User talk:Planet-Earth

A welcome from Master of Puppets
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P.S. Feel free to leave a message on my talk page if you need help with anything or simply wish to say hello. :) --Mas  T  er of Puppets Peek! 03:54, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Fermi Paradox
With your argument about looking into the past while looking deeper into space - I don't think it holds water, or at least not without a complex and detailed explanation that doesn't fit in an article that is already too long.

Let me elabortate.

The argument as it stood basically says


 * we only get to see a small "slice" of time in the vast history of the universe. If the lifetime of an alien civilization doesn't exist in this brief span then we won't see them

You are arguing that we see into the past, due to the "lag" due to the speed-of-light - and you are correct in pointing this out. However we do not see more of time, we just see different "slices" of time for different areas.

If human civilization exists for X years, then we only get to observe each area of space for X years. It doesn't matter if when an alien civilization existed, so long as it existed within "the observable time" for that region of space.

For example: If a civilization existed in region of space between 99,000 and 101,000 years ago, 100,000 light years away, we would see them (hopefully) because we are "seeing into the past". If they existed betwnn 95,000 and 96,000 years ago, or even now, we won't see them.

We don't get to see more time by "looking into the past", just different time - so he original argument still holds. Even though you are correct in your point about seeing into the past, it really doesn't change the odds of detection a whole lot. What does affect it is the lifespan of the observing civilization and the lifespan of the observed civilization in realation to the lifespan of the universe. - Vedexent 15:35, 24 February 2006 (UTC)