It's an interesting analogy, discussing the forest and inhabitants therein. It's flawed. Anthropologist who removed forest dwellers from the forest had no depth perception and couldn't tell the difference between ants and a herd of elephants in the distance. Take plains dwellers and place them in the forest, they're less likely to survive because they're not use to looking up; if not eaten, they will be easily disoriented, lost. Take any modern city folk and drop them in the deserts in Australia, and the aborigines would laugh at their inability to find water.
It seems to me humans are particularly blind to seeing outside of their paradigm. We have consistently denied and dismissed evidence of awareness, sentience, even language in species that evolved alongside with us. This is important. There is evidence for more going on with animals than science allows. Even if we compared the smartest of these to the level of young, human children, it's meaningful. If so many potentially intelligent species evolved on Earth in close proximity, you can bet every planet that holds life will have variety of intelligent species, likely living in a synergistic harmony. Cooperation has always been better than competition.
With humans failing to recognize their brothers and sisters in the forest, on the plains, in the oceans- we have decimated our world and lamented being alone. Heck, half the time we're unwilling to form working relationships with others. Of course, that might be because we have advanced science, but we have not evolved our ideas of economics beyond the cavemen bartering- trade for these shells, or I club you.
It is only recently insects are considered to have more going on than what was previously thought. Cells are getting new consideration- per science, there is more going on with cells than we thought. Additionally, thanks to AI, we discovered functional artifacts not predicted by science! We doubled the number of organelles in cells, and there wasn't one biologist in the world lamenting, "I think we're missing something." It took AI to show us there was more going on because we can't see!
Testimony gave us auras. Science eventually caught up to testimony and discovered biophotons!
Plants make noises when stressed, make aspirin in anticipation of pain, and can distinguish between relatives versus non-kin when it comes to sharing resources. Trees will adjust their branches to allow sunlight to reach a seedling! It's not happenstance that forest thrive next to each other. The practice of taking elder trees decimated the immune system of the forest. It's a cooperative!
Mushrooms were recently found to have 50 word language. Koko the gorilla used abstractions! Where are the scientists jumping on that bandwagon? Chimpanzees have language, per science, recently. Dolphins have language, pod specific, have been seen using stones as tools, and use coral as medicines!
Again, there is evidence here to support sentience beyond the testimony of every pet owner in the world. Testimony and beliefs are absolutely critical to science. Just ask all those folks dedicated to string theory, without any veridical proof, or one practical application yet!!!
Imagine where we'd be had only scientist followed Moses out of Egypt! We'd still be lost in the wilderness!
I apologize if the tone I have generated is overly critical, or unsympathetic. I do love you, and I am so glad that you are championing the search for evidence of aliens. I read your work and follow your podcasts. I saw one recently where you were repetitiously lamenting you are being blocked from doing science by scientists, even when you have outside funding through charity. You are amazed that people won't let you do science, even bewildered? I suspect they feel you have strayed from science to beliefs.
John E Mack, in his fight to stay a tenured scientist at Harvard made this discovery: He stated very clearly, you can have all the facts in the world, and you will not make people see outside their paradigm. Sound familiar? When was this? A decade or two before you propose Oumuamua was evidence of alien technology?
In essence, John E Mack said, if you want to 'advance science you cannot lead with facts.' You must first start with beliefs. Change people's belief, and then, and only then, will you get them to look through your telescope, my friend, Galileo. You have a lot in common with Mack, and yet, in all your speeches and laments about not being heard, I have not heard you expound on him.
