'Second Earth' found, 20 light years away

[evman150]

Originally Posted by IGGYRULES

Who determines what we should know? Why should someone know what a lightyear is? How are they going to benefit society by knowing this? How will knowing this help them throughout their life? There are more severe problems that society and the school system in general need to address other than who was Tommy Douglas and the definition of a light year.

Originally Posted by jammies

Knowledge has intrinsic value; it does not have to fulfill a need or be useful.

That being said, the concept of a light-year is important in understanding cosmology, which is important in understanding how the universe began, which is important in understanding why, for example (and only for example, I am not interested in yet another creation debate), young-earth creationists are hopelessly deluded. That is just one example of how all knowledge is interrelated and how knowing seemingly "useless" facts and definitions in one subject deepens one's understanding in many, seemingly unrelated subjects.

People without the grounding in such knowledge often are prone to having utterly absurd beliefs about the nature of reality; the danger of this is, no doubt, obvious.

This post states it nicely, and I'm going to report it for reputation consideration.

If you need to ask "why bother knowing something", then you're probably a lost cause already.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by IGGYRULES

Who determines what we should know?

You cannot understand modern society without understanding technology. You can't understand technology without understanding science. You can't understand science if you don't know the basics: the reason for the speed of light being as fast as you can possibly ever go; the theory of evolution; what elements are as opposed to compounds; what genes are; what the difference is between digital and analog; game theory; and many other concepts both simple and moderately complex.

No one is going to force you to learn these things. It is up to each person to decide if they are content not understanding the world and the societies around them in any meaningful sense, or if it is better to learn everything you can to make yourself a better, wiser person. So far, mass indifference is winning the day, which is one of the main reasons the world is generally f***ed up.

[IGGYRULES]

I'd love to know it all like you and actually used to. You tend to realize as you mature that you don't know quite as much as you thought you did. You'll figure it out one day . As I implied in my previous post there are more important issues at stake than the definition of a light year.

Earth to Evman. Do you copy?

Originally Posted by evman150

This post states it nicely, and I'm going to report it for reputation consideration.

If you need to ask "why bother knowing something", then you're probably a lost cause already.

[evman150]

No I don't copy.

I can't imagine growing up to be a person who gives up on trying to understand the world we live in.

How depressing.

[TheyCallMeBruce]

Now, the real question here is

a. Can we eat these space aliens?
b. If we can, do they taste good?

E.T. noodle soup would be awesome.

[photon]

Originally Posted by chris lindberg

So, how far/ how long would it take us to travel just 1 light year in space?

Depends on how fast you go. Anywhere from forever to 1 year if you go at the speed of light.

Originally Posted by IGGYRULES

Who determines what we should know?

Originally Posted by IGGYRULES

As I implied in my previous post there are more important issues at stake than the definition of a light year.

This made me chuckle..

Anyway, as to who determines what we should know, I agree with jammies that all knowledge is worthwhile knowing, and education is the one thing that can set people free.

We live in a increasingly technological world, and understanding of the basics of science are fundamental to living in that world. While a person may not need to know the exact details, a general understanding lets people make better decisions about the world around them, be it decisions about health, politics, family, or whatever.

Not only that, as we learn more about science, that basic understanding HAS to filter down to the general public, otherwise we cannot move forward. If only scientists and a few interested people knew about germ theory for example, we wouldn't have benefited from that knowledge as a society with longer life spans and healthier lives. Also the more educated people are, the higher the starting point for those great minds that advance things forward.. If Einstein had been born in Newton's time, he'd probably only have come up with Newton's stuff.

Without knowledge of a light year, for example, people could be influenced by all kinds of dumb ideas. How often do you hear dumb things on the news like the planets are lining up and will throw earth out of orbit, or that the stars influence our lives somehow, or whatever.

Anyway, yes there are "more important" things to know than the details of a light year, but you are implying that learning a light year would exclude something else, when that's not the case.

[ken0042]

Photon- do you remember in what class or in what grade you learned about light years?

I know myself I learned about them from watching sci-fi. And had I not been a sci-fi fan; who knows.

[MRCboicgy]

Hopefully the alien guys are cute...and hung!

I happily await the "invasion"

[IGGYRULES]

I agree with what you said, but, evman was implying that the school system was at fault. Unfortunately there is only so much time (k-12) to teach and for some people the priorities should be elsewhere. Don't you agree? Essentially the system has to prioritize in a given timeframe and this definately is not one of the priorities for most.

Originally Posted by photon

Depends on how fast you go. Anywhere from forever to 1 year if you go at the speed of light.





This made me chuckle..

Anyway, as to who determines what we should know, I agree with jammies that all knowledge is worthwhile knowing, and education is the one thing that can set people free.

We live in a increasingly technological world, and understanding of the basics of science are fundamental to living in that world. While a person may not need to know the exact details, a general understanding lets people make better decisions about the world around them, be it decisions about health, politics, family, or whatever.

Not only that, as we learn more about science, that basic understanding HAS to filter down to the general public, otherwise we cannot move forward. If only scientists and a few interested people knew about germ theory for example, we wouldn't have benefited from that knowledge as a society with longer life spans and healthier lives. Also the more educated people are, the higher the starting point for those great minds that advance things forward.. If Einstein had been born in Newton's time, he'd probably only have come up with Newton's stuff.

Without knowledge of a light year, for example, people could be influenced by all kinds of dumb ideas. How often do you hear dumb things on the news like the planets are lining up and will throw earth out of orbit, or that the stars influence our lives somehow, or whatever.

Anyway, yes there are "more important" things to know than the details of a light year, but you are implying that learning a light year would exclude something else, when that's not the case.

[evman150]

Not enough time in school is spent on science, the scientific method, logic and critical thinking.

That's my opinion.

[RougeUnderoos]

"The basics" should be a priority and the definition of a light year should probably be one of them.

That being said, the reason some people don't know these things is that they are afraid to ask, for fear of looking dumb, or having the person who does know the answer snap at them for being so stupid.

It doesn't help.

Luckily though, when most adults with some amount of expertise in one particular field are asked a basic question by a "layman", they are happy to answer.

Originally Posted by IGGYRULES

I agree with what you said but evman was implying that the school system was at fault. Unfortunately there is only so much time (k-12) to teach and for some people the priorities should be elsewhere. Don't you agree? Essential the system has to prioritize in a given timeframe and this definately is not one of them for most.

[photon]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Photon- do you remember in what class or in what grade you learned about light years?

I know myself I learned about them from watching sci-fi. And had I not been a sci-fi fan; who knows.

I'm too old to remember I do remember learning about star sequences and that sort of thing in grade 7 or so though so I'd assume it would be around that time.

[MoneyGuy]

I wasn't a great student, but how anyone could go through school and not pick up the definition of a light year? Don't you folks watch Star Trek even?

[photon]

Originally Posted by IGGYRULES

I agree with what you said, but, evman was implying that the school system was at fault. Unfortunately there is only so much time (k-12) to teach and for some people the priorities should be elsewhere. Don't you agree? Essentially the system has to prioritize in a given timeframe and this definately is not one of the priorities for most.

I agree with evman, I think the school system is at fault and don't put enough emphasis on the sciences in general. I remember lots of science in my schooling, far more than what I see kids getting today.

[HOZ]

Originally Posted by arsenal

forget mars!! lets go here instead!!

ROADTRIP!!!!


Shotgun!

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

"The basics" should be a priority and the definition of a light year should probably be one of them.

That being said, the reason some people don't know these things is that they are afraid to ask, for fear of looking dumb, or having the person who does know the answer snap at them for being so stupid.

It doesn't help.

Luckily though, when most adults with some amount of expertise in one particular field are asked a basic question by a "layman", they are happy to answer.

Best post of the thread. I'm an Edu student at the U of A and a History major, and after taking a few Canadian History classes I cant believe how much I didnt know about our own history and why things are the way they are here in Canada, let alone the rest of the world. I think knowing history is a very important tool to help you understand other societies and gives you an understanding of how alot of cultures with different values than our own came to be the way they are today, so we may come to appreciate them more than many do now.

That said, I also understand not everybody is interested in this like I am, and although I think its important knowledge to have, I think people should learn about whatever field interests them, so we can all teach each other about such issues. I think important moments like the Quiet Revolution, the English/French split, the origins of Western Alienation, etc are very important when understanding relationships in our country today, but I'm not going to go on a rant and make someone feel stupid if they dont know the answer. I'm not saying this was the intended agenda by some in this thread, but it certainly came off that way. I find there to be alot of arrogance in the first couple pages of this thread.

[FlamesAddiction]

Just for discussions sake, if humans decided to try and go there to explore it (assuming there was a good chance that it was habitable), how would scientists approach this? It seems that physically going there by conventional methods might be impossible, but what about worm holes and interdimensional travel? Or space bending? Are these real theories, or are they just science fiction?

And assuming that they are real possibilities, how long would it take to develop the technology? Are we looking at centuries for a realistic time table?

[Thor]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Just for discussions sake, if humans decided to try and go there to explore it (assuming there was a good chance that it was habitable), how would scientists approach this? It seems that physically going there by conventional methods might be impossible, but what about worm holes and interdimensional travel? Or space bending? Are these real theories, or are they just science fiction?

And assuming that they are real possibilities, how long would it take to develop the technology? Are we looking at centuries for a realistic time table?

Once we are at the height of Nano Age, we should have a space elevator, much more powerfull propulsion, great shielding for radiation, etc..

The key is traveling to a place 20 light years away without returning 40 years later on earth, who wants that job?

So who knows, 100-200 years for the nano age to revelutionize the world in some pretty amazing ways, and maybe space folding, wormhole travel 200-400 years?

We need a way to get there quickly without wasting 40 years for a round trip.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Thor

The key is traveling to a place 20 light years away without returning 40 years later on earth, who wants that job?

I'd go. But I would need a lot of porn.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I'd go. But I would need a lot of porn.

And Madden '08