From: smortaz@handel.Eng.Sun.COM (Shahrokh Mortazavi)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian
Subject: Re: A socio-cultural question.
Date: 2 Jan 1993 11:59:54 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View, CA  USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: handel

pesar amoo writes:

] " Suppose that five Iranian folks RANDOMLY are selected by
] alliens and put in a beautiful,cool place in space. They're given no
] agenda nor are forced to follow any rules in communication. There are
] enough amount of food, water and of course air. They are given 12 hours
] to share with each other and after that they are returned to thier own
] places. Question: How do you describe the last 15 minutes of that 12
] hour? " Thanks for your time. Pessar Amoo.

realistically speaking, id say most of the time would be dominated by
discussions about the aliens and the abduction itself than things
iranian... but hypothetically speaking, the time together would
probably make us all realize and appreciate how much we have in common
that goes unnoticed and how much our petty differences are unecessarily
magnified.  we'd leave the place wiser and more tolerant
than when we entered.

but i wonder what we'd hear if a few sci celebrities were randomly
abducted by aliens!

behnam mahjoor: 
[after a few hours]: I have a *burning* question - Is
there a bathroom around here somewhere?!

babak: 
[looking out the spaceships window]: there, theres iran!  it looks
like a little kitty.  now, if we play our cards right and take 
over afghanistan, iran will look like a roaring tiger!

satan:
this *&$^%* f*&#*$& &#&$* ***** #&$&^# *&$**#* Fortran course #&$*#
ass*&^# &$#^&$*& kill &#^$& f#&$^# #&$^& khAnem javad.

hooshyar:
[9 page quote deleted due to lack of space - summary: can we all
get along?]

mack: ???
amoo: ???
javad: ??? 
farhad: ???

[nosey shahrokh sneaks out thru the airduct, is detected by
sensors, intercepted by an alien... ]

shahrokh: whooops!
alien:	greetings earthling!  you should really be together
	with the rest of your party.
sh: 	sorry, i was just a bit curious and wanted to look around!
alien:	i understand... this behavior of humans is famous
	throughout the galaxy.
sh:	so, who are you people?  where are you guys from?
alien:	from that star system over there that looks like a W.  i believe
	you earthlings call it casiopia.
sh:	wow... how old is your civilization?  
alien:	our recorded history goes back about 300 million of your earth years.
sh:	[eyes bulging out] 300 million years?  thats ancient!  
alien:	actually statistically we're one of the younger races. 
sh:	not younger than us...
alien:  well, humans dont count, since they are a fusion race.
sh:	what do you mean by a fusion race?
alien:	that means your race was 'created' by specific alterations to
	an existing specie's dna.
sh:	let me take a wiiiild guess.  apes?
alien:	you got it!
sh:	so its true... no adam, no eve, no serpent, no apple?
alien:	nope.  but an intruiging story, eh?
sh: 	yeah, a lot of us still believe in it... what about god, the
	prophets, moses, jesus, mohammad, etc?
alien:	god - well, even we're still looking for god.  no luck yet.
	other than the one in our hearts - both of them - and minds,
	no real proof has been found yet... the prophets, weeeeeeell, 
	they were all our represantatives.
sh:	you mean ...
alien:	yep, thats what i mean.  every few thousand years we have to 
	send someone to save humanity from itself.
sh:	believe me, *now* would be a good time for the next rep
	to arrive.
alien:	we think so too.  but its kind of embarassing since our last
	rep, without authorization, got carried away and claimed that 
	he'd be the 'last one'.
sh:	oh yeah, i've heard about that...  you should read the debates
	its caused.  so, whats the deal, why create us?  whats the objective?
alien:	i hope that you wont be offended, but its all a large-scale 
	experiment.  this and several other planetary scale experiments 
	have helped advance our genetics and evolutionary knowledge greatly.
sh:	so we're lab rats in other words.
alien:	you are offended, i was afraid of that... 
sh:	its just a bit difficult to collide with reality
	head on without an airbag.  
alien:	humans are already experimenting with genetics.  from maping the
	human genome, to fortified fruits, to identifying diseases from dna
	sequences... in less than 50 thousand years you yourselves will be 
	creating completely new plants, animals, entire eco-systems - much 
	like we are doing now.
sh:	oh good, so you're certain we wont annihilate ourselves with a
	nuclear war at least in the next 50 thousand years!?
alien:	well, only god [smiling] knows that!  odds are looking better
	these days that it wont happen.
sh:	is that really true?  with more an more third world and radical
	states gaining access to nuclear weapons, it seems as if the chances
	are increasing.
alien:	we are hoping that the more civilized nations use their influence
	to make sure such disasters do not occur.  we do not wish to take
	extreme measures when not necessary.
sh:	believe me, some of these civilized nations are part of the problem!
	but what do you mean by extreme measures?
alien:	lets call them unplanned interventions.
sh:	such as?
alien:	assassination of many tyrant dictators, many 'natural disasters'
	with specific, complex domino effects in mind, many 'accidental'
	discoveries and inventions, etc.  
sh:	what are some examples?
alien:	the wheel, bow & arrow, penicilin, the marriage of figaro
sh:	hmmmm... guess you guys dont have the equivalent of
	star trek's 'Prime Directive'!
alien:	we actually do, but without these interventions your race 
	would have become extinct long ago.  
sh:	you mean we'd destroy ourselves?
alien:	diseases actually.  without our help several epidemics would
	have ended the experiment prematurely.
sh:	that reminds me, whatever happened to the dinosaurs?  was
	it a comet, climate change, diseases?

[ to be continued ] 

topics from hour 2:

. what reaaally happened to the dinosaurs?
. how were the pyramids built?
. life after death: is there going to be any?
. will a cure for baldness and unwanted hair be found?
. what are the winning numbers for the next california lottery?

Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian