A question or proposition as to why we are not alone

[bojan]

Originally Posted by Brian W

I hoped you might like the imagery of the black hole and cosmic sex.

I certainly did

Originally Posted by Brian W

However this discussion has led me to another question; what type of container is needed for the development of intellect?

This is something that bothers me for ages...
Being an engineer myself, my approach to this question is predictable:

Hardware (brains) and software (wiring within the brains, partly genetically determined partly result of learning, based on stimuli via sensors and trial-error cycles).

Now, what is the mind (intellect).... is it a number of operations/calculations in the brains per second, or something else... I don't know.

[TrevorW]

All known life on Earth is built upon carbon and carbon-based compounds. Yet the possibility has been discussed that life elsewhere in the Universe may have a different chemical foundation, based on the element silicon.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Silic...fe-50623.shtml

as such alien life, but not as we know it Jimmy, may not need water to survive