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You are exactly right Carl, but I think you miss the point. There is no evidence that other intelligences do not exist, the opposite holds as well there is no evidence that they do or have. In fact the evidence from an experiment that has run for 3.5+ billion years, intelligence appears to have only arisen once, and only in the past 2 million years.
His opinions are only conjecture based on evidence that can be tested. Remember that a theory ALWAYS remains a theory. It is NEVER treated as fact by any scientist. the theory is used to make predictions of the universe and if the observations do not fit the predictions, or evidence that he theory is not correct, it is either scrapped or modified. The only people who say that scientists state facts are the people who have a view of the world that cannot be explained by any rational theory and cannot be backed by predictions. Then the scientists are "stifling free thought"? Because the crackpots cannot prove there theory with predictions.
I came away from Charlie's talk with the distinct impression that like any scientist, if the predictions are not met, evidence is produced to the contrary, his views will change. To do otherwise is contrary to science.
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