After watching a repeat W5 TV show about SETA (searching for extraterrestrial life etc) I have to make a comment;
It seems to me that ‘extraterrestrial life’ is already here but not recognized as such!
No, I’m not referring to unique aquatic creatures, such as the amazing octopus as was suggested in that program, nor any other mysterious deep sea creature.
So what do I believe may be the unrecognized alien creature on earth;
wait for it…..
Indeed its us ‘humans’!
Ridiculous you say.? Well let’s objectively consider the evidence;
First; given a very long history of environmental damage to the earth humans may well be described as the ‘least compatible creature’ on earth.
Next; consider how very few of mankind actually commit to the support of all the other life-forms on earth. To the contrary, human record proves humans actually; exploit; abuse; and outright destroy; everything from flora to fauna, to animals and vegetables. A far cry from benefiting most other life forms on earth.
Finally; many humans are very discontent with their lives on earth and instead are seeking to occupy other places, such as on the planet Mars, or even much further away from earth if the opportunity presented itself.
So for those (alienated humans) so inclined, I must say; maybe that’s where you actually belong…!?
Once again we see an amazing commitment and technical reaching out for ‘virtual dust’ on Mars. A commitment not just by NASA but by many nations. I firmly believe these efforts defy all logic. They are primarily no more than a vain attempt to justify erroneous theories, at great expense to humanity.
Imho there is no doubt the authors of the latest Mars probe will, once again, have to reluctantly admit failure to provide any ‘substantive support’ for their highly flawed evolutionary beliefs. Beliefs in theories that are little more than a stubborn refusal to admit to a far superior divine authority, the Creator of all life!
However for those still teachable, honest scientists have provided ‘genuine scientific proof’ of our divine creation. (Please see my post: ‘evolution foolishness’).
Not sure who wrote this surprising and interesting post but I do not take credit for it…in fact it appears to have originated with this UK site: https://www.mayflower400uk.org/
On August 5, 1620, the Mayflower departed Plymouth, England, on a journey across the Atlantic. Their destination was the Virginia Colony.
In other words, from the start, their intent was to head further south.
Keep in mind three important facts:
Their original destination was not what is now the Boston area, the place where they finally settled. Boston is south of Plymouth, England (51° N vs. 42° N). The intended destination was even further south (51° N vs. 40° N).
The journey was beset by many delays. They originally intended to set off in July. Since most of the people making the voyage were then living in Leiden, in the Netherlands. The plan was for a sister ship, the Speedwell, to depart England for the Netherlands, pick up the passengers, return to Southampton, join the Mayflower, and then the two ships would begin their journey.
On August 5, the two ships set sail for the New World. The Speedwell began leaking, so they docked in Dartmouth for repairs. They set out again on August 21, and after a few days at sea, the Speedwell began leaking again. The leaders of the voyage determined that the Speedwell would return to England, while the Mayflower would continue across the Atlantic. So, after transferring supplies, the Mayflower finally set out on September 6 — over a month behind schedule.
The transatlantic crossing proved treacherous. While the voyage initially proceeded smoothly, the ship was beset by storms and foul weather during the second half of the trip. They finally spotted land (modern-day Cape Cod) on November 9 — 66 days after they had departed.
Their original plan was to journey about 250 miles further south to establish their colony, but they faced a grave problem: They had run out of beer. Drinking water, in those days, would spoil and become notoriously disease-ridden. Travelers, like those journeying on the Mayflower, relied on beer as a drinking source that wouldn’t spoil. But they had run out.
After exploring the coastline of Cape Cod and the mainland, they finally chose Plymouth, just west of Cape Cod, as the place they would establish their colony, and on December 25 1620 — Christmas Day — they established Plymouth Plantation.
As I noted, their original destination was the Virginia Colony. They intended to settle on a large island, a place teeming with wildlife and natural resources, fronted by a huge and navigable natural harbor, and bordered by a wide river that flowed from far into the interior. At that point in history, the northern boundary of the Virginia Colony was about 225 miles farther north than the current border of Virginia. The island where the voyagers intended to establish their colony is today called Manhattan.
So, the Pilgrims settled in Boston, rather than New York City, because they ran out of beer…you’ve got to admit, its a sobering story!
After purchasing a 100 year old two-storey Austin Street residence that was in need of repairs on a very short term private contract. The work progressed well.
I turned it into a simple up and down duplex, with cozy one bedroom upper suite. Now with young rental tenants upstairs the time to resell and pay off the private financing was not far off.
In fact progress had been so good I wanted to reward my family, as a private pilot.
So I took the required pilot medical in Medford Oregon to obtain a US private pilot endorsement, plus a check ride in a Piper Cherokee thus allowing me to rent said plane for a short pleasure trip around the area with my family.
After circling the nearby spectacular Table Rock volcanic plateau at low altitude, we cruised over the Rogue Valley and further South over the popular ski slopes of Mt. Ashland.
All in all it was a memorable experience that day, which I truly hope left a lasting impression on my children. After all, few could claim to have had such experience.
It may be a bit over the top for me to express this opinion, but here goes;
Capital punishment was instituted by God in His sacred word as the life giver, pure and simple. So why is it so difficult for us, as grateful products of His creation, to deny His judgement for those having willfully caused the death of another human.?
Compassion, sentiment, all have there place as God has well shown. Still the principle of ‘a life for a life’, even when in the womb, is inviolate and balanced if and when guilt is clearly determined – as difficult to prove as that may be, thanks to various dubious or even spurious legal arguments raised today!
However, once guilt has been clearly established, or admitted to, and was not in any way accidental, there should be no other outcome than a death sentence in my humble opinion. The means by which this is done is a much less important consideration.
There is much debate about the death penalty, but, in fact, many of those who have been given a ‘life sentence’; have expressed a preference for a death sentence over life-long incarceration! Therefore what is ‘true compassion’, yes for both victim and perpetrator; relegating a fellow human to a soul-destroying life in prison, or a just and equitable summary death? You be the judge.
Though I cannot claim to be an environmental authority I can and do appreciate the ecology of planet earth as more and more of us now do.
The truth is that mankind has never, at least since ‘before’ being rebellious to God in the garden of Eden, managed to see himself as a participant in the ecology of the planet. Rather we have been generally ignorant beneficiaries of earth’s environment.
What I mean is every day we are learning and confirming that plants, animals, insects, and every aquatic living creature on planet earth actually harmonizes with earth’s ecology; except for…. you guessed it, US!
In other words while all other life forms on earth play a fundamental role in the the continuity of life on earth, in their never ending life and death cycle, mankind has been largely oblivious of his own place.
Mankind has not been able ‘to see the woods for the trees’. In other words as an actual ‘contributing’ participant in earth’s amazing and often hidden environmental cycle(s), how very sad is that!?
Will that ever change? Yes!
I believe it will! E..g. copy and paste this excellent video for some much needed positive hope:
I had just landed at the Nakusp B.C. airstrip located right next to the local community dump. It was a few miles from the village and completely isolated.
My younger brother was supposed to pick me up there, however he had not arrived on time. So I hefted a back pack of some personal gear and started down what appeared to be a back road toward the main road and highway from the airstrip.
Immediately I observed another individual walking along the same roadway just a 200′ or so ahead. Indeed it was a full grown black bear. As I hesitated to follow along behind him, or her, it looked back over its shoulder at me. No doubt more easily aware of me than I was of it.
Of course I can only imagine what it’s thoughts were, mine were somewhat frozen. I thought the backpack may have been somewhat interesting to this beast, even without food. In any case I definitely declined to continue following it, and back stepped back towards my airplane.
Soon I realized my encounter was not alone, the local dump had numerous competing resident bears. Needless to say I was now a little traumatized. So when a pickup truck with a young couple came along I waved them down and very thankfully got a safe ride to the main road where i eventually connected with my negligent brother!
It doesn’t know me, and I don’t know it, male or female. But it has been a local feral cat entity for years. I only know its black bob-tailed butt. It may or may not be the same one that came up on my back railing and peered at me in a kitchen window when I first moved in 8 years ago.
Indeed that cat peered into my kitchen, and me, as if inspecting who had moved in. And not many weeks afterwards as I was sitting on my very private rear sundeck, the same cat came struggling past with a dead rabbit in its jaws that was equal in size to the feline itself to my amazement! It was no-less similar to an African leopard carrying a recently killed gazelle to tree storage!
That was year’s ago, so I’m not sure if the current feline is the same one, or perhaps even the offspring of that highly efficient hunter.
In any case I only see it in fleeting moments, as I did tonight. A ghostly image disappearing around my garden shed or garage. Leaving a remnant of canned salmon or sardines may be well appreciated but not acknowledged by my shadowy neighbor.
But how it has so-far managed to elude regular known predators including coyotes, raccoons, and eagles, not to mention freezing nights, for years, is hard to image, perhaps a case study for military scientists.
In any case it will continue to have my deep admiration for its independent survival skills.
AI has become a highly debated topic. Not only has it been shown to have significant ability to adapt and even learn by implementing programmed rules and parameters, but to some extent even extending actions beyond those limitations.
The real concerns are about the human bias’ and ethics upon which the AI algorithms have been based. Since AI is clearly not the product of ‘evolution’ – as some misguided persons still believe human intelligence originated. Rather it is the construct of human intelligence. In other words mankind is its ‘creator’! How elevating is that fact, or rather how revealing?
Consider this: since we humans are the creators of AI, a significant but much more limited form of reasoning ability, with severe limitations. Compare that to the almost limitless ability of accumulating human intelligence, logically; only a far higher intelligence could have been ‘our’ Creator!
E.g. what about the inculcation (programming) Biblical data in AI? Would it be possible for the ethics, lessons, and guidelines of scripture to be useable by AI? I suggest that is far, far, away from any AI capability. Only human reasoning, emotions, and genuine humility can begin to absorb and apply the lessons therein, and even that with difficulty.
No doubt it is a significant accomplishment to send a probe that reached the Kuiper belt, which is apparently in the same area as Pluto, yet still not even to the limits of our solar system.
Nevertheless we must realistically say this is a very small step for mankind when we consider that, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and earth’ as stated in the very first verse of the bible. No I’m not a religious fanatic, but hopefully providing thoughtful alternative consideration for the formation of the physical universe we are privileged to live in.
It may be difficult for us imperfect humans to envision a Creator, an actual person of such glory and unlimited power, but very factual scientific evidence now points to that conclusion, and by the way; ‘humility’ is well described in scripture as perhaps the most highly valued quality he looks for in each one of mankind, and understandably so!
