FAT CHANCE: a response to the documentary Alien Planet
Very interesting and exciting. However there are millions of 'howevers'. When I think of how our limited intelligence and sensory array, even considering the extension of our computational abilities and technologically boosted sensibilities, cannot cope with the diversity of intelligences here on Earth, I do not see how we can progress very far at all when we encounter other intelligences that have evolved from another bed of DNA-equivalent building structures.
1) "Her Deepness," Sylvia Earle, records a failed opportunity of communication with an octopus. The octopus showed every sign of intelligence and the will to communicate, with some startling reinforcement for the anthropomorphic interpretation of the octopus' emotional behavior.
2) Dolphins are intelligent enough to follow human voice commands and in one instance that I credit, have tried to imitate human speech. We can barely imitate 'baby dolphin speech,' much like a baby crying to communicate it's needs.
3) I have heard that some gifted parrots not only imitate human speech, but can use the language correctly. This may be true.
Given only those three examples, my assessment of our ability to speak with a truly alien intelligence is "fat chance." If it weren't for the delightful intelligence of dogs, we cannot even speak across species here on Earth. We should, however, be able to establish that both parties of an earthling-to-alien meeting are intelligent.
I don't mean to discourage the attempt, though. It would be wonderful to give it a try.
My thought is that we had better add more vitality to our attempts to communicate with other Terran life-forms that spring from our common bed of DNA.
Or, alas, perhaps our very thought is so limited by the form of our bipedal bisymmetrical Terran experience that we are unable, without some serious alteration of our minds, to speak beyond our own species.
Ha! And considering politics, Democrats, Republicans and third party groups are all speaking different languages. Lies and deception and predation and ignorance and stupidity and mental instability create a pretty big obstacle for genuine communication every where at all times. Whew! Fat chance. But let's get out there and get into the mix.
1) "Her Deepness," Sylvia Earle, records a failed opportunity of communication with an octopus. The octopus showed every sign of intelligence and the will to communicate, with some startling reinforcement for the anthropomorphic interpretation of the octopus' emotional behavior.
2) Dolphins are intelligent enough to follow human voice commands and in one instance that I credit, have tried to imitate human speech. We can barely imitate 'baby dolphin speech,' much like a baby crying to communicate it's needs.
3) I have heard that some gifted parrots not only imitate human speech, but can use the language correctly. This may be true.
Given only those three examples, my assessment of our ability to speak with a truly alien intelligence is "fat chance." If it weren't for the delightful intelligence of dogs, we cannot even speak across species here on Earth. We should, however, be able to establish that both parties of an earthling-to-alien meeting are intelligent.
I don't mean to discourage the attempt, though. It would be wonderful to give it a try.
My thought is that we had better add more vitality to our attempts to communicate with other Terran life-forms that spring from our common bed of DNA.
Or, alas, perhaps our very thought is so limited by the form of our bipedal bisymmetrical Terran experience that we are unable, without some serious alteration of our minds, to speak beyond our own species.
Ha! And considering politics, Democrats, Republicans and third party groups are all speaking different languages. Lies and deception and predation and ignorance and stupidity and mental instability create a pretty big obstacle for genuine communication every where at all times. Whew! Fat chance. But let's get out there and get into the mix.
posted by Thunderpen | 2:46 AM
3 Comments:
"Alien Planet" the full documentary, with delightful CGI, can be found at http://www.hulkus.com/alien-planet-full-documentary/
Maybe we'll have one of those bottlenecks in evolution and suddenly spout new communicating abilities -- surely the next leap will be nonverbal. There's so much communication going on on other levels--cellular, even--that we're only vague aware of, if at all. But it's going on.
Omg, scary!
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