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Then again, this photo mosaic spans just one arm of one galaxy in the visible universe.

ekianjo 6y ago
We know that life only emerges in very specific conditions, that most planets do not have. We also know that even in very stable Earth, we have had billions and billions of species that developed and disappeared and we now only have a single specie with technological capabilities - and for a very short time at that, all things considered. If the universe is 'rich in life', most of it is probably micro-organisms that get wiped out every now and then by drastic changes on the planetary scale.
- mod 6y ago
  What are the chances that, from an outside perspective, that we are just one variety of life form on the planet? Sure, they can make distinctions about which variety of us (e.g. humans, not dogs) have the most intelligence or something--but perhaps from an outside perspective, we all started from the same spontaneous event or whatever, and we're just many, many generations of that same lifeform. In other words, maybe we're just being "racist," sort-of. As an aside, is this a named theory or something? I'd like to read about it.
- efreak 6y ago
  You might well be undercounting there, according to a 2016 study[0]: > Earth could contain nearly 1 trillion species, with only one-thousandth of 1 percent now identified, according to a study from biologists. The estimate is based on the intersection of large datasets and universal scaling laws. [0]: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160502161058.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160502161058.h...
- divbzero 6y ago
  Agreed. It’s a minuscule probability per planet multiplied by a vast number of planets and it’s hard to say which factor carries greater weight. The fact that we haven’t detected any signals from space also sets a limit on the likelihood/duration of intelligent life in our area of the universe.

We know that life only emerges in very specific conditions, that most planets do not have. We also know that even in very stable Earth, we have had billions and billions of species that developed and disappeared and we now only have a single specie with technological capabilities - and for a very short time at that, all things considered. If the universe is 'rich in life', most of it is probably micro-organisms that get wiped out every now and then by drastic changes on the planetary scale.

mod 6y ago
What are the chances that, from an outside perspective, that we are just one variety of life form on the planet? Sure, they can make distinctions about which variety of us (e.g. humans, not dogs) have the most intelligence or something--but perhaps from an outside perspective, we all started from the same spontaneous event or whatever, and we're just many, many generations of that same lifeform. In other words, maybe we're just being "racist," sort-of. As an aside, is this a named theory or something? I'd like to read about it.
efreak 6y ago
You might well be undercounting there, according to a 2016 study[0]: > Earth could contain nearly 1 trillion species, with only one-thousandth of 1 percent now identified, according to a study from biologists. The estimate is based on the intersection of large datasets and universal scaling laws. [0]: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160502161058.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160502161058.h...
divbzero 6y ago
Agreed. It’s a minuscule probability per planet multiplied by a vast number of planets and it’s hard to say which factor carries greater weight. The fact that we haven’t detected any signals from space also sets a limit on the likelihood/duration of intelligent life in our area of the universe.