Reply #25: As I said before, it would be the supreme arrogance of the Human Race... [View All]

[Rosco T.]

.. to think that we are the only intelligent life in the universe. Or to think that where ever life is would necessarly be behind us in devlopment.

The same goes for the arguement that if they're out there, why bother with us? Good question, but then maybe they have and we just have it recorded in history as a 'myth'...

Gives me an excuse for some of my favorite quotes -


"That ant meets another ant and asks, what was that?...There are things in the Universe billions of years older than either of our races .... They are a mystery and I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the Universe, that we have not explained everything." -- Ambassador G'Kar, Babylon 5,"Mind War"

Science fiction. You're right, it's crazy. In fact, it's even worse than that, it's nuts. You wanna hear something really nutty? I heard of a couple guys who wanna build something called an airplane, you know you get people to go in, and fly around like birds, it's ridiculous, right? And what about breaking the sound barrier, or rockets to the moon? Atomic energy, or a mission to Mars? Science fiction, right? Look, all I'm asking is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision. You know, to just sit back for one minute and look at the big picture. To take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history... of history. -- Ellie Arroway, Contact

I'll tell you one thing about the universe, though. The universe is a pretty big place. It's bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So if it's just us... seems like an awful waste of space. Right? -- Ellie Arroway, Contact

... and as much as I despise Shrub and everything he stands for.. and despise him even more for sticking the Space Program out as a diversion for everything else... it's something we have to do.. nevermind the things that have come out of space research (like the internet you are using to read this thru or the small computer sitting in front of you).. there are still important things to do yet..

Reporter: So, Commander, after all you've just gone through, I have to ask you the same question a lot of people back home are asking about space these days. Is it worth it? Should we just pull back, forget the whole thing as a bad idea, and take care of our own problems, at home?

Sinclair: No, we have to stay here. And there's a simple reason why. Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics, and you'll get ten different answers. But there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on: whether it happens in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our Sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us - it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao Tzu, Einstein, and Morobutu, and Buddy Holly, and Aristophanes, and all of this - all of this - was for nothing. Unless we go to the stars. -- Commander Jeffery Sinclair, Babylon 5, "Infection"