Difference between pages "The Fermi Paradox in Light of Moses 1:33-39" and "Edith Gertrud Baltutt"

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'''by Mike Clark''' © 2020
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'''Edith Gertrud Baltutt''' (24 January 1935 - 5 November 2020) was born in Gilgenburg, East Prussia, Germany, and eventually married a United States Army soldier, Cy Mundell, finally settling in the state of Colorado in the United States, where she lived for the rest of her life.
  
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Edith was the mother of four children, three daughters, Evelyn, Charlotte, Deborah, and a son, Kelly.
  
==Introduction / What is the Fermi Paradox?==
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==The Obituary of Edith Mundell==
  
The Fermi Paradox is a highly speculative scientific question that was famously elucidated in 1950 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory during one or several casual lunchtime conversations between physicists Emil Konopinski, Edward Teller, Herbert York, and Enrico Fermi. During one of these conversations, in which the possibility of extraterrestrial intelligence had been discussed, Fermi suddenly asked the question: "But where is everybody?"
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<blockquote>Regretfully, our Mother, Edith Mundell, passed away suddenly on November 5, 2020, at her home.
  
There was general laughter around the table at Fermi’s outburst, for all knew that he was talking about extraterrestrials. And all likewise knew that there was no evidence of any human contact with any extraterrestrial life-forms, either by physical visitation or by long-range communication. Yet, given the enormous age and size of the galaxy in which Earth’s sun orbits, in comparison with the young age of our solar system, there must have arisen many intelligent extraterrestrial species that were capable of at least radio transmission if not space travel.  And if many arose, many still must have existed long enough for us to have detected the radio transmissions that they would have emitted since our discovery of radio communications.  Yet nothing had been detected by 1950 when this conversation took place.
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Mom was preceded in death by her husband, Herbert Duane “Cy”, her daughter Charlotte Kay, her father Otto, her mother Gertrud, her sister Waltraut, and her daughter, Evelyn.  
  
It gets worse, in fact, since compared to today, our capability of detecting faint signals back then was extremely limited. But even with our current sophistication, which enables us to detect and understand the vanishingly faint emissions of our furthest-traveled space probes , we still hear nothing of any intelligence from outside our solar system. Nor is there any evidence that the earth has been visited by any space-faring extraterrestrials at any time.
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Mom is survived by her two children Debra Lynn and Kelly Duane, her sisters Rita and Irmgard, her grandchildren, Kristina, Michael Ray, Duane Otto, Sara “Ra” Dawn, Daniel Duane, Whitney Marie, Deserei Cierra, Meghan Kelly, and nineteen great-grandchildren.  
  
Since this paradox is not some officially recognized theory or puzzle, there is no “official” version of it. The paradox usually includes both physical visitation of intelligent alien species and at least one-way communication with them. Since the problems of interstellar travel are of a different and a couple of orders of magnitude more difficult than those of simple one-way communications (i.e. “Can we hear them?”), and there’s no evidence of physical visitation, we need only consider one-way communications via radio waves. Two-way communication would necessarily have to start with one-way, in any case.
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Mom was born in Osterode, Germany, on January 24, 1935. Near the latter part of World War II during the Russian invasion of Germany, her parents were captured by the Russian army and forced to work in labor camps. During the period after their parents were captured, these four children, ages 10, 8, 6, and 4; while Edith being the oldest, managed to survive on their own for some time until they were finally discovered and placed in foster homes. Our Grandmother Gertrud eventually returned and was reunited with her children. Otto Baltutt never returned.  
  
The human race has been using radio for long distance broadcast communications for about 100 years.  We’ve been listening for radio signals from extraterrestrials since shortly after the dawn of the Radio Era, at first occasionally, and in later years continuously. So far, nothing has been heard. There was one short signal that briefly ignited interest (this was called the “Wow! Signal”), but nothing ever came of it.
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The accounts of these events are illustrated in two published books, The Bones of My People, an account from our Grandmother Gertrud, and Yesterday’s Sandhills, the memories of our Aunt Rita.  
  
So, where are they all? And why haven’t we heard anything?
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Mom and Dad met in Germany where our Dad, who was in the United States Army, was stationed. They were married in Ulm Donau, Germany on July 23, 1960. Eventually, they came back to the USA. Their first daughter, Charlotte Kay, was born on May 4, 1964, and passed away on August 2, 1964.
  
==The Generally Proposed Solutions==
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Charlotte Kay was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Dad joined her there in 1972 after he passed from service-related injuries from his service in Vietnam as a Staff Sergeant, Company A, 143 Signal Battalion.
  
Many solutions for the paradox have been proposed. Some of them are depressing. The following set of solutions is not exhaustive. In fact, there is no official list of solutions, simply because there is no scholarly agreement, or for that matter, much in the way of scholarship on the subject. But the following list does include at least the sense of most of the proposals that have been made.
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Our Mom never remarried and raised her children on her own as a single, proud, strong, intelligent, and independent woman. She taught us to be proud, strong, inquisitive, and independent. We value and honor her and what she taught us. She has influenced the raising of our own children to be proud, strong, inquisitive, and independent.  
  
It is worth pointing out that it isn’t necessary that only one solution solves the paradox. It is perfectly reasonable that multiple solutions co-exist, though of course some of them may be mutually exclusive.
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Mom will be laid to rest with the love of her life and their first born. May they be at peace, reunited, and embraced by the warm glow of the heavens.  
  
Note that the grouping and reference numbers below are those devised by the author of this essay, and do not represent any generally-accepted organizational scheme. To refer to a particular solution in this essay the author uses the format of <nowiki>[Group].[Item]</nowiki>. For example, “3.1” refers to “Intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time, and human beings have not existed long enough to detect them.”
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<blockquote>''Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)''<br/>
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''Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)'' </blockquote>
  
#Basic Solutions
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Edith, also known as Omi to her grandchildren; made a large impact on her grandchildren’s lives. There are a lot of little moments I will remember, and the values she taught us through our years of growing up. I remember she would go out of her way to make sure her family and the people she cared about most were taken care of, doing well, and staying healthy.
##No other intelligent species have arisen, and we are alone in this enormous universe.
 
##Extraterrestrial life is rare.
 
##Periodic extinction by natural events, such as asteroid impacts, destroy most intelligent species before or not long after they arise.
 
##It is the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself – all advanced civilizations tend to destroy themselves either by warfare or environmental degradation.
 
#Technological Solutions
 
##Civilizations broadcast detectable radio signals only for a brief period of time – after which their radio signals use much lower power, or use technological means that we cannot detect (e.g. “subspace” or ansible ).
 
##Few intelligent alien species develop sufficiently advanced technologies.
 
#Statistical Solutions
 
##Intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time, and human beings have not existed long enough to detect them.
 
##The intelligent civilizations that do exist in our galaxy are located too far from our solar system.
 
##Everyone is listening but no one is transmitting
 
#Psychological Solutions
 
##Xenophobia. Those civilizations which reach a degree of technological capability in order to be able to communicate over interstellar distances have chosen to stop doing so because of a fear of invasion/contamination.
 
##Intelligent alien species tend to isolate themselves, not necessarily because of fear, but because of disinterest in communication with alien civilizations.
 
#Political Solutions
 
##Earth is deliberately not contacted or is purposely isolated. The galaxy contains one or more Interstellar “Federations” who know of our species, but due to either some kind of Prime Directive  or feelings of disgust, have chosen to keep us isolated and uncontacted.
 
##Earth is already a constituent of one or another interstellar empire or federation, and is being secretly guided by the leaders of this polity along a path that will eventually lead to full admission into that polity. In other words, we’ve already been contacted, but the knowledge of contact is kept secret for the time being. Or, in other words, there is no actual Paradox.
 
  
==My Proposed Most Likely Non-theological Solution==
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Her most favorite activity that I remember vividly was being outdoors and doing something outside that involved being close to nature. She liked the fresh air, the birds singing throughout the day, the soil in her hands as she worked hard and long hours in her yard and garden to make it look like a paradise she and others around her could enjoy during the spring and summer months of the year.
  
Aside from the proposal being presenting in this essay, it seems to the author that the most likely reason why we haven’t heard from any communicating alien civilization comes from a recent paper  coming out of the University of Nottingham, England. It suggests:
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Things I will take away from the personality that Omi had, was that she was a very strong woman, strong-willed, and believed in her ability. She had a very curious and intuitive ability to learn new things, even at her older age and this is something I feel myself and many others close to her, inherited from her. A quote that sticks out to me that she would say every now and then is, “Those who put in the time and hard work, shall enjoy the fruits of their labor.” -- She was a strong believer in this concept.  
  
''“…we find that in the most limited case, which we describe as the Strong Copernican Astrobiological limit, that there should be a minimum of 36 communicating civilizations in the galaxy today, assuming the average lifespan of these civilizations is 100 years. The nearest of these would be at a maximum distance given by 17000 light-years, making communication or even detection of these systems nearly impossible with present technology.”''
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I will cherish the long several hour phone calls we would have about every week or so; talking about the random current events, and stories she would share about her life with me. I felt honored with the privilege of seeing into this window of her past history; which would lead to very interesting stories in different events of her life.  
  
This clearly falls within the arena of Fermi Paradox solutions 3.1 and 3.2, or, in other words, either intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time, and human beings have not existed long enough to detect them, or the intelligent civilizations that do exist in our galaxy are located too far from our solar system.
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Another aspect of her personality was her laugh. She had a very unique laughter and if she started laughing, you could not help but laugh with her because it was so contagious.
  
==A Theological Solution==
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My family and I will definitely miss the stories she would share with my kids around the holidays to get their imaginations going during Christmas, or singing songs and playing a melody on her very old organ on their birthday; that she was also very good at making sound pretty good, even though it was slightly out of tune.
  
What do religious traditions say about the paradox? The author knows of no theological doctrine of any religious institution or belief that addresses the question of the Fermi Paradox.  
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I am going to miss her greatly as she is no longer with us in body, but in spirit, as she was one of the many important people to be my advisor in life and share thoughts and feelings with regarding everyday life in general.
  
However, the author has found an alternative solution to the Paradox in the scriptures used by a particular belief system. That belief system is one held by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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May God welcome and bless her soul, and finally put her at peace in heaven, relaxing in that garden of paradise she’s worked so hard on, as he has regained another very special person from our lives.
  
In order to better understand the context in which this answer to Fermi is found, it is necessary to take a brief detour to describe the origins of the Church, and the sacred text where the answer can be found.
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-- by her daughter Deborah</blockquote>
  
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, long known by the nickname “Mormon church” because of its sacred scripture called The Book of Mormon, has been on the scene since its founder, Joseph Smith, officially organized the Church in New York state in the United States in 1830.  Smith’s reason for the organization of the Church, which is broadly Christian in doctrine, was commandments received by Smith via direct revelation from God. These revelations included God’s declaration that the then extant Christian churches of the world were in apostasy, and that God was authorizing Smith and others whom he would call by revelation for the purpose, to re-establish Christ’s fully authorized Church upon the earth. This Church would be a restoration of the original Christian church founded by the original twelve apostles after the death and resurrection of Christ, having all the power and authority of that original church.
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[[Category: Family Memories]]
 
 
In order to provide evidence of divine imprimatur for the new Church, Smith had been directed to bring forth a new book of scripture, The Book of Mormon. The source of this book of scripture was an ancient record, comprised of engraved characters upon metallic plates , whose place of burial Smith had been shown in vision by the last custodian of the record, now a resurrected being.  It was to be Smith’s divinely-appointed task to translate the record into English so that it could be published to the world as a sign of God’s authorization.
 
 
 
Since Smith was a farmer’s son, with a farmer’s son’s education, there was no way he could translate anything into any language, let alone a book written in an extinct language using an unknown writing system. Accordingly, God provided to Smith divine means for the purpose. After the work was done and the English-language manuscript had been completed, the book was published in 1830 by a local printer in Palmyra, New York. A week or so after the book was made available to the public, the Church that Smith had been directed to established was officially organized, with Smith as president.
 
 
 
But the Book of Mormon was only the first scriptural work that Smith brought forth. Subsequent works included a number of revelations received by Smith for the purpose of guiding the Church in its early days (later published as the Doctrine and Covenants), and short records purported to have been made originally by the patriarch Abraham and the prophet Moses. These records are nowadays published as the ''Pearl of Great Price'' in a single volume. For our purposes in connection with the Fermi Paradox, it is to the first chapter of this Book of Moses that we now turn.
 
 
 
The events described in Moses chapter 1 are portrayed as taking place sometime after God spoke to Moses out of the burning bush but before Moses had returned to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel. In this chapter Moses has a conversation with God in which God reveals His purpose for this earth and its inhabitants, and coincidentally tells Moses that this earth is not the only world that God created for this purpose. The most relevant part of chapter one of the Book of Moses are verses 33 to 39:
 
 
 
<blockquote>''33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.<br>
 
''34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.<br>
 
''35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.<br>
 
''36 And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.<br>
 
''37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.<br>
 
''38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.<br>
 
''39 For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.''</blockquote>
 
 
 
A verse by verse analysis of this passage is interesting in itself, but for the connection with the Fermi Paradox, it is in verse 35 that we find a divine solution to the Paradox:
 
 
 
<blockquote>''35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.''</blockquote>
 
 
 
In this verse of the revelation it is revealed that many worlds God has created for His many children have “passed away”, and that many “now stand”. In Latter-day Saint theology, human beings will dwell upon this earth until a particular point has been reached, after which this “earth shall pass away”:
 
 
 
<blockquote>''38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.''</blockquote>
 
 
 
It is in this verse that we learn that God will continue to create worlds, allow them to serve as homes for His children, and then they will “pass away.” What this passing away consists of we are not told, but it is easy enough to imagine that a great change occurs, presumably a change which does not involve a communicating civilization . This seems to coincide with general Christian eschatology, which envisions an “end time” in which global conflict escalates until Christ returns again in physical form, to bring a period of universal peace that will last for a thousand years, after which the earth has fulfilled its purpose and presumably “passes away.”
 
 
 
If the scripture in Moses 1 is true, which is to say that it expresses God’s true will and intent, we are likely to never hear an extraterrestrial radio signal, because very soon after reaching the technological capability to receive and broadcast such signals, all civilizations “pass away” to a higher plane.
 
 
 
The above solution to the Fermi Paradox obviously falls within the purview of Fermi Paradox Solution 3.1, but for an entirely different reason:
 
 
 
<blockquote>Intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time, and human beings have not existed long enough to detect them. <nowiki>[And in context with Moses 1:33-39, we will not exist long enough to do so.]</nowiki></blockquote>
 
 
 
However, it also falls within the purview of Fermi Paradox Solution 5.2:
 
 
 
<blockquote>Earth is already a constituent of one or another interstellar empire or federation, and is being secretly guided by the leaders of this polity along a path that will eventually lead to full admission into that polity. In other words, we’ve already been contacted, but the knowledge of contact is kept secret for the time being. Or, in other words, there is no actual Paradox.</blockquote>
 
 
 
Of course it falls within this purview because for all practical purposes, God would constitute an intergalactic empire, and is guiding us secretly towards full admission into His kingdom as individuals as well as a species or race.
 
 
 
 
 
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<nowiki>&nbsp;</nowiki>
 
Back to [[Writings#Eschatology|My Writings]]
 
 
 
 
 
[[Category:My Writings]]
 
[[Category: Theological Writings]]
 

Latest revision as of 07:26, 6 January 2024

Edith Gertrud Baltutt (24 January 1935 - 5 November 2020) was born in Gilgenburg, East Prussia, Germany, and eventually married a United States Army soldier, Cy Mundell, finally settling in the state of Colorado in the United States, where she lived for the rest of her life.

Edith was the mother of four children, three daughters, Evelyn, Charlotte, Deborah, and a son, Kelly.

The Obituary of Edith Mundell

Regretfully, our Mother, Edith Mundell, passed away suddenly on November 5, 2020, at her home.

Mom was preceded in death by her husband, Herbert Duane “Cy”, her daughter Charlotte Kay, her father Otto, her mother Gertrud, her sister Waltraut, and her daughter, Evelyn.

Mom is survived by her two children Debra Lynn and Kelly Duane, her sisters Rita and Irmgard, her grandchildren, Kristina, Michael Ray, Duane Otto, Sara “Ra” Dawn, Daniel Duane, Whitney Marie, Deserei Cierra, Meghan Kelly, and nineteen great-grandchildren.

Mom was born in Osterode, Germany, on January 24, 1935. Near the latter part of World War II during the Russian invasion of Germany, her parents were captured by the Russian army and forced to work in labor camps. During the period after their parents were captured, these four children, ages 10, 8, 6, and 4; while Edith being the oldest, managed to survive on their own for some time until they were finally discovered and placed in foster homes. Our Grandmother Gertrud eventually returned and was reunited with her children. Otto Baltutt never returned.

The accounts of these events are illustrated in two published books, The Bones of My People, an account from our Grandmother Gertrud, and Yesterday’s Sandhills, the memories of our Aunt Rita.

Mom and Dad met in Germany where our Dad, who was in the United States Army, was stationed. They were married in Ulm Donau, Germany on July 23, 1960. Eventually, they came back to the USA. Their first daughter, Charlotte Kay, was born on May 4, 1964, and passed away on August 2, 1964.

Charlotte Kay was laid to rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Dad joined her there in 1972 after he passed from service-related injuries from his service in Vietnam as a Staff Sergeant, Company A, 143 Signal Battalion.

Our Mom never remarried and raised her children on her own as a single, proud, strong, intelligent, and independent woman. She taught us to be proud, strong, inquisitive, and independent. We value and honor her and what she taught us. She has influenced the raising of our own children to be proud, strong, inquisitive, and independent.

Mom will be laid to rest with the love of her life and their first born. May they be at peace, reunited, and embraced by the warm glow of the heavens.

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

Edith, also known as Omi to her grandchildren; made a large impact on her grandchildren’s lives. There are a lot of little moments I will remember, and the values she taught us through our years of growing up. I remember she would go out of her way to make sure her family and the people she cared about most were taken care of, doing well, and staying healthy.

Her most favorite activity that I remember vividly was being outdoors and doing something outside that involved being close to nature. She liked the fresh air, the birds singing throughout the day, the soil in her hands as she worked hard and long hours in her yard and garden to make it look like a paradise she and others around her could enjoy during the spring and summer months of the year.

Things I will take away from the personality that Omi had, was that she was a very strong woman, strong-willed, and believed in her ability. She had a very curious and intuitive ability to learn new things, even at her older age and this is something I feel myself and many others close to her, inherited from her. A quote that sticks out to me that she would say every now and then is, “Those who put in the time and hard work, shall enjoy the fruits of their labor.” -- She was a strong believer in this concept.

I will cherish the long several hour phone calls we would have about every week or so; talking about the random current events, and stories she would share about her life with me. I felt honored with the privilege of seeing into this window of her past history; which would lead to very interesting stories in different events of her life.

Another aspect of her personality was her laugh. She had a very unique laughter and if she started laughing, you could not help but laugh with her because it was so contagious.

My family and I will definitely miss the stories she would share with my kids around the holidays to get their imaginations going during Christmas, or singing songs and playing a melody on her very old organ on their birthday; that she was also very good at making sound pretty good, even though it was slightly out of tune.

I am going to miss her greatly as she is no longer with us in body, but in spirit, as she was one of the many important people to be my advisor in life and share thoughts and feelings with regarding everyday life in general.

May God welcome and bless her soul, and finally put her at peace in heaven, relaxing in that garden of paradise she’s worked so hard on, as he has regained another very special person from our lives.

-- by her daughter Deborah