Life on other planets?

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Originally Posted by Student Mullet

I think Christopher Columbus faced similar problems.

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Why would he?

(a) He was dealing with a journey which would last months, not millennia
(b) He was proposing a route to find and bring back spices to Spain without having to go through Portuguese waters => there was an economic benefit to his journey, which isn't the case in the research and invention of a new propulsion system which would cut the distance to the nearest star to a mere 5000 years.
(c) Most of his crew were convicts, so nobody cared about them, and I'd say they were paid very little and
(d) Three boats (already invented) cost a lot less than an intergalactic spaceship (not invented)

It's like saying a two inch wall is as easy to get over as a two mile high wall - both are similar problems (there's a wall in your way), but one's a hell of a lot easier to get around (or over, in this case).

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Originally Posted by Student Mullet

Would America have ever been discovered without that error?

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As GavinZac noted, America was already discovered. St Brendan sailed there from Kerry in the 6th century. He wasn't the first to do so either - he just wrote a book about it. Leif Eriksson (Erik the Red) sailed there from Norway in the 11th century. When they got there, they found people (as did Columbus). They'd crossed a land or ice bridge from eastern Russia to Alaska and into Canada. America was discovered in the 15th century. Just, like lots of things, people had forgotten about it.

And in any case, your point again has no relevance to the point at hand.

Are we in agreement then that once boats capable of getting to America were invented, it was pretty much inevitable that someone would go there?

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Originally Posted by Student Mullet

Are we in agreement then that once boats capable of getting to America were invented, it was pretty much inevitable that someone would go there?

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Well, initially people walked there. Bit of an ask for interstellar transport if you ask me.

Amusing thought for the day:
If Columbus had been right, and there wasn't a continent between him and India, he and his crew would have died when their supplies ran out, somewhere in the east Pacific.

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Originally Posted by GavinZac

Well, initially people walked there. Bit of an ask for interstellar transport if you ask me.

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Is that a yes or a no?

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Originally Posted by Bald Student

Is that a yes or a no?

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It is entirely possible that on some hypothetical space-time possibility chain "we"completely miss the existence of the americas.

as I said early, in an inifinite universe with an infinite number of possible space time lines, anything within the realms of physical possibility has or will have happened.

For instance, in some alternative time line, some poor chap called Brian really did get mixed up with a jewish messiah. That alone makes me sad that "possibility-travel" is physically impossible except in one direction :(

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Originally Posted by Bald Student

Is that a yes or a no?

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It's another "your point is irrelevant". Your jumping straight in at the point where boats are invented. I'm saying that's the problem with our interstellar craft. You're still having those *scene missing* problems.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

It's another "your point is irrelevant". Your jumping straight in at the point where boats are invented. I'm saying that's the problem with our interstellar craft. You're still having those *scene missing* problems.

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Why were the boats invented?

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Originally Posted by John83

Why were the boats invented?

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Because God doesnt love us enough to give us his son's abilities.