There's never been much of a question as to whether any of the stars out there have planets. Our sun alone has, umm, eight of them (sorry, Pluto), and there are billions of stars in the universe. I was surprised when the news came years ago that astronomers found a planet outside our solar system-- not surprised that they found one, but that they didn't find any sooner. Since then they've discovered lots more.
And the latest one is the best!
It orbits a comfortable distance from its sun, has a surface temperature that we would be comfortable with, and conceivably could have water. According to our earthbound cookbook, water and warmth are the first ingredients in the recipe for life.
Best of all, this New Earth only 20 light years away! This means that if we begin sending our signal at the speed of light right now, and they send their reply at the speed of light right away as soon as they get our message, humankind can make first contact in 2047, when I am in my 60s.
Then I can live out the rest of my days with the knowledge that we... are not alone...
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The relationship between intelligence and wealth
Well, the bad news for us underachieving geniuses is that there is no relationship between intelligence and wealth, at least according to this recent US study. Apparently, people do not become rich because they are smart!
Naturally, this revelation is going to shake up some priorities. Being smart allows people to sail through high school without really trying, waddle through college while having a good time, and build up a sizable ego along the way. Sadly, it seems it's not going to help me make my millions.
When I saw the headline "Intelligence not linked to wealth", I was actually thinking that they were looking at wealth as the cause rather than the effect. Meaning, people being smart because they're rich, rather than being rich because they are smart. Either way, it doesn't seem totally crazy to assume that one goes along with the other. How else did rich people get to where they are? What sets them apart from the less-fortunate masses? There's got to be some kind of relationship between wealth and intelligence-- I can't bring myself to accept that the world doesn't reward smart people with any financial success. It's... not logical!
Of course, surely there are smart poor people who can't afford the quality education to reach their potential. Life can be sincerely unfair to good people like that. That is a fact of life, and it is very unfortunate. But totally discounting a link between intelligence and wealth is like saying there's no relationship between tall people and basketball. Tallest doesn't mean best, but it has to count for something. When poor people stay poor because they produce a large family they can't afford, or choose not to send their son to school so he could sell newspapers on the street... that is a sign of less intelligence, is it not?
Maybe it's just that the US has worked out such a high level of development that their system allows people to get rich anyway even with a total lack of intelligence. That doesn't seem to be the way things work here in the Philippines.
They should do another study checking out the relationship between poverty and dirtiness. Those two certainly have a relationship between them, and I see it on the streets every day. They seem to go hand in hand, and often with no good reason. Like the guy that pees on the wall beside a busy street... is he peeing on the wall because he's poor, or is he poor because he's peeing on on wall? Or maybe is there an external factor that causes both. Intelligence, perhaps? Aha..
Naturally, this revelation is going to shake up some priorities. Being smart allows people to sail through high school without really trying, waddle through college while having a good time, and build up a sizable ego along the way. Sadly, it seems it's not going to help me make my millions.
When I saw the headline "Intelligence not linked to wealth", I was actually thinking that they were looking at wealth as the cause rather than the effect. Meaning, people being smart because they're rich, rather than being rich because they are smart. Either way, it doesn't seem totally crazy to assume that one goes along with the other. How else did rich people get to where they are? What sets them apart from the less-fortunate masses? There's got to be some kind of relationship between wealth and intelligence-- I can't bring myself to accept that the world doesn't reward smart people with any financial success. It's... not logical!
Of course, surely there are smart poor people who can't afford the quality education to reach their potential. Life can be sincerely unfair to good people like that. That is a fact of life, and it is very unfortunate. But totally discounting a link between intelligence and wealth is like saying there's no relationship between tall people and basketball. Tallest doesn't mean best, but it has to count for something. When poor people stay poor because they produce a large family they can't afford, or choose not to send their son to school so he could sell newspapers on the street... that is a sign of less intelligence, is it not?
Maybe it's just that the US has worked out such a high level of development that their system allows people to get rich anyway even with a total lack of intelligence. That doesn't seem to be the way things work here in the Philippines.
They should do another study checking out the relationship between poverty and dirtiness. Those two certainly have a relationship between them, and I see it on the streets every day. They seem to go hand in hand, and often with no good reason. Like the guy that pees on the wall beside a busy street... is he peeing on the wall because he's poor, or is he poor because he's peeing on on wall? Or maybe is there an external factor that causes both. Intelligence, perhaps? Aha..
Friday, April 20, 2007
It is hot in the Philippines
Last night I slept with an electric fan pointed in my direction, wearing nothing more than boxers, yet I still kept sweating onto my pillow enough to require me to shift positions every few minutes.
Perhaps worse than the heat is the constant sticky feeling in the air that makes even breathing a less pleasurable experience. Sometimes I begin to consider the possibility that the Philippines, much like the Sahara Desert or the South Pole, is simply not a suitable natural habitat for the human species.
Damn you, equator!
Perhaps worse than the heat is the constant sticky feeling in the air that makes even breathing a less pleasurable experience. Sometimes I begin to consider the possibility that the Philippines, much like the Sahara Desert or the South Pole, is simply not a suitable natural habitat for the human species.
Damn you, equator!
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