WITH AGE COMES WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING

As for individuals of the human species, it is safe to say that with age and experience comes an increase in our own personal wisdom and understanding. I believe that it is fair to say that we can say the same for our species/society as a whole. The evidence for this can be seen by simply looking at how far we have come with technology and how we continue to grow. If growth in wisdom and understanding occurs with us as a species, it is reasonable to presume that it occurs with ETs also. There is no way that we can know how old an ET species may be or how much knowledge and understanding of the universe they may have. However, it is possible to make some age estimates based the age of the universe and what we know now. Specifically, the age of the universe puts limits on the age of life in the universe, and we can use our timeline of life as a basis.

The following are the current best estimates;

Age of the Universe, about 13.8 billion years old

Age of our own galaxy about 13.5 billion years old

Age of oldest star (sun) in our galaxy, about 13.2 billion years old

Age of our sun about 4.6 billion years old

Age of earth, about 4.5 billion years old

Age of intelligent life on earth, about 7,000-10,000 years old

Age of human technology about 250 years old

For comparison and additional information the following is for our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy;

Age of Andromeda, about 10 billion years old

Distance from Milky Way Galaxy (earth) about 2.5 million light years

Number of stars in Andromeda Galaxy, about 1 trillion

Number of stars in Milky Way Galaxy, about 250 million, (25% of the number of stars in Andromeda)

Diameter of the Andromeda Galaxy, about 220,000 light years

Diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy, about 100,000 light years

A brief explanation is necessary, a light year is primarily a measure of distance, how far light travels in a year, about 5,878,499,817,000 miles. However, it can also be thought of in terms of time with respect to a specific distance. That is, traveling at the speed of light, it would take 250 million years for the light of stars in the Andromeda galaxy to reach us here on Earth. In other words, the Andromeda Galaxy is a really, really long way away from earth in both time and distance. This is the argument used by UFO and ET skeptics to say that UFOs and ETs simply cannot exist. The caveat to this skepticism is that it is based on the limits of the physics we know today. This is why I am going to dig a little deeper into age.

The biggest question that you have to ask yourself: is the physics and science we know today, or are currently working on, the end of physics and discoveries? That is, once we have the current theories solved we will be done because there is no more science to learn. I do not believe anything remotely like this to be true. I believe that there is so much more for us to learn in physics and the sciences, and I strongly believe that today’s scientists are mired down in narrow historic beliefs. This is actually a discussion for another paper, but it is important to say this as often as possible. Continuing on.

More and more potential life supporting planets are being found almost every day. As a result of these findings, more and more scientists believe that life exists elsewhere in our galaxy and the universe. And, for us today we only have to look at a couple of things to know that there has to be more physics and science in our future. There is the issue of dark matter and dark energy. Nobody has a clue on what this stuff is, how it came into being or how to study it. There is another significant reality of our universe that nobody has a clue about, anti-matter. It has been created in experiments so it is a fact that it exists. So why does our universe not have free anti-matter? Many scientists and physicists believe that as our society continues to age, there will be a lot more science and physics learned. There simply has to be in order for us to even understand the universe we live in today.

So, if age can bring about new discoveries in science and physics how much age are we looking at for other life in the universe? As listed in the beginning, the estimated age of the universe is close to the estimated age of our galaxy. This makes it possible to relate conclusions for our galaxy to the rest of the universe. The available estimates show that the first star (sun) in our galaxy is about 13.2 billion years old. Using this as a starting point and the age of our solar system with life here on earth, about 4.6 billion years old, this means that there has been about 8.6 billion years for life to develop and age in our galaxy before our own existence. Same calculation for the Andromeda galaxy, our next door neighbor, shows that it had about 5 billion years for life to develop. And recall, it is 4 times the size of our galaxy.

A simple evaluation of age shows that there have been billions of years for ET civilizations to come into existence and flourish before us. How many other civilizations could be in our galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy or the universe that are millions of years older than we are. How much knowledge and understanding of the universe could some of these older species have?

Could it be a universal trait that as we as a civilization grow older we gain knowledge and grow a little smarter? Given the number of civilizations that could be hundreds, thousands or even millions of years older than we are, isn’t it a bit naïve to believe that we are close to learning all there is to learn?

ARE WE WORTHY?

One of the many questions asked by UFO and ET skeptics is “If UFOs and ETs are real how come they have not contacted us?”

This is a valid question. And to be perfectly honest it has no answer. Why? Because the only ones who can answer this question are the ETs. If we wish to think about and speculate about an answer to this question, we also have to consider history. Specifically, the answer to this question for today’s world is definitely different then the answer to the same question 5,000-10,000 years ago, or longer.

There is a lot of strong evidence in the form of oral histories, ancient writings and ancient pictograms on buildings and stone walls showing that ETs were here thousands of years ago. Given that this is a historical perspective for the question for today’s world, I am only bringing up history for discussion purposes. Individual readers can form their own interpretation of the historical evidence.

So, if ETs were here thousands of years ago more questions are raised; why were they here then and why did they leave? Again, these are questions that we can only speculate answers for because ETs are the ones that know the answers. However, I believe that there is enough available information that allows for educated, potential answers to these last two questions.

The technology to get to our planet from another planet is not simple or straight forward. And, the expectation is that there is significant physics associated with interstellar travel.  It was much simpler times and societies thousands of year ago that simply were not capable of grasping or understanding the physics and technology needed for interstellar travel. There is evidence for this in the ancient writings and information in that the ancient societies looked at ETs with their interstellar travel technology and physics as Gods. It would not be possible for any ETs to move from a God status to an average human status given their possession of science and/or powers far beyond what was known 5000 years ago. Society’s first attempts at physics and understanding the world through thought rather than the belief in gods originated with the Greeks about 2600 years ago. In other words, ancient societies relied on gods and the power they possessed for guidance because they simply knew nothing to tell them differently. Visiting ETs with their technology would clearly be viewed as Gods.

Looking at this from the ET perspective from 5000+ years ago, what real value does a society who does not understand and does not possess the ability to learn from you have for your own greater good and improvement? Conversely, given the limited understanding of physics, how could ETs really help the ancient societies? Honestly, there was nothing ETs could do for these societies, or that these societies could do for ETs so why stick around?

As for the question, why were they here 5000 years ago and/or longer, because that is when they found us. We have to remember that the universe is HUGE and until the late 19^th century there was no electromagnetic energy leaving our planet. Nothing was being transmitted out into space telling any ETs hey, our little planet is inhabited. Until we invented radios earth looked like any other unassuming planet orbiting an average star in the universe.

Fast forward to today. Given the amount of “stuff” we have shot into orbit around our planet as well as the vast amount of electromagnetic energy we are shooting out into space it is obvious that there is life on our planet. But now the real question is one for the ETs, has the life on our planet reached a point where it will be beneficial to an advanced species capable of interstellar travel and advanced physics? The question can be asked another way, particularly with respect to ETs that have previously visited our planet, have we really progressed far enough forward to warrant or have earned contacted by ETs?

This is a question each individual reader can ask themselves.

Before ending this piece I would like to present some information in an area I take very seriously and is part of the title of this blog, “Today’s Physics.” Looking at technology advancements, we are leaps and bounds ahead of where we were 5000+ years ago, that is obvious. The same is true for physics. However, regarding today’s physics, our scientists and physicist are so engaged and focused on so very little. Today’s scientist does not see the problems with what they believe to be the final answer to everything. That is, they do not even know or clearly understand the science and physics that they have today. The classic example that clearly shows we are not as smart as we think we are, quantum physics. The mere fact that today’s scientists currently believe that they are working on the final answers shows their own arrogance and ignorance. This is especially true given there are so many different places to look for more answers. But rather than ask questions, or think outside of the box and use their own imagination today’s scientist would rather try and disprove anything that questions the direction of their current beliefs.

If what I just said is true and our scientists are in fact so close minded about things are we that much better than societies were 5000+ years ago? Another question becomes important; why would any ETs want to make contact with us today when so many in the science community routinely say; “UFOs and ETs are impossible because they violate the laws of physics.” This statement is not even remotely true. It presumes that we know all there is to know about the physics of our universe and we are not even close.

If we as a society and the majority of our scientists are not willing to open up our minds and imagination to new frontiers in physics why would any ETs want to stop or believe it is worthwhile to stop on planet Earth? This is a question for ETs to answer, not us.

There is another question that routinely comes along with the question about contact, and that is “what are the intentions of ETs?” Previous visitations and leaving seems to indicate the benevolent intentions of ETs. That is, if ETs wanted us or our planet it was here for the taking 5000+ years ago. And, who can conclusively say that they have left Earth?