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Comment by function_seven | Hacker News Reader

I'd rather not have astronomers working on decoding dolphin calls. You imply there's a shortage of biologists, and if we just suspend space exploration and divert those minds to marine biology, things will get better.

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No,not exactly. There is a shortage of funding and also of creative approach. We cannot ask a question "are we alone" unless we know exactly what a whale sings about (if anything) or what crazy complicated dolphin or beluga chatter means. Besides, if we are ever to encounter any sort of alien life, how can we decode any signals or messages if we cannot even decode our own earthlings signals?

> We cannot ask a question "are we alone" unless we know exactly what a whale sings about (if anything) or what crazy complicated dolphin or beluga chatter means.

I don't follow. You could say the same thing about any Earth-bound phenomena. There is an endless supply of interesting things to study on our planet. There's also an endless supply of space exploration waiting for us. To pick one to the exclusion of the other seems very shortsighted, given that we don't know what we'll find in either place.

Seems like pursuing all avenues of exploration is the best way to move us forward.

I dream about the day where the U.S.'s spending on its military, and its spending on science research, are flipped.

I dream instead about spending a little more on science, and nothing at all on war.

Or maybe they are talking about funds and where to invest them.

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