I read an article today about life on other planets, and the consequences of said life, or lack of said life, as far as humanity is concerned. I'll not go int to depths on the matters discussed there, because they are separate from my own, and not directly related. I mention them only to relate the origin of my own thought process.
Our galaxy cluster, the Milky Way, or, as it's also called, the Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy comprised of some 100 billion stars and their surrounding debris, planets and interstellar objects. The Milky Way is part of universe comprised of hundreds of billions of other galaxy clusters also composed of billions of stars. Now, to think that there is no other life in this unimaginably large universe is preposterous, but I would conjecture that it is quite likely their are very few, if any, other life forms near the same level of development as are we at this current point in time.
If we count Neandertal, man kind has existed for somewhere in the realm of 230,000 years. That is something like 4% of the time that this planet has existed. If you consider the fact that we've only been actively searching the stars for a bare fraction of that time, perhaps you can begin to see the real problem with hoping to discover sentient alien life. Even assuming that distance was not a problem, the odds that we are developing at pace with another race of sentient creatures seems startlingly small. When you factor time into the equation with distance you find yourself with some startlingly difficult improbability.
We simply do not have the option to look that far into space. With that limitation, the chance of us ever encountering sentient life is slim to none. We can hope that we might encounter some form of lesser life in one of our own inter-solar planets. That might, at least partially, give us some reason to believe that life in the universe is a common occurrence. If life, even simple life, was common, then there would be a far greater chance of encountering intelligent life at some point in the future of our species. However, if life proves to be less than common in the universe, the chances of encountering another sentient race begins to dwindle at an exponential rate.
How long does humanity have before some planetary disaster destroys us as a species? If I had to place a bet, I would bet that humanity will not last long enough to find another sentient race in the void of space.
I am a pessimist. In my opinion, if we do not find life in our own solar system, beyond earth, we never will. I do not believe that humanity, in its current state, is capable of developing the technology needed to expand outside the confines of our solar system.
That is all.
Fox
Our galaxy cluster, the Milky Way, or, as it's also called, the Galaxy, is a spiral galaxy comprised of some 100 billion stars and their surrounding debris, planets and interstellar objects. The Milky Way is part of universe comprised of hundreds of billions of other galaxy clusters also composed of billions of stars. Now, to think that there is no other life in this unimaginably large universe is preposterous, but I would conjecture that it is quite likely their are very few, if any, other life forms near the same level of development as are we at this current point in time.
If we count Neandertal, man kind has existed for somewhere in the realm of 230,000 years. That is something like 4% of the time that this planet has existed. If you consider the fact that we've only been actively searching the stars for a bare fraction of that time, perhaps you can begin to see the real problem with hoping to discover sentient alien life. Even assuming that distance was not a problem, the odds that we are developing at pace with another race of sentient creatures seems startlingly small. When you factor time into the equation with distance you find yourself with some startlingly difficult improbability.
We simply do not have the option to look that far into space. With that limitation, the chance of us ever encountering sentient life is slim to none. We can hope that we might encounter some form of lesser life in one of our own inter-solar planets. That might, at least partially, give us some reason to believe that life in the universe is a common occurrence. If life, even simple life, was common, then there would be a far greater chance of encountering intelligent life at some point in the future of our species. However, if life proves to be less than common in the universe, the chances of encountering another sentient race begins to dwindle at an exponential rate.
How long does humanity have before some planetary disaster destroys us as a species? If I had to place a bet, I would bet that humanity will not last long enough to find another sentient race in the void of space.
I am a pessimist. In my opinion, if we do not find life in our own solar system, beyond earth, we never will. I do not believe that humanity, in its current state, is capable of developing the technology needed to expand outside the confines of our solar system.
That is all.
Fox
Posts
3 comments:
In time they will find us. If they haven't already.
I don't think they will. The odds are astronomically small, and while there are, indeed, a great deal of stars and planets out there, the vastness of space, and the inevitable rise and fall of civilizations and differing life forms, I believe, will always be the greatest determining factor.
But somewhere out there, at some point, they will have the same ideas we do and go exploring.
Post a Comment