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Svejk, indeed.
Birdie, //I'm unaware of Stephen Hawking suggesting that contact with alien civilisations living many light-years away from us may be possible by use of "antimatter".//
I didn’t say Stephen Hawking suggested that contact with aliens may be possible by use of antimatter – I said he’s suggested that by the use of antimatter it may be possible to traverse vast distances – and if you were unaware of that before, you’re not now.
//Even if your paraphrased 'quote' is correct, ….//
Unlike some contributors, I never post anything in the hope that the reader won’t investigate it. I don’t invent information – you should know that.
// TTT's assertion that the distances involved are simply too ginormous to ignore is quite valid……Supposing that we can construct a communication device that operates at almost 100% of the speed of light, it would still take (for example) 8.4 years to receive an answer from Proxima Centaui since it is 4.1 light years away. And that's our closest neighbour.//
I’m very well aware of the enormity of our galaxy and of the universe. However, at almost the speed of light, the distance between earth and our nearest neighbour (approximately 4 light years) is hardly ‘ginormous’. Bit of a mix up in your thinking there, Birdie. TTT’s logic isn’t irrefutable and neither is yours.
As for your post to Fred, your aggression is completely unwarranted. You’ve told her the idea is absurd, stupid, laughable, silly, and fallacious, but you most certainly haven’t shown her the absurdity of her belief, as you claim. Just as she cannot provide evidence, neither can you provide evidence to conclusively debunk her claimed experiences – and before you launch into the usual ‘burden of proof’ rhetoric - we know.