bureau44

bureau44 t1_je99ozz wrote

I know the answer. I just thought it is a bit more fun question.

But apparently some people here struggle even with the OP's original question from middle school. Newton's first law. Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.

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bureau44 t1_jdt2wh7 wrote

Those controlling the Oracle must prevent everyone from using other oracles or programming one themselves. If someone is capable of such total control, why would they need any service from an oracle anymore? They can indoctrinate whatever they want.

The bigger problem can arise if everyone (even 'they' in power) will be beguiled by the AI to point that any predictions issued by the AI will turn into self-fullfilling prophecies. Vicious circle.

There is a great sci-fi short story by Greg Egan "The Hundred Light-Year Diary". There is a sort of a time machine that allows people to telegraph news from the future to the past. Obviously everyone tends to blindly believe any information they get from their future self...

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bureau44 t1_j6ujyjp wrote

True. It is almost nothing to look at. That colorful images of space we get from telescopes like "pillars of creation" are actually composite images gained at long exposures at different wavelengths from X-ray to radio. With you own eyes you will see a faint glow at best. Most stars will appear like a sun. More or less white blobs. Without reference you cannot tell their scale, even if they are thousand times bigger, without filters you cannot really tell their color. There might be an interesting light show close to the super massive blackholes with accretion discs and jets, but again, most of it is happening in gamma. The only hope is that life in Universe is so abundant, that you can just go to the space zoo looking at aliens.

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bureau44 t1_ixbkiyr wrote

Most things in sci-fi scenarios happen around planets or at least around some star system so it's quite natural that the ships are visible. What cinema shows usually wrong is the contrast. In movies you see most ships in sort of an ambient lightning with soft shadows where you can pick up all the details. We are used that on Earth sunlight reflects from the floor, walls atmosphere and you never see pitch black shadows even in the low sun. In space you will likely see only illuminated areas of the spaceship while the rest will be just nothing, only a shadow against the stary sky.

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