“We're hard-wired by 200,000 years of evolution to be sensitive to the idea that someone might be watching us. They might be predators, after all. An uneasy feeling is perfectly natural if you suspect that someone has you in their ocular sights, whether it's a ghost or just some guy at the bus stop.” IfsYearsIdeasHardFeelingsMightGuyNaturalEvolutionSightGhostSensitiveSuspectsBusPredatorUneasyPerfectly NaturalBus StopsUneasy Feelings Author:Seth Shostak
“There is little chance that aliens from two societies anywhere in the Galaxy will be culturally close enough to really 'get along.' This is something to ponder as you watch the famous cantina scene in Star Wars. ... Does this make sense, given the overwhelmingly likely situation that galactic civilizations differ in their level of evolutionary development by thousands or millions of years? Would you share drinks with a trilobite, an ourang-outang, or a saber-toothed tiger? Or would you just arrange to have a few specimens stuffed and carted off to the local museum?” YearsLittlesDoeTwoWarEnoughScienceGivenStarsChanceLevelsSituationWatchesMillionsShareDevelopmentEvolutionDrinkCivilizationSceneLocalsAliensMake SenseMuseumsTigersGalaxyPondering Author:Seth Shostak
