/15/2023 6:38 PM, 56g.1173 wrote:
> On 12/15/23 1:54 PM, casagiannoni@optimum.net wrote:
>> Interstellar distances are far too great, as to preclude any chance of
>> travel, even at speeds approaching c , which is extremely unlikely in
>> any case.
>>
>> Do the simple math :  distance = speed  x  time .
>>
>> At current maximum spacecrart speeds, a one way trip to closest star
>> neighbor would take many millenia !
>
>
>   'Machines' could make the trip. Organics, as we know
>   them, not so much.
>
>   Though doubtful, there MAY be a trick or two that allows
>   travel faster than 'c'. I doubt it involves big rocketships
>   with flames coming out the back. Quantum trick maybe, why
>   are things so stubbornly where they are ? :-)
>
>   'C' is already an extreme annoyance. Can't do telepresence
>   with a digger machine on Mars because of the delay - and Mars
>   is pretty close. 'C' makes satellite internet clunky and is
>   why news reporters had to learn to do the 'nodding' thing
>   while reporting live from far far away. 'C' is in the way
>   of how we want common things to work. As such an annoyance,
>   I'm going to predict that some speed trick WILL be found.
>   Might not work with 'spaceships' though, but comms at least.
>
>   Oh, and if Einie's equation can't be circumvented, it means
>   that "they", and "WE", are STUCK in our immediate stellar
>   neighborhood until the universe implodes. NOT fun - and
>   we've only got ONE good planet around here.
>
>   And finally, more psychological, if almost everyone comes
>   to *believe* there are space aliens everywhere then we
>   can expect one or more *religions* to evolve, led by
>   people who Just Know what the aliens want us to do,
>   think and say. The invisible aliens become authority
>   figures.
>
>
That last part sounds very much like now. And there is an endless supply
of people needing to be told how to live their lives by some authority
figure. We see that in churches of course, and in the modern GOP and
elsewhere.