# why aint the sky filled with ets **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403 "2013-05-15T14:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EdwardLost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@EdwardLost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EdwardLost)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/21 "2013-05-15T21:28:49Z")
Don’t give Mr. o’rion too hard a time. I’m sure this is about as close as his species can come to rendering intelligible human language. No matter how advanced a civilization may get or how different their psychology may be, they will still be facing the same economic reality: traveling to another star would be an incredibly expensive, high-risk, long-term venture with little possibility of reward for those groups putting in the capital. Only if a species were facing imminent annihilation could I imagine them attempting a “space ark”. If they did succeed in colonizing another star system they would almost surely never leave that one. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/22 "2013-05-15T21:32:33Z")
**O’rion** , your posts would be easier to read if everything rhymed. ---
**Author:** ![o\_rion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@o\_rion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o_rion)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/23 "2013-05-15T21:46:12Z")
Not hitting return just doesn’t work on this phone, the screen don’t follow the cursor. Anyhow, I wasn’t necessarily talking just about physical presence- I know we ain’t looked everywhere, but With Hubble and everything else there has Been some pretty extensive surveying going On. Far as I know, not even any signalling. The distances observed also mean spans Of time, large ones. So I know space is Big and thinly mattered, but still, looking at Our species garrulous self-impotance, how many stars, and The not inconsiderable area we _have_ Looked at, not one signal, afaik. Makes a body wonder. Musicat, u jumped on me in a pretty fuckin Snide way recently, out of the blu, and while Doin so, entirely added absolutely nothin To that discussion but snide, and yer doin It here too. U just do that, i guess. Tiresome already, but you go, cat. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/24 "2013-05-15T21:48:25Z")
My God, it’s full of ets! ---
**Author:** ![o\_rion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@o\_rion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o_rion)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/25 "2013-05-15T21:50:42Z")
WHOA. Fuckin somebody just compaih me To a fuckin _cockroach_? Y tank u, able and deelightful personage. Mehitabelly say hi… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/26 "2013-05-15T21:52:56Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > It is possible to imagine, as John von Neumann did, a series of self-replicating machines that can build almost any other device, including an interstellar probe. Using such self-replicating devices it would be possible to send a probe to every star in the galaxy in a few tens of millions of years. In a galaxy that is about a thousand times as old as this length of time, one wonders why this hasn’t been done before. > > Perhaps it has, and we just haven’t found the evidence yet. Exactly. Naysayers keep going on and on about how big the universe is. They’re right - but they neglect to add how \*slow \*it is. As far as the universe is concerned, a thousand years to travel between stars is a blink of the eye. It might as well be instantaneous. And besides, Von Neummann machines are cheap. All you have to do is build one. ---
**Author:** ![thicksantorum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@thicksantorum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thicksantorum)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/27 "2013-05-15T21:53:24Z")
Don’t quit your day job to be a poet, or rapper, or whatever you’re trying to do. …or are you just trying to whole “barely-comprehensible stream-of-consciousness= DEEP” thing? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/28 "2013-05-15T22:08:45Z")
One possibility is that Earth happens to be in the middle of the galactic equivalent of a wilderness preserve. Perhaps the universe as a whole is filled with aliens zooming around in their starships and normally Earth would have been claimed and colonized millions of years ago. But we got lucky and Earth happens to be located inside a stable and benevolent political entity, like Star Trek’s Federation, that wants planets like ours to remain untouched so they can develop their own intelligent species. So they declared Earth off-limits to exploitation and they’ve been protecting our isolation without us knowing it. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/29 "2013-05-15T22:19:54Z")
Or maybe we’re the Great Old Ones - the ancient race that was the first to travel the galaxy, raising alien races to sentience and leaving eldritch monuments on a million scattered worlds. Hey, someone has to do it. ---
**Author:** ![ttf3289](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@ttf3289](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ttf3289)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/30 "2013-05-15T22:22:53Z")
I am partial to the explanation given in Peter Mulvey’s, “Vlad the Astrophysicist” …a real person, Vladimir Chaloupka, and astrophysicist at UW in Seattle. Would you care for another beer? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/31 "2013-05-15T22:30:40Z")
> [@o\_rion](#): > > Musicat, u jumped on me in a pretty fuckin > Snide way recently, out of the blu, and while > Doin so, entirely added absolutely nothin > To that discussion but snide, and yer doin > It here too. U just do that, i guess. > > Tiresome already, but you go, cat. **Moderating** **o’rion** , if you wish to be taken seriously on this board, you need to write more coherently and legibly than in your first few posts. I see that you have cleaned up your writing considerably in your last several posts. However, if you don’t write clearly you can expect that people will remark on it. If you are going to take offense easily about this, this may not be the best board for you. Colibri General Questions Moderator Since this question requires speculation, it is probably better suited for IMHO than GQ. ---
**Author:** ![o\_rion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@o\_rion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o_rion)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/32 "2013-05-15T22:42:38Z")
Never thoughta that, could be. It would mean communication Tech we can’t perceive yet, to Explain the dearth of signalling, And thats possible. I still have A bad feeling about it… Thick, et al. How about u read someone, Determine u hate them for Whatever juvenile reason u Care to, and then just not Read them rather than the truly Pitiable noncontributory crap U n et al been posting? Really, what do u think of Others when u see them Do this to someone u like? Thaaaaats right, that u and al AND et must b about twelve, an caint get no dateswaaah. Hadn’t done anything to any of U, just used what works for me On this phone w/ o takin a week To make a post. Results in a Different look, I know. Different Textual stylings, I get it. U hate what’s different, I get it, U think I’m stupid n unholy n Not even a member of yer Species, cuzza style, mine, which Is just stupid m unholy and Only worth yas divine contempt. I get it. U get it. They get it. Can yall b satisfied, r must u Continue with the ohesdifferentwehatehimoohoohooh Bs? Just askin, thick, et and al. ---
**Author:** ![o\_rion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@o\_rion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o_rion)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/33 "2013-05-15T23:08:23Z")
Colibri It ain’t content, far as I can tell, that’s pissin them off, It seems to be appearance and grammar that Occasioned the little pile on. Appearance over substance. Jumped right the Fuck on me, mc already didn’t like me and dropped in just to again let me know that. All with nary a word to them from me. Been a little smartass in my replies to them, but not More than I got. Got out of the blu, no reason except the appearance. Far as sensitivity goes, re this thread, maybe I need it Defined, cuz to me its lookin like I ain’t the sensitive one Here. Far as being understood or taken seriously, there have Been several posts indicating I was both understood and Taken seriously. Discussion ensued, amiright? Wasn’t Any shit from me to this type of post, either. So there’s two general types of replies goin on here, the Additive ones, and this driveby type, and yer defendin The snarkmonsters. Ain’t my board, but that seems a wrongheaded policy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/34 "2013-05-16T00:05:49Z")
O’rion, you will find that people on this board will take your posts more seriously if they’re well written. ---
**Author:** ![o\_rion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@o\_rion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o_rion)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/35 "2013-05-16T00:46:46Z")
The hells wrong with _you_ then, seriously Replyin… Kiddin. But u did, and you’ve been civil, as have others. Et al had the same choice, they just chose , yknow, what They chose. And got folks jumpin to their defense, some fuckin reason. Ain’t the stuff big stories r made of, but would u consider Our exchange a complete waste of time? Nothing Constructive? How about the exchanges with the snarkmos? There’s my answer, fuckem, take my own advice. Fire away, ets, als, thicks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/36 "2013-05-16T01:10:57Z")
Ask yourself why you decided to post on this board. Was it to ask a question and perhaps get an answer? Was it to engage in a conversation with other people? If so, then you need to meet people at least half way. You can’t walk into a crowd of people and demand that everyone else put up with you. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/37 "2013-05-16T01:24:27Z")
**O’rion,** I speak very good English, thank you. Excellent, in fact. Yet I am unable to understand what you are talking about 95% of the time, as your posts do not appear to be in any language I know or a reasonable facsimile. Although there are many reasons why this may be the case, the most likely reason is you are not communicating using the English language as we know it ca. 2013. Therefore, to avoid wasting my time, and if your recent posts are typical, I do not plan to respond on a regular basis. I suspect many others on this board feel the same way. Have a nice day. ---
**Author:** ![o\_rion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@o\_rion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o_rion)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/38 "2013-05-16T01:46:25Z")
Yer right, and I didn’t, although I have explained appearances. I’m speakin the language of this country. except for this shit, which I didn’t begin, I don’t Think I’ve been postin tripe, least not to me, and u Took the time to read n reply, so I guess u thought There was some kinda worth to my op. Didn’t seem to have A problem with wording or appearance. That’s changed apparantly. Kinda blowin my mind, this. Style over substance. I ask u to change or adapt somehow, before I could take u Seriously? But yall feel free to do so to me, r anyone, evidently, Judgin from the ease with which it happens. K, so I’m just a noob. But Fuck nemo, way to build a Goddam piece a shit weakass monocultural board. Honest opinion there. Like I came dressed ‘wrong’, and the Mean girls just can’t stand it. Gotta flock n peck. I’ll answer my question- no, I just took u seriously and replied Accordingly. I stand by my posts. Jesus, really. I don’t write well or have anything to contribute. There’s at least one cat out there grinnin. ---
**Author:** ![o\_rion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@o\_rion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o_rion)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/39 "2013-05-16T01:49:28Z")
That was to nemo. Heya musicat. Ain’t even read yer post yet and I ain’t gotta, I could probably Quote it verbatim without looking. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403/40 "2013-05-16T02:04:52Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > **O’rion,** Yet I am unable to understand what you are talking about 95% of the time, as your posts do not appear to be in any language I know or a reasonable facsimile. It’s called english and you will find it in any forum on this board. In fact, you’re typing in it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-aint-the-sky-filled-with-ets/658403.md?page=3)