David Kipping

And secondly, he was convinced there was life there.

And so to him, it just added up.

And then that kind of wasted...

decades of research of treating the idea of Mars being inhabited by this canal civilization.

But on the other hand, it's maybe not a waste because it is a lesson in history of how we should be always on guard against our own preconceptions and biases about whether life is out there, and furthermore, what types of things life might do if it is there.

be the first one to be celebrating that and be shaking hands with the alien on the White House lawn or whatever.

I grew up with Star Trek, and my fantasy was to be Captain Kirk and fly across the stars, meaning of the civilization.

So there's nothing more I'd want to be true, as I've said.

But we just have to guard against it when we're assessing data.

But I have to say I'm very skeptical that we will ever have that

Star Trek moment, even if there are other civilizations out there.

they're never going to be at a point which is in technological lockstep with us, similar level of development.

Even intellectually, the idea that they could have a conversation with us, even through a translator.

I mean, we can't communicate with humpback whales.

We can't communicate with dolphins in a meaningful way.

We can sort of bark orders at them, but we can't have abstract conversations with them about things.

And so the idea that we will ever have that possibility

fulfilling conversation I'm deeply skeptical of.

I think a lot of us are drawn to that.

It is maybe a replacement for God to some degree, that father figure civilization that might step in, teach us the error of our ways, and bestow wisdom upon our civilization.