1. Scientific Theories and Laws
2. The First Decade (1936-1946)
4. The Second Decade (1946-1956)
6. The Third Decade (1956-1966)
8. The Fourth Decade (1966-1976)
10. The Fifth Decade (1976-1986)
12. The Sixth Decade (1986-1996)
14. The Seventh Decade (1996-2006)
15. The Theory of More than Everything
16. The Eighth Decade (2006-2016)
18. The Ninth Decade (2016-2026)
Appendix A Paintings
Appendix B TTOMTE and a Steady State Universe
Appendix C Musical Compositions
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You don't have to worry. The warning is for me because I'm writing about this subject. Anyone with good healthy skepticism can read on without danger.
With all the galaxies we know about, probably trillions of planets can support life. According to de Duve in Chapter Thirteen, if a planet can support life, then it will automatically. If we accept an infinitely old universe, or at least more than fifteen billion years old, won't some of those life forms have evolved much further than we have? Even in the area of technology, how advanced might they be? Think about our last two hundred years. We've gone from walking behind a horse-drawn plow to walking on the moon. If we can keep from blowing ourselves up, where will we be two hundred years from now? One thousand years? One million years? For more obvious physical change, tack on a billion years.
In our galaxy, we fly around one of the younger stars. There can be beings evolving five billion years ahead of us, and they might not be too far away. Therefore we can think, "Anything's possible, but intelligent life somewhere else is not only possible, it's very likely."
To keep you reading this far, I've avoided a particular set of three letters in the science chapters as common as DNA, SOS, and IBM; they are U, F, and O (Unidentified Flying Object). One of our recent presidential candidates made the mistake of saying he'd seen one. On the other hand, another contender implied he was going to win because God wanted him to, another three-letter set candidates should avoid. The talk shows have mentioned these misspokens more than once. Comedians are so thankful politicians exist.
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