At some point, possibly during his later days in Sri Lanka, Arthur C. Clarke uttered these unforgettable words: “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” Do either or both of these possibilities terrify you? One possibility suggests a future encounter with an Other that is impossible for us to imagine. The other possibility presents a universe where human beings are the pinnacle of intelligence. Depending on where your fear of the other and cynicism over history sit, either of these conclusions could be unsettling. But how possible are these possibilities? Here’s and exploration from Centauri Dreams:
Working with the University of Sydney’s Geraint Lewis, Kipping (Columbia University) has applied a thought experiment first conceived by Edwin Jaynes to dig into the matter. Jaynes (1922-1998) was a physicist at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. Through his analysis of probabilities (statistical inference was a key aspect of his work), Jaynes laid a framework that he analyzed with rigor, one that was later tweaked by J. B. S. Haldane, a man who had his own set of famous quotes, including the familiar “Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.” This seems to be a day for good quotes.
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