"Far better to let them sleep"

Sampler blogpost of the day: http://livinginagoldenage.blogspot.com/

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Talking to Extraterrestrials: circa 740

Staying the night at Summit-Top Temple,
you can reach out and touch the stars.

I venture no more than a low whisper,
afraid I'll wake the people of heaven.
~From The Selected Poems of Li Po.

Perhaps the universe is filled with intelligent creatures, but clearly we cannot be numbered among them. To imagine a sky filled with sentient beings, all of them angels and none of them demons, how much hubris and stupidity does that take?

Instead of trying to contact them, it is better by far to let them sleep.