if we colonize other solar systems....

[vej33]

okay gang, here's the thing. i just got done watching something, and at the end of the program it talked about how we would eventually leave not only our planet, but our solar system, to escape any doomsday event that might disrupt the entire solar system (Planet X, 2012, that kinda stuff)

So I pose a scientific/theological question... if we go on to colonize other solar systems, that is to say, if we find new "Earths" and set up camp there and begin colonizing for generations... do you think we'll invent a new God?

nobody was around for the "birth of Man" on our planet, but if we go to another planet, and WE begin the "birth of Man", will Man be God?

I'm not referring to the Catholic God or any one specifically, or trying to start a debate whether God exists or not, I'm talking about the idea of God socially, the idea that anybody has, even if you don't believe in God, you must have some idea of who God is supposed to be, or else you couldn't disbelieve it.

So what do you think? Will we make ourselves God? if the first man to set foot on the new home planet is Tom Thomas, will "God" be forever referred to as "Tom"?

I'm not even stoned!

vej33 Reviewed by vej33 on 07-26-2008. if we colonize other solar systems.... okay gang, here's the thing. i just got done watching something, and at the end of the program it talked about how we would eventually leave not only our planet, but our solar system, to escape any doomsday event that might disrupt the entire solar system (Planet X, 2012, that kinda stuff) So I pose a scientific/theological question... if we go on to colonize other solar systems, that is to say, if we find new "Earths" and set up camp there and begin colonizing for generations... do you Rating: 5

[RESiNATE]

Hmmm, I know what you're trying to hypothesise about...I think (lol)

Let's say 'Tom' and 'Kate' were the first persons to land on this 'New Earth' with the intention to populate that planet (poor planet) as you described in your preamble.

Let's now fast-forward a few generations.

The initial level of intellect that that 'Tom/Kate' race, as compared to the initial intellect of our own ancestors (ie, primative Man), would be such that history would have been recorded to show that 'Tom' and 'Kate' were not 'Gods', but would be referred to as 'the first to land here...'

I don't think that I'm making much sense....hang on...
:jointsmile:

Ok....

Whereas our ancesters had no grasp of communication, and therefore no way of acurately recording the rise of Man, the ancesters of the New Earth would, and thus there could be no confusion as to the origins of that new 'Tom/Kate' race.

Does that make sense now...:wtf:
lol

But an interesting though, notheless :thumbsup:

Res...

[killerweed420]

Hopefully if we get the intelligence and technology to colonize distant planets we'll be past worrying about where god is hiding. I'm sure we'll make just as big a mess of the other planets as we are messing up this one.
I don't think NASA is going to be the lead agency when we have the technology to leave this solar system. It will all be privately funded for monetary gain.

[Iyaman]

by the time we colonise another planet, the word god wont be in the dictionary

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

I don't think Tom Thompson will be called God any more than Christoper Columbus was when he founded the new world.

[space toker]

hmm, I really can't offer an opinion on that. What I wonder is what will we find ethically acceptable or not in terms of settling a new planet? If there are higher beings already there, do we say "ok a thousand of us will come live here and a thousand of you can live on our planet"? or will we try to conquer or annihilate them like we so often have the habit of doing here on Earth? Maybe we will say ok, ignore that planet and look for a new one, we can't settle there because someone's already there. But where will we draw the line? If our presence adversly affects the local life, will we only settle planets that have no life? Planets with only microbes? Diverse life but no sentients? Or will we have the same "manifest destiny" approach we did with North America?

[TurnyBright]

It depends on the culture that arises after the initial inhabitation. Maybe after thousands (or even only hundreds) of years, the culture shock of starting a new society on a new planet will have caused the origin of the society to be lost to the past.

However, if this were to happen I doubt that the leader of the first colony would be remembered.

UNLESS the people who first settled decided to raise their kids under the impression that there was nothing before the "new" planet and that they were the second generation EVER, but that would be really messed up.

[melodious fellow]

They would undoubtedly just bring 'god' with them and thank 'god' for the new discovery and such. They would claim it as a 'insert the most popular religion of the time here' planet.

Hell, most of our planets are named for 'gods'

Saturn, Jupiter, Venus, Mars... get the idea? lol

[5thHorseMan]

Not only will we be past thinking about a concept as petty and pointless as God, we probably would not even be considered physically human. As we progress technologically, we will continue to adapt to our enviroment, but in order to adapt to space travel, we will need a radical divergence from what is considered human currently, a signifcantly longer life span, a more efficient metabolism, and a improved brain able to store and process the information required by the greater lifespan.

[Smoketobehappy]

God isnt invented and its a simply a word to represent something that cannot be explained. We cant explain the mechanics of life so we name it something and its simpe as that. If god could be invented the idea of "GOD" would lose all meaning.

Technically thats what religion is, making new gods, and people have been doing that for years already. I personaly do not believe in a god, or gods, or an "after" life. I believe the mechanics of our world as a whole are impossible to understand because that "understanding" (given that it even EXISTS) cannot be perceived while our physical body limits our senses.

And about space travel and our ability to move to other planets. First of all, moving to other "solar systems" would be extremely difficult if not impossible. A solar system typically refers to a star surround by "planets" or celestial bodies. The closest star (potential solar system) is MANYYY light years away, a distance impossible to achieve regardless of technological capability because of infinite mass. You would simply deteriorate moving that quickly and even if you didn't you'd die somehow else for sure.

The funny thing is given the existence of a non physical world how would you define the speed at which a spirit moves. Does "speed" even exist in that plane? These questions are impossible to answer, prove, or disprove, which is my point entirely; the questions are compeltely paradoxal and insane and IMPOSSIBLE TO PERCEIVE, or to make any of sense of (because that "understanding" cant exist in this world)