By Rebecca Boyle
Hawking: Aliens Are Out There The venerable British scientist, seen here in 2008, believes aliens are out there, and we should avoid them like the plague.
Stephen Hawking believes we should fear aliens, which would probably come to Earth in search of resources and bent on our destruction.
The venerated cosmologist says in a new Discovery Channel series that he thinks aliens exist, but we should do everything we can to avoid meeting them. Any life intelligent enough to find us would probably be seeking resources, he says. And that would likely be bad news for humans.
"We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet," he says.
Among billions of galaxies, each containing hundreds of millions of stars, Earth is probably not the only place where life evolved, he says. To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational," he said. "The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like."
The documentary offers several possibilities, including herds of two-legged herbivores grazing on an alien cliff-face where they are picked off by flying lizard predators, reports The Times of London. Another clip shows fluorescent aquatic animals forming vast shoals in the oceans of Europa.
Hawking, 68, spent three years working on the documentary, which highlights his thinking about several topics, the Times reported.
He's previously spoken in favor of human colonization of other planets, arguing it would ensure the human race would survive nuclear war or asteroid collisions that could make Earth uninhabitable. But he says aliens with the same motivations would probably not be trustworthy.
"If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans," Hawking says. (The Times online)
...................................................................................................................................................................OK, I just want to say this about that. I believe IF aliens do come to Earth, they will be from another dimension not another planet. I agree with Hawking that we would want to stay clear, because they will be demons and will have bad intent! Maybe they are already here and have been all along, we just can't see them. But... maybe in the end times the veil will be lifted and we WILL see them. I don't know, but as much as we have been 'conditioned' to believe in aliens, I think it will be something. Something nefarious no doubt..
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label religion. Show all posts
Friday, April 11, 2014
Are we Losing our Faith because of the Internet? (Drudge Report)
Losing our religion: New research shows the Internet could be making Americans lose faith
- New research shows that the number of Americans with religious affiliations has dropped by 18 per cent, or 25 million people
- Computer scientist Allen Downey says there is a correlation between the drop and the rise of Internet use
- He says the increased usage of the internet correlates to 25 per cent of the drop
New research has shown a correlation between the rise of the Internet and the decline of Americans claiming religious affiliation.
Other factors, such as an increase in higher education, are also implicated, but according to Allen Downey, a computer scientist at the Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, the increase in Internet usage has a significant correlation.
The MIT Technology Review reports that in 1990, eight per cent of Americans had no religious affiliation. In 2010, that figure stands at 18 per cent, or 25 million people.

Religious figures: Downey says that increased Internet usage correlates to about 25 per cent of the drop in religiosity
Downey analyzed data from the General Social Survey, a well-respected annual research survey carried out by the University of Chicago, to make his findings.
Downey says the single biggest cause of religious affiliation is upbringing: those you are raised in religious households are much more likely to remain in their family's religion as adults.
More...
However, since 1990, the number of people who had relgious upbringings has fallen, leading to a decrease in religious individuals - but Downey says that can only account for 25 per cent of the drop.
Higher education at the college level is also correlated with the drop in religion, but although the number of people receiving a college education has increased 10 per cent since the 1980s, Downey says it only accounts for a five per cent drop.

Crossed off: About 25 million fewer Americans have religious affiliations today than back in 1990
By far the largest factor, says Downey, is Internet use.
In the 1980s, Internet use was virtually non-existent, but in 2010, 53 per cent of people spent two hours online a week and 25 per cent spent more than seven hours.
Downey is careful to note that his research has revealed a correlation and not a causation. A relationship between the rise of the Internet and the drop in religion exists, but one is not directly responsible for the other.
Downey says that his research has controlled for 'most of the obvious candidates, including income, education, socioeconomic status, and rural/urban environments' to discount a third factor, one that is responsible both for the rise of Internet use and the drop in religiosity.
However, that still leaves a 45 per cent drop in religious affiliation that is unaccounted for.
'About half of the observed change remains unexplained,' Downey told the MIT Technology Review.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2597891/Losing-religion-New-research-shows-religion-declined-Internet-use-increased.html#ixzz2yaZTfaK3
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