6 ms·

I mean sorta. But think about the incredible variety of life on Earth. Read some science fiction. I'm not saying our search space / our expectations are perfect

I mean sorta. But think about the incredible variety of life on Earth. Read some science fiction. I'm not saying our search space / our expectations are perfectly broad enough. But I've never seen any sign the people involved in SETI are doing this with blinders trying to find bipedal creatures with a mouth that breathes oxygen and are about 1-2 meters tall.

keiferski 7y ago
But is it actually that varied when compared to the infinity of the universe? All life on Earth is carbon-based, to start with. The assumption always seems to be that experience as we perceive it now is some sort of default, objective one. It’s far more likely that we are simply locked into a very narrow viewpoint. The scales are simply so large that we are unable to comprehend them in any meaningful way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_chauvinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_chauvinism
- unionpivo 7y ago
  i mean there is a reason to believe that if there is other life in universe its going to also be carbon based. Carbon can form more molecules than all the other elements combined, so it makes sense that complex chemical "elements" are heavily based on it. In fact if you compare most common elements in universe[1] and most common elements in human body[2] they are mostly the same (different order) 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elem... 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_human_body https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_human_body
  - jcranmer 7y ago
    Carl Sagan, who coined the term, has admitted that he is a carbon chauvinist. And I suspect most biochemists are as well; there are decent chemical reasons to disfavor any other system.
    - chopin 7y ago
      On the other hand carbon chemistry is the center of expertise for biochemists. They hardly know anything else. As well, carbon chemistry is rich under earth conditions (temperature and pressure wise). We simply don't know for others.

keiferski 7y ago

But is it actually that varied when compared to the infinity of the universe? All life on Earth is carbon-based, to start with. The assumption always seems to be that experience as we perceive it now is some sort of default, objective one. It’s far more likely that we are simply locked into a very narrow viewpoint. The scales are simply so large that we are unable to comprehend them in any meaningful way. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_chauvinism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_chauvinism

unionpivo 7y ago
i mean there is a reason to believe that if there is other life in universe its going to also be carbon based. Carbon can form more molecules than all the other elements combined, so it makes sense that complex chemical "elements" are heavily based on it. In fact if you compare most common elements in universe[1] and most common elements in human body[2] they are mostly the same (different order) 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elements https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elem... 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_human_body https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composition_of_the_human_body
- jcranmer 7y ago
  Carl Sagan, who coined the term, has admitted that he is a carbon chauvinist. And I suspect most biochemists are as well; there are decent chemical reasons to disfavor any other system.
  - chopin 7y ago
    On the other hand carbon chemistry is the center of expertise for biochemists. They hardly know anything else. As well, carbon chemistry is rich under earth conditions (temperature and pressure wise). We simply don't know for others.