Excluding Intelligent Design Principles From the Search For Alien Life 308
KIdPanda writes "Prompted by pictures of man-made structures in the Utah desert, a SETI astronomer explains the sometimes-ambiguous difference between seeing the hand of God, alien intelligence, or nature. 'In my photographs, Shostak's SETI-trained eye — standing in for a pattern-crunching computer program — searched for an unexpected increase in visual order (or, in thermodynamic terms, a decrease in entropy caused by the rebellion of life against universal decay). A road or a tended field is mathematically simpler than a mountainous jumble or naturally varied vegetation. ... But there's an obvious problem: nothing is simpler than a sweep of blue sky, or the inky blackness of space. If simplicity is the benchmark, space itself is evidence of design."
oops (Score:5, Funny)
They assume intelligent life on other worlds would be trying to reduce chaos. I wonder how they arrive at this conclusion, since the only known intelligent life we've found so far seems to rather enjoy creating it in great quantity.
Re:Yeah...except not (Score:1, Funny)
"If simplicity is the benchmark, space itself is in no way evidence of design."
So by this benchmark Windows Vista shows no evidence of design?
Re:What? (Score:5, Funny)
Neither did the article.
Re:I think you're overthinking this (Score:3, Funny)
I thought it was prime numbers and a Hitler speech.
Re:Yeah...except not (Score:3, Funny)
He was talking about intellegent design.
Re:I think you're overthinking this (Score:3, Funny)
Re:oops (Score:2, Funny)
Surely she means the mice. Dolphins aren't all that, they just think they are.
Intelligent design, my ass. (Score:4, Funny)
One word: cancer.
The human body is clear proof that God is an idiot.