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Originally Posted by renormalised
I agree, we need to concentrate on what we know to try and find out if that type of life (carbon based) exists elsewhere in our Solar System. But even if we don't find it (which I think we will, eventually), that doesn't mean to say that we're going to be the norm throughout the galaxy or the universe, even.
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No .. but if we
don't face up to the evidence of a negative finding in a high probability HZ, we would never revise the search criteria, (the primary one being, the definition of HZ .. as well as the astronomical/geological/chemical theoretical grounds underpinning it). No progress will be made !
I call this denialism !
… If this were to happen, we'd be deceiving ourselves (scientifically) ... for who knows how long !?!
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Originally Posted by renormalised
We may just be the unlucky sods to be one of the few (or many, who knows) that only has one life bearing planet in a system.
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This fear of feeling 'unlucky' is an irrational barrier to progression as a species. I see it as being more important for humans to overcome this, than the discovery of hypothetical exo-life forms. It could be argued that this fear is the basis for 'conjuring up' in their 'existence', in the first place!
Frankly, I presently don't care whether they 'exist', or not !
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Originally Posted by renormalised
We may even be surrounded by silicon based life...we just don't know. Look at it this way...we've barely been doing science for not much longer than 400 years and rigorous science for 250 years (if you count the Industrial Revolution as being a part of it). We're still in the first day of kindergarten...we haven't even reached Grade 1 yet  . We have a long way to go and very much to learn...even of the basics. |
Your commentary on this thread reminds me of the question:
"How long is the coastline of England ?" …
The answer is of course, "Infinite" … why ? .. because it is a
fractal pattern ...
Cheers