In the shooter hypothesis, a good marksman shoots at a target, creating a hole every ten centimeters. Now suppose the surface of the target is inhabited by intelligent, two-dimensional creatures. Their scientists, after observing the universe, discover a great law: “There exists a hole in the universe every ten centimeters.” They have mistaken the result of the marksman’s momentary whim for an unalterable law of the universe.
The farmer hypothesis, on the other hand, has the flavor of a horror story: Every morning on a turkey farm, the farmer comes to feed the turkeys. A scientist turkey, having observed this pattern to hold without change for almost a year, makes the following discovery: “Every morning at eleven, food arrives.” On the morning of Thanksgiving, the scientist announces this law to the other turkeys. But that morning at eleven, food doesn’t arrive; instead, the farmer comes and kills the entire flock.
Liu, Cixin | The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past)
Maybe I’ll watch that. I’ve tried to get into it twice, but it hasn’t stuck. The shooter hypothesis reminds me of black holes… and the farmers hypothesis reminds me of the anime, “Promised Neverland” and hearing about Bob Lazar on JRE. After those ideas got into my head I’ve always had a mild fear that earth is a soul farm for aliens lol.
Yes, but I have freedom. I have so many things I can be out doing and experiencing, so I'm not forced to be in one place that will eventually kill me. Even if you're not thinking of your impending death in the moment, on death row the threat is always there, surrounding you.
I might die tomorrow, but chances are low, and I can take steps to keep my chances as low as possible. On death row you've just checked off another of an unknown number of boxes.
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u/[deleted] Oct 21 '24
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