This weekend I was gifted with a visit from my dad and step-mom. In addition to the obvious things, (renaissance faire, pool party, martini fueled late night conversations) we went to the planetarium.
We caught a show powered largely by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This is my favorite new survey, way better than a telemarketing based one. It got me to thinking about visiting with the nearby alien civilizations. Let's discuss, but first some facts.
The Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across. In perspective, if our whole solar system was the size of a grain of sand, the Milky Way would be bigger than a football field. It contains at least 100 billion stars.
The nearest star is about 24 trillion miles away. The fastest currently proposed space vessel should hit 450,000 miles per hour. By my math, that means a trip there would take 6088 years. I am unlikely to live that long.
Keeping just to the local neighborhood (which I will call within 16 light years or a quick 24,000 years at best current speed) there are 64 stars and four brown dwarf stars. This local area is key, if you ask me. It seems reasonable that these stars would be approximately the same age as our sun. This means solar systems with similar metal and element content. Carbon, iron- the good stuff.
Molten iron gives me a magnetic field around my planet which is great for reducing radiation. Just ask Mars. Iron carries oxygen in my blood and makes an industrial age considerable more likely. Not that dolphins aren't smart, but I would like to meet an alien which has conquered fire. Yes, it is a prejudice.
Stop asking why we aren't hearing these local aliens with SETI. If they exist and are a mere 100 years behind us, radio is invented but not very powerful. If they are 1000 years behind us, they are enjoying the Middle Ages. 10,000 years (a galactic blink of an eye) and they are developing agriculture. If they are ahead of us, radio is outdated.
But still we need a warp drive. Particularly if we need to expand our search to the nearest 100 stars. Or 1000. So essentially I am saying, can we quit talking about Honey Boo Boo, Jesus on a grilled cheese, and McMonopoly long enough to fund and innovate faster than light travel? The aliens are starting to think we are immature, violent little jerks anyway.
It will be very good for the economy. I promise. (Then we can show the aliens who the jerks are!)
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Better with age
I'm not going to lie to you. At least not in this moment, no promises on later. I find young women attractive. Twenty-two years old, everything is still pointing upward. They are probably in the best shape they will ever be. It is easy to look like a Victoria's Secret cover at this age.
But here's the thing. That's about it. That is the big advantage of younger women.
Those physical imperfections we all have? An older woman may see them as character. Her imperfections make me more comfortable with my own. Maybe mine do the same for her. In either case, the best sex comes from a woman over thirty. Less hang ups over her body. Less inhibitions. More skills. More experimental. Way more sex drive.
You know who knows how to give a complement? Older women. Young women don't tell you when they think you have nice eyes. They expect to be lavished with complements but rarely think of returning any. At LEAST ninety percent of the physical complements I have gotten in my life have come in the last five years. Either I am getting better with age (untrue, see paragraph one) or an older woman is enough less self-obsessed as to be able to remark on something other than the size of your wallet. Noah Brand made a good point about this here.
In my thirties I spent some time dating women in their twenties. At a decade younger than me, there was a 50% chance they could navigate conversation well. Be at least slightly interesting. Share some common ground. Disagree on a matter of political, religious or cultural thought without it devolving into the end of a relationship. At thirty years old, my chances of good conversation increased to 80%. Add a decade and we are hitting 90%. My guess is that is where we top out. No matter the age, some people just can't be interesting.
A twentysomething wants you to listen to her music. An older woman is okay if you don't like her music. Frankly, she doesn't need to give a damn. The same is true of her books and movies and so on. It is all about being comfortable in her skin. And the chances of similar tastes are so much better.
You know who is about my age? Christina Hendricks. You know who else isn't twenty and gets my jokes? Olivia Munn. I'd sit down for drinks with either one of them before any number of Miley Cyrus clones. Because eww.
But here's the thing. That's about it. That is the big advantage of younger women.
Those physical imperfections we all have? An older woman may see them as character. Her imperfections make me more comfortable with my own. Maybe mine do the same for her. In either case, the best sex comes from a woman over thirty. Less hang ups over her body. Less inhibitions. More skills. More experimental. Way more sex drive.
You know who knows how to give a complement? Older women. Young women don't tell you when they think you have nice eyes. They expect to be lavished with complements but rarely think of returning any. At LEAST ninety percent of the physical complements I have gotten in my life have come in the last five years. Either I am getting better with age (untrue, see paragraph one) or an older woman is enough less self-obsessed as to be able to remark on something other than the size of your wallet. Noah Brand made a good point about this here.
In my thirties I spent some time dating women in their twenties. At a decade younger than me, there was a 50% chance they could navigate conversation well. Be at least slightly interesting. Share some common ground. Disagree on a matter of political, religious or cultural thought without it devolving into the end of a relationship. At thirty years old, my chances of good conversation increased to 80%. Add a decade and we are hitting 90%. My guess is that is where we top out. No matter the age, some people just can't be interesting.
A twentysomething wants you to listen to her music. An older woman is okay if you don't like her music. Frankly, she doesn't need to give a damn. The same is true of her books and movies and so on. It is all about being comfortable in her skin. And the chances of similar tastes are so much better.
You know who is about my age? Christina Hendricks. You know who else isn't twenty and gets my jokes? Olivia Munn. I'd sit down for drinks with either one of them before any number of Miley Cyrus clones. Because eww.
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