The Golden records on the Voyager Spacecraft? WHY????

[GrimSleeper]

http://en.wikipedia.o...Voyager_Golden_Record

Last night we was at the local rubadub and this conversation came up and to be quite frank thoroughly enraged me to the point that I ended up walking out of the pub! I've been an avid reader of this site for quite a while and deemed this a perfect point for which to make my debut entry with.
Sending golden records into space in CASE there are aliens.....Don't they know how ridiculously crazy that sounds? Oh so we then maybe should blast one into deep space in CASE there's a god? Roll a couple to end of the garden in CASE there are fairies? No no no lets leave one on top of the chimney for father Christmas shall we? IF there were aliens wouldn't they have made face to contact by now and would either be laughing and pointing at s for our low IQ's and unnecessary anger and warring ways to our fellow man or would have enslaved us and would now be probing us with a manor of sharp hot and pointed objects by now?
I like facts and use this as weight to maintain momentum behind any large debate i may be rolling towards whoever I talk to but this "Aliens in the stars" lark has got to stop yes or no?
Anyway I'm back off to the rubadub as we have a "God squad" member who will be partaking in todays debate which will be obviously Is there or isn't there a god.....I can feel my blood pressure rising already.
Bye all catch you later.

[R1Geezer]

Oh dear Naomi, yes it's 4 light years, I say Hi, they say Hi, round trip 8 years. Yes even if there was a thriving civilisation there we could barely communicate. Even at the extremities of SCi Fi it's still impractical. OK over to you come on, any thing you can imagine, any possible break through, to make comminication practical it would need to have a sensible response time. Imagine talking on the phone how long between responses would you accept before you'd say forget it, 30 seconds? 1 minute? I'll take and analyse, any existing scifi any of your own ideas, what possible way could there be? however far fetched? Sorry I stand by my original statement, we will never communicate in any way with aliens, I hope I'm wrong.

Convince me I'm yours, I want to be wrong.

[jake-the-peg]

I think Ludwig is right - it's symbolic to calculate the odds of someone picking ip up misses the point.

It's like burying a time capsule or putting a message in a bottle and throwing it into the ocean.

By the way - love all these predictions of the Drake equation.

The Drake equation is a gem - designed I think to teach science students about calculating errors.

You take 7 factors that are increasingly difficult to get an accurate number for and multiply them together.

Take the result and bandy the number about with no reference to the uncertainty involved.

I've seen results varying from 10,000 to 2.3

The only thing I know less acurate in generating estimates is the system plumbers use

[jake-the-peg]

Whilst we're on the communication with aliens there are two possibilities.

Firstly sub light transmissions. As you say communicating with a system a dozen light years apart there's no possibility of a phone call type communication occuring.

However I can see a system where messages could flow between - each generation might send a message and get a reply in their lifetime.

Even such limited communications would be unbelievably important.

The other is faster than light communication.

I very much doubt that faster than light travel is possible - the mass problem and energies are too great - not to mention the delicacies of the human form.

Fasterthan light information flow though I wouldn't write off completely. Remember relativity does not forbid it. Relativity is *based* on it as an observation.

Remembering quantum mechanical effects and things like the EPR paradox - I wouldn't write off the possibility.

I think the odds are against it, but not far against it - I'd take 10:1 against

[naomi24]

^^ I don't think I need to say anything more Geezer.

[R1Geezer]

Jake makes some interesting points but it's hardly conclusive is it Naomi? Tell you what I'll give a googleplex to 1 if that helps, minimum bet £1m, ok?

[naomi24]

No, it's not conclusive, but what you say is just silly. You can't possibly know what the future holds.

[R1Geezer]

in posession of all the facts it is silly to think otherwise. Invent me something in your mind, take up my challenge above, open your head to the figures Naomi! Warp speed is far too slow even for communication, let alone travel so what other medium is there? Sub space, worm holes, stargate SG1?

[naomi24]

But you're not in possession of all the facts because we have not yet discovered all the facts. You're not even in possession of all of the facts as they are currently known - as Jake has demonstrated. If you really think that man has succeeded in achieving the limits of his potential, then you need to think again.

[R1Geezer]

OK Naomi, have it your way, Googol plex - 1 still stands!

[ludwig]

The list of things that used to be 'impossible' but we now take for granted as everyday occurences is a very long one geezer. Communication with aliens may well be another on that list - who knows?

[naomi24]

Geezer does Ludwig. ;o)