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top 200 commentsshow 500

[–]BakBakBagok 449 points450 points ago

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Well obviously, the aliens majored in ethics, which is why they could only manage to get jobs running crew on a ship in some backwater corner of the galaxy.

[–]edwartica 94 points95 points ago

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This could be true. Not actually saying there are aliens out there communicating with humans, but if there were, they might actually just be the grunts who happened to join the military.

Of course, these aliens say "ask me anything," so I guess this proves this theory wrong. If they were indeed the grunts, they probably wouldn't say "ask me anything." They would probably say "my superiors ordered me to....."

[–][deleted] 88 points89 points ago

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Yeah, it's kinda like sending an average U.S Marine to planet Mars where he encounters a little alien teenager. If Professor Alien asks the little teenage alien to ask the Marine Spaceman to provide proof on why Interstellar travel at light speed doesn't age the Martian body....

Chances are the average U.S. Marine would shake his fucking head in bewilderment.

Point here is that maybe these aliens are just the U.S. Marines version of their own kind....most definitely not chosen for their intellectual capabilities.

...which in and of itself is a bit troubling to me. Does this mean that other advanced Alien civilizations are thumbing their noses at us? Does this mean that they don't think highly of us to send the brightest of their bright? Maybe intersteallar travel to this Alien race is kinda like driving a car.....everyone does it.

Maybe only stoner Aliens who like to smoke some good Space Weed hang out in the Earth Quadrant because the Alien police can't detect their weed smoke here on earth with their instruments?

These things keep me up at night....

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]Blackwargreymon 6 points7 points ago

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The only good thing about any of this bizarre speculation is the word "refuckulate".

[–]phil128 1 point2 points ago

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Decent.

[–]ISmokeCigars 5 points6 points ago

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It would probably be a US Marine Aviator/Astronaut like this guy who's a Officer (presumably at the rank of Major/Lt. Colonel or higher) and may also have a graduate degree. The first guy to land on Mars will not be a 19 year old kid, rather a full grown, well educated adult.

[–]edwartica 1 point2 points ago

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Thats assuming that contacting other planets hasn't become routine to these aliens. We might be the first, or we might be the thousandth. If it's the latter, they might not bother sending their best and brightest.

[–]Kalium 2 points3 points ago

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I figure an exploration ship would carry a lot of reference information with it. The individual may be the equivalent of an average U.S. Marine, but a Marine with Wikipedia at hand could probably make a decent showing.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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Ok, so following that line of logic, it cannot be an exploration ship. Intelligence and logic would suggest you send documents regarding your culture along with the expeditionary force.

This lends credit to my theory about it being a couple of punk stoner Alien teenagers.

[–]Kalium 3 points4 points ago

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Or perhaps more bizarre scenarios, where you have a whole culture that relies on technology created by others that they do not understand.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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Perhaps a parasitic race of Aliens raped, killed and genocide-ed an entire race of highly intelligent Aliens.

Parasitic race of Aliens stole one of their spaceships and crash landed into Earth.

[–]seelen 1 point2 points ago

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Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays. Our technology. By using it, your civilization develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic life. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.

-Sovereign, mass effect

[–]edwartica 1 point2 points ago

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Or maybe they're like the Ferengi - maybe they're trying to shist us. Maybe Carl Sagan's questions have thrown them for a loop.

[–]MissSouthCarolina 1 point2 points ago

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You have made far, far too many assumptions for that to be any more likely than any other random chance.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points ago

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You're right! Why is there no such thing as a stupid alien?

[–]mexicodoug 1 point2 points ago

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Well... there are the Vogons.

[–]the_onanist 1 point2 points ago

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I would like to hope that the advanced alien culture educates all of its citizens to the best of their aptitude, and their least is 100x greater than our best.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]ransomdenton 14 points15 points ago

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The Prime Directive states...

[–]Cptn_Janeway 30 points31 points ago

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What the hell is a Prime Directive?

[–]ransomdenton 9 points10 points ago

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Capt Janeway hast thou forgotten so soon?

[–]ForgettableUsername 1 point2 points ago

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Q? Is that you?

[–]arachnophilia 4 points5 points ago

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that combination of username and post content gets funnier, proportional to the number of star trek voyager episodes you've seen.

[–]LonelyNixon 2 points3 points ago

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It's that thing you talk about when you find a way to get back home.

[–]jayd16 1 point2 points ago

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Why don't they just space wiki the answer with their space internet?

[–]Kerafyrm 1 point2 points ago

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Do you take pleasure in committing genocide, Shepard?

Depends on the species, Turian.

[–][deleted] 282 points283 points ago*

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Fermat's Last Theorem, for those who don't know:

xa + ya = za
x, y, z and a are all positive intergers. There is no possible value for a that makes this true that is greater than 2.

fermat had it written in the margin of one of his notebooks and had the note that he found a really good proof for this.

No proof of this existed until very recently, and it is extremely complicated and uses maths that did not exist until the 20th century.

This video will tell you a hell of a lot more

[–]scientologist2 40 points41 points ago

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The question(s) is/are,

  • How would the aliens know that these structures and relationships and conjectures have these human names?

  • How would the math illiterate human understand the question in order to ask the aliens in the first place.

Given what we know about Fermat's last theorem, the only honest answer is something along the line of . . .

there is a marvelous proof, but it is too large to fit in the confines of this simply email message

[–]jayd16 7 points8 points ago

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Wikipedia is the answer to both of those bullet points.

[–]Mikuro 1 point2 points ago

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Carl Sagan died before Wikipedia existed.

But there were still books and libraries, so....yeah.

[–]gonzal61 1 point2 points ago*

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The questions are definitely more than one.

[–]buyacanary 11 points12 points ago

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Just a tiny little change to your theorem:

x, y, z, and a are all positive integers. ...

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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noted

[–]tyrghast 7 points8 points ago

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If some of the greatest minds to have lived had actually written down everything they knew, we'd be a lot farther along.

Most notable example: Tesla. Did almost everything in his head and wrote very little. And most of what he wrote is classified.

[–]DunDerD 91 points92 points ago

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Are you an alien?

[–][deleted] 94 points95 points ago

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I forgot that I was in funny. Ill refrain from posting things other than memes in the future.

[–]webby_mc_webberson 71 points72 points ago

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I disagree. I respect and admire the fact that you posted something that is true and knowledgeable. And as you stated, you are in /r/funny, so you will get these responses. But it's not as if your comment is wasted here (or disrespected with a 4:1 vote ratio). This joke wouldn't be where it is (442 points after 3 hours) if it went over the heads of the observers.

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points ago

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At the time that the previous thing was posted I was at -2.

[–]webby_mc_webberson 12 points13 points ago

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I can imagine there are 2 idiots out there, somewhere in the world (presumably!), who are still scratching their heads.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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Don't refrain. I watched the whole show. It was great. And I'm not even particularly interested in math.

[–]perelachaise 3 points4 points ago

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i just watched it and it was great. do you have more of documentaries like this?

[–]ichlibejuice 14 points15 points ago*

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178212 + 184112 = 192212

Alien calculators don't carry enough sig. figs lol if you get this.

EDIT: equation "fixed" from 17822 + 18412 = 19222

[–]Czech_Hedgehog 19 points20 points ago

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I know my Simpsons, and my Simpsons tells me that those should all be exponent 12, not 2.

[–]sdn 8 points9 points ago

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Simpsons did it.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points ago

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It was 12 IIRC (and according to google).

[–]propaglandist 4 points5 points ago

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If it were 2 it wouldn't be remarkable. The theorem doesn't say there can't be pairs a2 + b2 = c2 . 32 + 42 = 52 and there are infinitely many different examples.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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It's actually to the twelfth power each part of that, not squared.

Another set of numbers that works on imprecise devices is 34720737 + 46270117 = 47108687

[–]humbler 1 point2 points ago

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178212 + 184112 = 192212 - 700212234530608691501223040959

[–]cymbalrush 1 point2 points ago

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Lieben sie saft oder habe ich falsch gelesen?

[–]giveitago 1 point2 points ago

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Watched the whole thing. Very nice.

[–]brezzz 90 points91 points ago

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The proof is trivial, and left to the civilization as an exercise.

[–]sharkpunch 61 points62 points ago

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Great quote from a great book. I would highly suggest A Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan to anyone.

[–]thesaddestpanda 12 points13 points ago

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Problem is that people agree with alien nut bashing but refuse to apply these criticial thinking skills to their own religion, and Sagan isnt too shy about pointing that out in his books, thus the downvotes.

The same proof should be applied to religion. Oh you commune with a higher intelligence? Make it say something other than conventional moral judgements that just happen to coincide with whatever traditions your society has taught you.

[–]Celebelly 13 points14 points ago

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Lol you got insta-down voted for by some angry person. I wouldn't suggest A Demon Haunted World to any religious nuts, as it enrages them. Anyone else that can think for themselves, this book is a masterpiece by one of the most brilliant minds to have ever existed.

[–]echovoodoo 14 points15 points ago

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I was chatting with a couple of young Mormons recently. They're not allowed to read non-church-approved books during their mission, but one of them promised me he'd read "Demon Haunted World" after his mission was finished. He even wrote down the title. Here's hoping.

I recommend it to most of the missionary-types that end up at my door. This was the first one who sounded like he just might follow up, though.

[–]synergy_ 5 points6 points ago*

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There is a hardcore (but very sweet) evangelist who works with me and we've decided on doing a book swap together. I'm reading Case for Christ as her choice and I gave her my most revered book I've ever owned: Pale Blue Dot. She's gotten through the first two chapters thus far and she has complained multiple times that Sagan's book encourages secular thinking.

I told her after reading Case for Christ, that the book is about an atheist who goes on a journey to disprove God and instead realizes that there is a boat-load of money to be made if he turns this well-publicized secular journey into a success story for Christians everywhere. She then called me a cynic. Ouch.

[–]ryepitcher 42 points43 points ago

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Mistitled post: Sagan appears to be talking about people who say they speak to aliens, not people who got probed or whatever.

[–]Neurorational 28 points29 points ago

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I've heard a story about Groucho Marx, himself a skeptic: He was pestered into attending a séance. The medium conjured up a ghost and claimed that it could answer any question, but was stumped silent by Groucho's "what is the capital of North Dakota?".

[–]acangiano 9 points10 points ago

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Bismarck, for those wondering and too lazy to check it out.

[–]mexicodoug 8 points9 points ago*

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Bismarck was a boat. Why does North Dakota have a boat for a capital? It's pretty dry up there and what water they've got freezes during the dark months.

Seems to me that North Dakota would be more suited to have a zeppelin for a capital. They could name it Hindenburg. Or maybe Led.

[–][deleted] 141 points142 points ago

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How is that trolling?

[–]matchu 246 points247 points ago

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Haven't you heard? These days, trolling is doing something mildly annoying. Need to get hip to the times, homeslice.

[–]Erzsabet 97 points98 points ago

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Also, apparently you get called a troll if you disagree with someone.

[–]daelin 9 points10 points ago

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People do tend to suspect trolls when they start to suspect that one is being deliberately stupid. If you've followed their argument then you should agree with them—OBVIOUSLY.

[–]BloodRedSumo 8 points9 points ago

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Sad truth.

[–]webby_mc_webberson 4 points5 points ago

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he's obviously a hipster troll

[–]ggggbabybabybaby 42 points43 points ago

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Sagan then proceeds to call them a fag.

[–]ThisIsntTrolling 2 points3 points ago

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It's not.

[–]xxsmokealotxx 7 points8 points ago

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I AM in contact with aliens AMA

[–]steve-d 4 points5 points ago

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Do you live in a trailer park?

[–]xxsmokealotxx 5 points6 points ago

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how did you know?

shit! it's one of the reptilians! they found me! help me reddit!

[–]weirdal1968 2 points3 points ago

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Put your tinfoil hat back on and the reptillian CIA agents will remove the implants from your ass and you can go back to marrying your cousin.

[–]xxsmokealotxx 2 points3 points ago

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silly, they're not in my ass, they put them in both of my teeth!

[–]donquixote235 7 points8 points ago

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This is the same guy who wrote "Contact", in which exactly this scenario occurred.

[–]Talonwhal 2 points3 points ago

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Figured I'd find this in the comments as I was thinking the same thing... how easy would it have been for the aliens to give her something of a little substance! Of course I guess it was just done that way for effect in a movie, ooh ambiguous ending.. dun dun duhh!

[–]glengyron 1 point2 points ago

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Not exactly. I think on the issue of science the aliens were saying 'work it out yourself, when you do we'll still be here'... which in itself is an excellent explanation for why Sagan never got the answer he sought.

[–]Talonwhal 2 points3 points ago

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But these "aliens" had supposedly just given the blueprints for a ridiculously complex device that can send someone across the galaxy, yet were unwilling to provide not just a simple bit of math or science? And I'm not even saying they should have helped us with science, just simply some proof that the person had even been in contact with them... I wonder how many of those countless civilisations have had the rest of their race question what actually happened? Hm.. :P

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]shutmeup 31 points32 points ago

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Or maybe it is like common sense for them. You know... some times we can't explain things that are pretty obvious for us.

No, I don't believe what I'm saying.

[–]WatersLethe 242 points243 points ago

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Well, they're speaking in English so they must have spent some time preparing. Presumably they'd figure out how advanced our mathematics have become and in the process learned our terminology.

[–]Kerblaaahhh 127 points128 points ago

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And if so, they can probably use Google.

[–]IHeartRegicide 18 points19 points ago

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They probably added the solution of the Goldbach conjecture to wikipedia, but it was removed for original research.

[–]Scary_The_Clown 12 points13 points ago

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"I tried publishing my proof of Fermat's Last Theorem to Wikipedia several times, but they kept deleting it"

[–]DoWhile 182 points183 points ago

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You know what's amazing? Sagan lived his entire life without Google or Wikipedia.

[–]Skylighter 166 points167 points ago

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It's called a library.

[–]KindlyKickRocks 69 points70 points ago

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What's that?

[–]sweatervest 204 points205 points ago

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It's a place where you can rent DVDs for free.

[–]smithson23 36 points37 points ago

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And e-books!

[–]TheChickenLover 19 points20 points ago

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You mean real books?

[–]spupy 103 points104 points ago

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It's called a paper e-book.

[–]hazilla 36 points37 points ago

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So it's like The Piratebay, but in RL?

[–]nurta 6 points7 points ago

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Yes, except that when you seed something, the copy of it on your hd is erased

[–]Bandit1379 1 point2 points ago

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Kind of, but if you want to get any copies of anything you're probably gonna have to copy it by hand.

[–]Democritus477 2 points3 points ago

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Rent what now?

[–]gospelwut 7 points8 points ago

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And in University where Asians nest.

[–]ookamiZero 5 points6 points ago

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This is I believe called "Food Libraries."

[–]KindlyKickRocks 4 points5 points ago

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Fuuuu-fuuuuuuud li-braayyyyy

[–]capn_untsahts 1 point2 points ago

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its a grocery store ya douchebags!

[–]nitesoul 6 points7 points ago

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It's a place where mute people go to hit on chicks

[–]idiotthethird 2 points3 points ago

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A library is something used in computer programming, a collection of code useful for writing larger programmes. Both wikipedia and google make use of them, so I suppose that they could be useful for people who didn't have access to either of them.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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he had encarta though

[–]QuayleSpotting 6 points7 points ago

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This what kills me. People claim that aliens abduct them to conduct experiments, yet with a simple internet connection to google anyone or "gasp" anything could find out all they wanted about us.

So yeah, what I'm implying is that Google is made for alien convenience. Its how the cookie crumbles.

[–]ggggbabybabybaby 8 points9 points ago

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Maybe not. Maybe this whole internet through a computer thing is so outdated that nobody knows how to do it anymore.

[–]sunsunsun 5 points6 points ago

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Indeed, it would be like an abacus to them. Why would they bother?

[–]ggggbabybabybaby 12 points13 points ago

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Abaci are pretty fucking sweet. I'm surprised hipsters aren't all over them like they are with typewriters. I'd like one at work.

[–]Patrick5555 5 points6 points ago

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It fucking pisses me off that kids were allowed abacuses to do math but as soon as the pocket calculator comes out THAT IS CHEATING

[–]PPewt 3 points4 points ago

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Not sure where you are but here you're basically assumed to have a pocket calculator and many tests were set too long for most people to do in their head. There are more restrictions on graphing calculators but that's a different thing entirely.

[–]Patrick5555 2 points3 points ago

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I was talking about 3rd grade, and joking

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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I feel like everybody in a math class should have to use a slide rule.

[–]dumb_feminist 21 points22 points ago

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what if they communicate telepathically?

The person asking the question would need to have at least a basic understanding of the math formulas he is trying to ask about, in which case it would have helped if Mr. Sagan actually provided some context that the person could use to help the alien understand, instead of just naming a theory.

If a caveman referred to 2+2 as the "Glurch's theorem on the composition of four" I probably would not know what he was referencing.

[–]LarrySDonald 8 points9 points ago*

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Then you'd expect a response of "What is that?". That would be reasonable. As mentioned, you could break down fermants fairly easy if they speak English. If they claim not to, that's really even more interesting (how is the person communicating with them?). But most math concepts can be broken down, such as "Multiply two numbers by themselves three or more times and add them to each other. Multiply a third number by itself the same amount of times. Choose the numbers and number of times such that they are equal - 33+44 = 5*5 for instance. However this is impossible for each multiplied three or more times. Prove it without being complicated about it". Asking for factors of large numbers is another classic, such as explaining a number system such as binary, then asking what numbers you can multiply to make 210000 + 1 (no using numbers that can be divided by anything besides themselves or one).

Just to be clear, some stuff you may know now (lots of decimal places of pi, the ability to factor pretty gigantic numbers, a solution to fermants, etc) would have impressed the hell out of humans a few hundred years ago to the point where you would have been considered close to alien amounts of smart, so it's not an arbitrary test. A few hundred years from now, someone talking to us could probably do the same.

[–]dumb_feminist 3 points4 points ago

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The chances of an intelligent educated person being abducted are a lot lower than the chances of a moron who barely comprehends fractions being abducted. Also to understand and remember the answer that you were given would be difficult especially if you had no understanding of what you are saying.

Regardless my point is the fact that Carl Sagan failed to receive his answer could be due to a number of reasons, some of which are a result of a poorly designed experiment by him, another reason could be due to alien 's possible lack of existence.

[–]fdtm 1 point2 points ago

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I don't understand this reasoning that someone in contact with aliens would likely be unintelligent / uneducated.

Sure, a random sample. But remember here we're assuming that the guy/girl is IN CONTACT with the aliens. Assuming aliens would abduct or do whatever they do multiple times, I think if they're smart even slightly, they'd keep looking until they found someone who isn't an utter moron.

Even a moron can understand some of the idea behind Fermat's Last Theorem. Probably not the proof, but the question, certainly, can be conveyed.

[–]fdtm 11 points12 points ago*

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What has been named "Fermat's Last Theorem" is easy to:

  1. Look up / ask any know-nothing math student about if you don't know what it is
  2. Easy to understand by even a child (yes)

Anyone aliens would contact as a representative would undoubtedly not be so stupid as to be unable to do both of these. Edit: Keep in mind these people are telling Carl Sagan that he can ask the aliens questions through them. Hence, they are self proclaimed communication channels, or representatives of some sort. Only a stupid race would choose a representative stupid enough to be unable to communicate effectively.

The theorem is only hard to: Prove. Unknown how to: Prove in less than 100 pages.

Aliens should be smart enough, if they'd developed interstellar travel.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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they dont have to speak a human language. if by opting to give a human a flower instead of a metal rod, they can effectively express the moral convention of 'love thy abductee, do not anally probe him'

[–]Bobius 22 points23 points ago

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He could easily just state the theorems. To be honest, he could even ask for a proof of pythagoras' theorem and that would still be beyond most people I imagine.

[–]Titanomachy 7 points8 points ago

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For something that we take for granted from the age of 12 or so, the proof of pythagoras' theorem is surprisingly involved and not very intuitive.

[–]boydrewboy 40 points41 points ago

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This made the Pythagorean Theorem essentially common sense for me. I may not be able to write the proof out with proper logical steps, but it definitely makes sense.

[–]Bobius 13 points14 points ago

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Here's my favourite proof:

http://i.imgur.com/zV5gR.png

You have to accept area of triangle = 1/2ab but hey.

[–]Volopok 2 points3 points ago

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I understand it and I have no Idea what the hell is going on in that gif.

[–]luckyvanessa 1 point2 points ago

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The area of a square is the length of a side squared. What the gif does, is make a square with sides the length of C, so the area of the square is c squared. Then it demonstrates that this square can be chopped into two squares, with sides of lengths A and B respectively. Thus, A squared plus B squared equals c squared

[–]Titanomachy 3 points4 points ago

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Yeah, that's a lot more important to me. Anyone can learn to regurgitate a Taylor's Theorem-based analytical proof of the Divergence Theorem (for example,) but that doesn't help you understand it at all.

[–]Thue 1 point2 points ago

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I proved the pythagoras' theorem independently when I was 19. You can make a very straightforward and intuitive proof if you don't mind it being slightly longer than the shortest possible proof.

[–]NickDouglas 21 points22 points ago

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"We figured out precisely what you mean by 'love,' but what the fuck is this math?"

[–]gigitrix 7 points8 points ago

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I think aleins that can speak english and communicate with us can figure out wikipedia and be like, oh, so that's what they mean.

[–]kcannon13 8 points9 points ago

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From the ellipsis: "And then I have to explain what these are, because extraterrestrials will not call it Fermat's Last Theorem, so I write out the little equation with the exponents."

[–]daelin 15 points16 points ago

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He would most likely phrase his question in the letter like: "Can you provide a proof for Fermat's Last Theorem, which states that no three positive numbers a, b, and c, can satisfy the equation an + bn = cn for any integer n greater than two."

The person who is in contact with the aliens can probably convey our ideas of multiplication, addition, equality, and exponentiation.

[–]Kushlax 1 point2 points ago

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i always get really excited about my comment ideas and then see that someone posted it hours ago

[–]scribblenuts 6 points7 points ago

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A Demon Haunted World. A must read.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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Baloney-Detection Kit FTW!

[–]Greasy 6 points7 points ago

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I guess they should've changed the AMA to an AMAA.

[–]Titanomachy 14 points15 points ago

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The only logical conclusion is that Andrew Wiles is an alien.

[–]Mokken 5 points6 points ago

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Thats not trolling.

Trolling is pretending to be stupid to invoke who you're trolling to get mad

[–]CreeDorofl 10 points11 points ago

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carl sagan + quote + celestial background = automatic upvote machine activated

[–]BrowsOfSteel 1 point2 points ago

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Its effectiveness is double on /r/trees.

[–]Czulander 3 points4 points ago

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TIL aliens are really stupid.

[–]serpentjaguar 4 points5 points ago

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It's more that he's trolling a certain type of abduction claimant. Most people who claim to have been abducted do not claim to have had any kind of communication with aliens, in which case, giving them questions to ask would be pretty pointless.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]Walter_Bidlake 1 point2 points ago*

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Neither FLT nor Goldbach's are scientific (they live in realm of pure mathematics), meaning there would unlikely be any scientific or technological advancement due to our knowledge of the proof.

[–]rmm45177 4 points5 points ago

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So, is the definition of "troll" open to interpretation now?

[–]GoyfAscetic 13 points14 points ago

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RIP Carl Sagan. You were too good for this world

[–]webby_mc_webberson 14 points15 points ago

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Imagine, there are little Carl Sagans being born every day, and their parents either don't give a shit, or are encouraging them to study law or economics or something.

[–]GoyfAscetic 12 points13 points ago

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Personally, I would take a Carl Sagan of economics especially given the current economic situation

[–]webby_mc_webberson 5 points6 points ago

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you know, thinking about it now, I absolutely agree with you.

Carl Sagan was wasted on science!

.... a little over dramatic, but feckin true too.

[–]bigkuhr 9 points10 points ago

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Carl Sagan trolled* people

ftfy

[–]soviyet 7 points8 points ago

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"Should we be good?" is the most hilarious response to a question as dumb as "what would you like me to ask my alien friends for you?" I could ever imagine.

It's so perfectly condescending, and yet that condescension is just out of reach of the recipient's intellectual grasp.

[–]SumDudeInNYC 2 points3 points ago

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"What's your alien species favorite flavor icecream?"

[–]weirdal1968 2 points3 points ago

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I'd love to see this list of his general questions. My own list would include "Which socks should I wear tonight?" and "What's for dinner?"

[–]myle 4 points5 points ago

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I would write a comment but the margin is too short.

[–]ChipWhip 4 points5 points ago

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To everyone saying "But how would an alien know what Fermat's Last Theorem is?"

Well, maybe in the letter Sagan wrote back to those people, he included that info?

[–]BobCox 3 points4 points ago

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Did anyone else end up browsing number theory for hours after reading this?

[–]_Krang_ 4 points5 points ago

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Exactly the same applies to people who claim to have talked with God. Why is he just telling his prophets that we are sinful and need help rather than giving us useful information and technology?...

[–]mwryan 1 point2 points ago

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That's just God's will.

[–]passwordishemingwayN 3 points4 points ago

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Its called "The Prime Directive" dumbass Sagan.

[–]Grammar-Hitler 3 points4 points ago

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Fuck you Sagan! When the aliens took me, the didn't teach me algebra, they stuck a probe in my ass!

[–]analogkid01 2 points3 points ago

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Missing comma after "you." Missing y on "they." A double dose of zyklon-B for you.

[–]Grammar-Hitler 1 point2 points ago

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No grammar-nazi is above Grammar-Hitler, to the Russian front with you, no ammunition.

[–]Grammar-Patton 2 points3 points ago

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Listen here, you paper-hangin' son of a bitch...

[–]lamerx 3 points4 points ago

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I dont think troll means what you think it does

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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Misleading title

[–]lollerkeet 14 points15 points ago

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I'm not sure people who claim to have been abducted by aliens are in contact with them... do people usually keep in touch with their abductors?

  • Hi Gi5-Leof-Yun-77di, Max here, the guy you took and experimented on against his will? Man, I still get nightmares about that... Anyway, could you answer a few math questions for me?

[–]ShrimpCrackers 3 points4 points ago*

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people who claim to have been abducted(past tense) by aliens are in contact(present tense) with them...

That's the problem with your quote. I think there is a difference between "being in contact" and "having been in contact". One is present tense, the other is past tense. Carl Sagan clearly meant present tense; people who are in active contact with the aliens, thus your example doesn't exactly fly.

[–]lollerkeet 1 point2 points ago

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So when does Sagan mention people being abducted?

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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Someone vectorize his face for comic purposes.

[–]pbrand 2 points3 points ago

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"I am invited to 'ask them anything.'"

Carl Sagan trolled AMA before Reddit/AMA existed. SUPERB!

[–]saintbrodie 2 points3 points ago

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You could use that exact logic against religion.

[–]Sarahmint 4 points5 points ago

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I woulnd't call it "trolling". I'd call it "reasoning".

[–]TashanValiant 6 points7 points ago

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There is no guarantee an advanced race would have the solution to Fermats Last Theorem or the Goldenbach Conjecture. Considering humanity puzzled over whether or not a circle could be squared for thousands of years, it is highly likely extraterrestrials would still be puzzled over some of maths current open questions.

For all we know those may be unsolvable with in their formal axiomatic system, so it would be literally impossible for them to develop a proof

[–]fdtm 7 points8 points ago

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The idea of integer addition and multiplication isn't very elaborate. That's all you need for Fermat's Last Theorem. It doesn't matter what number base they use, or anything fancy. It's HIGHLY likely that extraterrestrials would have developed integers at some point, and addition and multiplication.

Therefore, it's likely that they proved a similar equation - considering the equation itself is really quite simple.

Even if they never tried solving it before, if they're so intelligent beyond us, presumably they'd be able to solve it pretty easily.

[–]TashanValiant 8 points9 points ago

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The proof for Fermat's Last Theorem is the longest proof in the history of mathematics combining many different forms of mathematics that have nothing whatsoever to do with integers or multiplication and addition as I am assuming you are defining it.

The proof is in no way simple, and has been extremely elusive. There is also absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that there is a "simpler" proof.

And just because they developed integers or seemingly some form of addition and multiplication, or that they chose just an arbitrary base, does not guarantee any of these conjectures are proveable with the axioms this alien race has developed. I believe in my last post I used unsolvable, which is misleading and wrong as I meant EDIT: Wow I meant unprovable at the end there sorry.

[–]PrancingPeach 2 points3 points ago

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The proof for Fermat's Last Theorem is the longest proof in the history of mathematics

No, it's probably not. Off the top of my head, I'm sure the proof of the classification of finite simple groups is longer.

[–]fdtm 1 point2 points ago

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The point is the can easily understand the formula.

Once a mathematical formula is understood, it does not matter how it is proven. They could prove it in any way they want, it doesn't matter. Most likely, if they're as advanced as we are, they'd be able to prove it.

Just the existence of even a complex proof that is totally different from our own would be excellent evidence to the extraterrestrials. It doesn't even necessarily have to be short.

You keep talking about axioms like you don't know what they are. Like I said, all they need to understand is integer addition and multiplication. Those axioms can be explained quite easily.

[–]Tripleshadow 5 points6 points ago

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I think the idea here is that Sagan was expecting a race travelling all the way to Earth to have much more knowledge than the human race.

[–]topsoil99 1 point2 points ago

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People who are in 'contact' with aliens don't claim that the aliens have traveled to earth.

[–]1358765435234 5 points6 points ago

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That's not what "troll" means, you retard piece of shit

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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From The Demon Haunted World. Love that book!

[–]Sybarith 1 point2 points ago

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Is this a religious joke in disguise?

[–]Robo-Erotica 1 point2 points ago

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It's from Demon Haunted World

Good read

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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thinking Carl Sagan trolls

you are a horrible person

really

[–]Goldmine44 1 point2 points ago

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carl sagan is my hero

[–]funkymoose 1 point2 points ago

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This is brilliant.

[–]manosrellim 1 point2 points ago

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"Carl Sagan troll[ed] people who claim[ed] to have been abducted by aliens" FTFY

Carl Sagan died in 1996.

[–]sailors_jerry 1 point2 points ago

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Carl Sagan: One of the few of the world's badasses.

[–]therealsylvos 1 point2 points ago

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All I can think of is: Andrew Wiles could've trolled the fuck out of Sagan

[–]sayrith 1 point2 points ago

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What are those things he asked?

[–]HenryTM 1 point2 points ago

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Sadly... *Trolled

[–]thomassive 1 point2 points ago

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fuck you carl sagan and your epic youtube remixes!

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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God damn I miss that guy.

[–]cymbalrush 1 point2 points ago

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I researched alien abductions a little bit in college and found that they are the result of certain psychological states that allow the development of false beliefs, which are heavily influenced by what one has watched in the recent past. The concept of a flying saucer and the grey alien are two alien abduction stereotypes, which were completely fabricated by the entertainment industry.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago*

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I was hanging out with a friend today, we smoked and then decided to watch Cosmos. I stood in awe on how amazing it was.

[–]orange_fingers 1 point2 points ago

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The aliens invariably have a cheesy, New Age spiritual message. It's all they seem to care about. That and cow anuses.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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The prime directive would prevent that.

[–]angelday 1 point2 points ago

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Source: The Burden of Skepticism — Sceptical Inquirier (1987) http://www.csicop.org/si/show/burden_of_skepticism

[–]Lorigga 1 point2 points ago

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The only barrier I could see an advanced alien life form coming across would be knowledge of the actual theorem names. But I would expect them to at least reply and inquire more information....

[–]stressriser 1 point2 points ago

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Prime directive motherfucker.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]caseyfw 1 point2 points ago

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*trolled

:-(

[–]aakaakaak 1 point2 points ago

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What are the chances that aliens would know who Fermat is? It's like Americans knowing who the president of Canada is, completely alien.

[–]bk_moto 1 point2 points ago

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To be fair, it's probably not called "Fermat's Last Theorem" in the alien civilization so they may just not know what he's referring to.