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Originally Posted by bartman
Craig I'm yet to read the three links provided ( I have skimmed over the wiki one) . You say that "legitimately paying any credence to the alternative possibility of no exo-life… ", yet you quote "Kent himself reminds us, pure speculation"
So how can it be ' legitimate' when it is all speculation.....or am I reading it wrong? |
Bart, you have extraordinary perceptiveness ! I compliment you on it !
Amazing .. (I really mean this .. please take it as a compliment ..I'm making no attempts at sending you up … and I need to go out of my way to make sure of this, in this medium
)
From an observation of the paper however, the "Comments: April 20011" section, has some awesome words which hit the nail right on the head (and, by some sheer co-incidence), reiterate my past words, precisely:
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To arxiv readers who feel that speculating about possible explanations for the lack of visible alien life goes beyond the boundaries of current science,
I would say
(a) you clearly have an arguable point, and part of me salutes your scientific rigour and notes that reading the article isn’t obligatory, yet;
(b) on the other hand, the borderline between the scientific and extra-scientific isn’t necessarily forever sharply fixed on this topic – after all, the ideas are ultimately testable in principle by searching the cosmos and seeing what is out there, and even now one could make some sort of test of the arguments’ (im)plausibility, however inconclusive, with suitable models, and also;
(c) sometimes it is intellectually legitimate for scientists to engage in reasoning about subjects that go beyond the current boundaries of experimental or observational science: we just need to be clear that’s what we’re doing when we do that (and clear too about the limitations of our arguments).
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Right on the money !
Supports my new catch cry for participation in the Science Forum, (awaiting full ratification
):
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Purpose: To promote scientific rationale in Astronomy, Space Exploration, Physics, Bio-sciences and related fields. Be aware of your beliefs and biases. Present them as beliefs. Respect others’ beliefs at all times. No spamming.
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As far as the possibility of no exo-life, he says:
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Now, it could be that cosmically conspicuous life, or life capable of interstellar travel, or even just life, has evolved nowhere but on Earth. It could also be that, …..
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He later explains that his paper is not about these possibilities, so he doesn't develop his ideas on this further. None-the-less, he does acknowledge that
no exo-lfe is possible.
Cheers