A few days ago, RfM member schrodingerscat made a post in which he credited Neil deGrasse Tyson with the following quote:

"'If there is life elsewhere in the universe it is either so much more advanced from us we are unrecognizable as life, or so far less evolved from us that we don't recognize it as life. The chances of extra terrestrial life being exactly as evolved as life on Earth are next to infinite.'"

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2271228,2271336#msg-2271336


No source was given in the post and my subsequent request to schrodingerscat for a source has gone unanswered. I, myself, have searched for it to no avail.

I have a few issues with the alleged quotation and would like to know of it is legit.

Any help?

Thanks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2019 08:05PM by lurking in.

What amuses me about this kerfuffle is the possibility that S's Cat made up the quotation and then picked one of his heroes on whom to pin it.

He may believe that he did Neil a favor.


Edited to add this possibility: the two of them were texting when Neil 'said' it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2019 07:04PM by elderolddog.

"Someone made up a quotation and then picked one of his heroes on whom to pin it."

--Judic West, J.B.S Haldane Professor of Entomology, Dungton State University

"How rare it must be that one picks one's self as one's hero!"
--Anonymous

"Lot's Wife can't be Judic West, for she is elderolddog."

--Cousin AndyJoseph, Barrister of Newark

The quotation sounds more like something Carl Sagan said.

No reputable scientist (if the scientist were "speaking as a scientist") could have originated the quote in question.

I was quoting from memory and can't find the exact reference, but not sure why its so difficult to believe.
Think how far we have advanced just in your lifetime. Now add or subtract a million years of evolution. You think we'd be able to communicate with a being a million year headstart on us?
Tyson is worried humans are too stupid to communicate with aliens.
https://youtu.be/Tt0uV5d8tss

Next time you can’t remember something verbatim and/or your memory fails when it comes to the source and context, don’t say it’s a quote. Qualify it. That’s all. Or don’t appeal to authority. Just own it as a thought of yours or qualify it.

"I and my troops were able to survive Valley Forge because of Maxell House Coffee. It's the coffee that made our nation possible!"
--George Washington


Hey, makes sense to me.

Ms. Maxwell is a bad person.

schrodingerscat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was quoting from memory and can't find the exact
> reference,

Quoting someone else from memory is a REALLY big no-no and a source should be provided.

> but not sure why its so difficult to
> believe.
> Think how far we have advanced just in your
> lifetime. Now add or subtract a million years of
> evolution. You think we'd be able to communicate
> with a being a million year headstart on us?

While it is conceivable that we would not be able to communicate with such a being, that's not even close to what you claim NdGT said--here's the relevant portion of the quote you attributed to him:

"'If there is life elsewhere in the universe it is EITHER so much more advanced from us WE ARE UNRECOGNIZABLE AS LIFE, OR so far less evolved from us that WE DON'T RECOGNIZE IT AS LIFE.'" [emphasis added]

That claim is unscientific and absolutist as it disregards the many possibilities between the extremes; I'm confident NdGT never uttered or wrote those words or any conveying a similar meaning.

> Tyson is worried humans are too stupid to
> communicate with aliens.
> https://youtu.be/Tt0uV5d8tss

I watched the video and don't disagree with anything NdGT says in it, but nothing in the video resembles your quote of him.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/2019 04:43PM by lurking in.

Shouldn't it be "infinitessimal"?

Are you referring to the last sentence in the alleged quotation?

"'The chances of extra terrestrial life being exactly as evolved as life on Earth are next to infinite.'"

There are a couple of problems with that sentence. Yes, rather than "next to infinite," I think "infinitesimal" (as you suggest) or "next to zero," would better convey the apparently intended meaning. Also, I don't think a scientist like NdGT would use the phrase "exactly as evolved as" in this context. It's meaning is unclear at best.

lurking in Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are you referring to the last sentence in the
> alleged quotation?
>
> "'The chances of extra terrestrial life being
> exactly as evolved as life on Earth are next to
> infinite.'"
>
> There are a couple of problems with that sentence.
> Yes, rather than "next to infinite," I think
> "infinitesimal" (as you suggest) or "next to
> zero," would better convey the apparently intended
> meaning. Also, I don't think a scientist like
> NdGT would use the phrase "exactly as evolved as"
> in this context. It's meaning is unclear at best.


You're all missing the point, focusing on the trees instead of seeing the forest. Forget about the quote. I know I heard it from NdGT, in an interview, but he's done a million of them and going back through all of them is next to impossible, but he poses that as one explanation of why we have not had contact with Aliens, if they exist,
maybe we're too stupid for them.
kind of like we look at worms.
But I'm pretty sure if we found anything with DNA on another planet, it'd be the biggest news in history.

> You're all missing the point,
> focusing on the trees instead
> of seeing the forest.


Well, we're not the brightest bulbs on the Tulip trees...

>> "maybe we're too stupid for them.
kind of like we look at worms."

Why do you assume worms are stupid and assume others do as well? Why the worm hate?

"The problem with internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" ~ Abraham Lincoln, 1864

"This could go on forever."

--Laozi, 521 BCE

"Jane, stop this crazy thing!"

-- George Jetson, 2062 AD

Let's take NdGT and set him over to the side so he can continue to respond to all the hate mail he received from children when he demoted Pluto.

schrodingerscat, what is your point? I'm not snarking. Your point got lost in the noise.

What is your point in your words based on your thinking?