Boyd Bushman | Deathbed Disclosure

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I actually listened to the whole thing at work. And here's my thought:

Why would we need to employ 18 extraterrestrials to reverse engineer their own technology?

I don't think claims of extraterrestrial contact legit (particularly this one; according to Snopes and Doubtful News and a number of other sources the "alien" in Bushman's photos is a mass-produced Halloween decoration [the writer from Snopes added that he was even  able to find one at his local Walmart]) but nonetheless This isn't necessarily a valid point. Do you know how most of the technology that you personally use works, in anything more than a very broad and general sense? And even if you did do you think you could repair or replicate it without the proper tools? Even if they did have complete knowledge of the technologies in question they'd still have to find a way build the tools necessary to build them, and to build the tools to build the tools; even, by analogy, if you know how to make microchips you may not know how to make a machine that etches silicon. Imagine trying to repair or duplicate an mp3 player using tools from Leonardo da Vinci's workshop.

Let me get this straight.

You would expect the Enterprise to not have a Scotty and a back-up Scotty?

More of a City on the Edge of Forever, Spock trying to repair a tricorder with vacuum tubes type thing; but more so, I think he had an unrealistically easy time with that.

The Guardian isn't involved here. We're talking about crashed crafts. Crafts, plural.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I actually listened to the whole thing at work. And here's my thought:

Why would we need to employ 18 extraterrestrials to reverse engineer their own technology?

I don't think claims of extraterrestrial contact legit (particularly this one; according to Snopes and Doubtful News and a number of other sources the "alien" in Bushman's photos is a mass-produced Halloween decoration [the writer from Snopes added that he was even  able to find one at his local Walmart]) but nonetheless This isn't necessarily a valid point. Do you know how most of the technology that you personally use works, in anything more than a very broad and general sense? And even if you did do you think you could repair or replicate it without the proper tools? Even if they did have complete knowledge of the technologies in question they'd still have to find a way build the tools necessary to build them, and to build the tools to build the tools; even, by analogy, if you know how to make microchips you may not know how to make a machine that etches silicon. Imagine trying to repair or duplicate an mp3 player using tools from Leonardo da Vinci's workshop.

It's a completely valid point. An expensive craft that could be damaged and stranded in space? Even humans know not to do that. Anyone with interstellar travel is gonna be a lot smarter than we are, so yeah, they might not be able to build one from scratch but they're sure as hell going to have a comprehensive understanding of how to fix it. Every single crew member is likely to be trained to do every job on board.

If I was a big giant head, and I was sending a couple of dudes on a mission to a planet several light years away an knowing that even despite apparent ability to get around light speed something could go wrong, I would make damn sure if anything went wrong the crew was amply sizable and knowledgeable to fix it.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

The most important parts about there being 18 extraterrestrials who are in the US government's pay is that:

-US dollars are meaningful to them
-they can't get back on their own
-Their government isn't in contact with us.

The latter of which is the most intriguing. Again, if I were a big giant head, I would go, right, you found my idiots pissing about in New Mexico. Sorry about that, let's open up diplomatic relations, now that you know I'm here, and can I please have my idiots back?

[Prelate Diogenes Shandor]

I actually listened to the whole thing at work. And here's my thought:

Why would we need to employ 18 extraterrestrials to reverse engineer their own technology?

I don't think claims of extraterrestrial contact legit (particularly this one; according to Snopes and Doubtful News and a number of other sources the "alien" in Bushman's photos is a mass-produced Halloween decoration [the writer from Snopes added that he was even  able to find one at his local Walmart]) but nonetheless This isn't necessarily a valid point. Do you know how most of the technology that you personally use works, in anything more than a very broad and general sense? And even if you did do you think you could repair or replicate it without the proper tools? Even if they did have complete knowledge of the technologies in question they'd still have to find a way build the tools necessary to build them, and to build the tools to build the tools; even, by analogy, if you know how to make microchips you may not know how to make a machine that etches silicon. Imagine trying to repair or duplicate an mp3 player using tools from Leonardo da Vinci's workshop.

It's a completely valid point. An expensive craft that could be damaged and stranded in space? Even humans know not to do that. Anyone with interstellar travel is gonna be a lot smarter than we are, so yeah, they might not be able to build one from scratch but they're sure as hell going to have a comprehensive understanding of how to fix it. Every single crew member is likely to be trained to do every job on board.

By analogy, consider the failed Apollo 13 moon mission: mission control had to devise a way of fixing the oxygen system on the fly.

[LMNO]

...Using slide rulers.

[Telarus]

Good discussion. Hmmm, so my odds are now swinging towards "Spooks keeping a brilliant engineer hooked on alien-stories" as the background o this (dude doesn't seem like the kind of guy to attempt a mind-fuck, but who knows).

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Good discussion. Hmmm, so my odds are now swinging towards "Spooks keeping a brilliant engineer hooked on alien-stories" as the background o this (dude doesn't seem like the kind of guy to attempt a mind-fuck, but who knows).

What better way to keep an absolute genius who might also be mildly prone to delusions 100% on board?

[Cain]

See also, "Project Beta".