Why is not being alone in the universe a bad thing though?
I actually get a great deal of comfort from the thought that us and our silly little squabbles are so inconsequential to the universe at large. That some alien species we can’t even begin to imagine is just doing the same shit we are 800 billion light years away. Makes me feel like maybe getting up for work in the morning ain’t so bad when you consider the scale
Why is not being alone in the universe a bad thing though?
There are possible concerns relating to the Fermi paradox. Perhaps there aren’t many space faring civilizations because the most advance civilization exterminates others that they see as a potential threat.
But yeah, I also find it comforting to know our existence really isn’t that big a deal lol. It just makes me feel like we should do what we can to get the most joy out of our lives while we’re here
Maybe they’re also bickering and arguing about who killed who in the Guejenjdjja-Otoenenjda conflict, taking place in the desert of purple sand, with very geographically-literate Ghdisixoosbdbjzoakan college students obnoxiously cosplaying it in the quads
The arguments some people make is that if it’s likely there’s so many other civilizations out there, then why haven’t we found any evidence of any of them? You have Great Filter and Dark Forest theories that try to explain it, both of which would likely be very bad for humanity.
But it all forgets that we really haven’t searched much of even our own solar system in incredible detail, so it’s very possible we either haven’t looked in the right places, or don’t have the tech in place to see civilizations
Not breathing oxygen is way more toxic, though. That will kill you in a few minutes.
Sure, I imagine off-world lifeforms having entirely different metabolism. Like when we hear “this planet has a methane atmosphere” it’s like holy cow, sounds rough, but alien entities would possibly think the same thing about our planet of water and nitrogen. Imagine how horrible it would sound to someone who was water-soluble. “H2O rains down from the sky!!”
We keep finding life on earth in places where we didn’t think life was possible. And yet, when we look at the stars we have the nerve to talk about there being a “goldilocks zone” for planets in other solar systems, like that’s the only way life could exist there.
I’m sure there’s life out there somewhere, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if carbon/water based life turns out to be a minority in the universe.
Yes, water is a simple compound made of some of the most common elements in the universe, so it’s reasonable to think other life might also evolve to use it. Carbon is also a really handy element for making complex molecules, and is also really common. But, it’s a failure of the imagination to think that life elsewhere has to follow the same basic chemistry as here on earth.
Unfortunately, most life will likely be Carbon based, in some manner (synthetic life could be different). The key is forming the large, complex molecules that make life, life. You need an element that can form chains. You also need to attach things to those chains.
The only 2 atoms that can do this are carbon and silicon. Both can form “organic” type molecules. Unfortunately, silicon has an additional reaction pathway that makes the chain easily break down in the presence of water. The conditions for silicon based life are so odd as to be unlikely to happen on the scale needed by natural processes. There might be some work arounds we don’t know about, they would be extremes.
Synthetic life is another story. Once you have active control over your environment, a number of other options open up. The first step is the kicker however, getting from abiotic natural rubble to a working replicator.
There’s a reason we are looking in Goldilocks zones, they are the most likely environment for the only process that seems viable.
Man, I love science people. Like, are you guys aware of how cool you are? I love being around people who talk about awesome shit like this, even tho I don’t understand most of it. Keep being you o7
You live on a world where the temperature is only on average 288K? It’s so cold there that H2O exists in its solid form on the surface in places!!! How can you people even move let alone have any active biological processes?
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