Aug 04

Uniquely Human !!

Books 1 Comment »

The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee

I have been reading this wonderful book by Jared Diamond, “The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee”. In this book, Diamond dwells on why just one of the species of the big mammals (humans) came to dominate the other closer species which had a equal chance for the top position. It also dwells on how one group of humans (eurasians) came to dominate the other native groups all over the globe. Diamond’s famous masterpiece “Guns, Germs and Steel“, which was written after this book explains more about the latter topic.

I found the following argument quite interesting and decided to share it along.

” I find it mind-boggling that the astronomers now eager to spend a hundred million dollars on the search for extraterrestrial life have never thought seriously about the most obvious question: what would happen if we found it, or if it found us. The astronomers tacitly assume that we and the little green monsters would welcome each other and settle down to fascinating conversations. Here again, our own experience on Earth offers useful guidance. We have already discovered two species that are very intelligent but technically less advanced than us — the common chimpanzee and pygmy chimpanzee. Has our response been to sit down and try to communicate with them? Of course not. Instead we shoot them, stuff them, dissect them, cut off their hands for trophies, put them on exhibit in cages, inject them with AIDS virus as a medical experiment, and destroy or take over their habitat. That response was predictable, because human explorers who discovered technically less advanced humans also regularly responded by shooting them, decimating their populations with new diseases, and destroying or taking over their habitat.
Any advanced extraterrestrials who discovered us would surely treat us in the same way. Think again of those astronomers who beamed radio signals into space from Arecibo, describing Earth’s location and its inhabitants. In its suicidal folly that act rivalled the folly of the last Inca emperor, Atahuallpa, who described to his gold-crazy Spanish captors the wealth of his capital and provided them with guides for the journey. If there really are any radio civilizations within listening distance of us, then for heaven’s sake let’s turn off our own transmitters and try to escape detection, or we are doomed.
Fortunately for us, the silence from outer space is deafening. Yes, out there are billions of galaxies with billions of stars. Out there must be some transmitters as well, but not many, and they do not last long. Probably there are no others in our galaxy, and surely none within hundreds of light-years of us. What woodpeckers teach us about flying saucers is that we are unlikely ever to see one. For practical purposes, we are unique and alone in a crowded universe. Thank God! “

” I find it mind-boggling that the astronomers now eager to spend a hundred million dollars on the search for extraterrestrial life have never thought seriously about the most obvious question: what would happen if we found it, or if it found us. The astronomers tacitly assume that we and the little green monsters would welcome each other and settle down to fascinating conversations. Here again, our own experience on Earth offers useful guidance. We have already discovered two species that are very intelligent but technically less advanced than us — the common chimpanzee and pygmy chimpanzee. Has our response been to sit down and try to communicate with them? Of course not. Instead we shoot them, stuff them, dissect them, cut off their hands for trophies, put them on exhibit in cages, inject them with AIDS virus as a medical experiment, and destroy or take over their habitat. That response was predictable, because human explorers who discovered technically less advanced humans also regularly responded by shooting them, decimating their populations with new diseases, and destroying or taking over their habitat.

Any advanced extraterrestrials who discovered us would surely treat us in the same way. Think again of those astronomers who beamed radio signals into space from Arecibo, describing Earth’s location and its inhabitants. In its suicidal folly that act rivalled the folly of the last Inca emperor, Atahuallpa, who described to his gold-crazy Spanish captors the wealth of his capital and provided them with guides for the journey. If there really are any radio civilizations within listening distance of us, then for heaven’s sake let’s turn off our own transmitters and try to escape detection, or we are doomed.

Fortunately for us, the silence from outer space is deafening. Yes, out there are billions of galaxies with billions of stars. Out there must be some transmitters as well, but not many, and they do not last long. Probably there are no others in our galaxy, and surely none within hundreds of light-years of us. What woodpeckers teach us about flying saucers is that we are unlikely ever to see one. For practical purposes, we are unique and alone in a crowded universe. Thank God! “

It’s time we stopped looking up at the skies, trying to find intelligence and life. It’s high time we saw and realised what is happening here in earth and conserve what is left.

Related articles
Aug 02

Let’s Do It !

Environment No Comments »

“Let’s Do It ! 2008″ was a grassroot initiative to clean up Estonia(one of the former Soviet states) from illegal waste in just one day. There was over 10 000 tons of illegal waste lying around all over Estonia and more than 600 volunteers were working to make it all happen with only 3 full-time employees. There were approximately 50,000 people participating in the cleanup of the forests and countryside. The campaign was executed with media buildup during october 2007-april 2008 and the action was carried out during one day in 3rd of May 2008.

Check out www.teeme2008.ee    http://www.teeme2008.ee/?setlang=eng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5GryIDl0qY
Since then Latvia has copied the event in September 2008 with 40,000 volunteers and there are active groups in five countries planning to something similar in 2009.
The idea is simple. All the active people who care about their country and the shared environment we live in – Let’s put our efforts together, to create a new wave of civic activism. Country by country. It is time to be inspired and inspire others, create a new level of co-operation for the whole society and the world.
Check out www.letsdoitworld.org http://www.letsdoitworld.org/en
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=90819190212&ref=ts
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1999886

Check www.teeme2008.ee for more details on it was achieved…

Since then Latvia has copied the event in September 2008 with 40,000 volunteers and there are active groups in five countries planning to something similar in 2009.

The idea is simple. All the active people who care about their country and the shared environment we live in – Let’s put our efforts together, to create a new wave of civic activism. Country by country. It is time to be inspired and inspire others, create a new level of co-operation for the whole society and the world.

Check www.letsdoitworld.org

There is also a Facebook Group and a LinkedIn Group

Jul 29

Update

General 3 Comments »

Just another update… Resigned my job back in Oct ’08 and relocated to India.. trying and fighting to live a simple, uncomplicated life.. there have been highs and lows in these past 9 months… have been exploring, reading, meeting new and wonderful people and of course sleeping a lot…

Hoping to continue blogging…

Aug 30

The Plastic Battle

General No Comments »

The following video explains how the present plastic packaging system for simple stuff has overgrown its basic necessity. Today we have a plastic package of nearly 100g for a simple USB drive which weighs just 20g. This video was the winner of Friends of the Earth‘s Best One-minute green film award. It highlights a very sad story in a very simple manner.

Related articles
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Previous Entries Next Entries