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Humans are the only hope for life on this planet. On a long enough timescale the planet will cease to exist. Humans have (or have the ability to develop) the te

Humans are the only hope for life on this planet. On a long enough timescale the planet will cease to exist. Humans have (or have the ability to develop) the technology to establish life in other parts of the universe.

go_elmo 5y ago
It is highly unlikely that life - as on earth - does not exist anywhere in the universe. Where the great filter is is a great question, but I am 99.9999% sure that it is NOT basic life with some intelligence (e.g. animals). - The elements CHNOPS are verywhere - including oldest asteroids - enough habitable zone exoplanets - enough evidence of primitive life forming where energy gradients exist - ... so humans really are not that important for the universe, just for ourselves. But this should be enough for us not eradicate ourselves for the mid term benefit of a few.
- pfdietz 5y ago
  > It is highly unlikely that life - as on earth - does not exist anywhere in the universe. This is a common senitment, but there is no rational basis for believing it to be true. > enough evidence of primitive life forming where energy gradients exist There is no evidence that life has arisen more than once.
  - GeoAtreides 5y ago
    > there is no rational basis for believing it to be true. Denying that humans and their blue little planet are in any way special is such a rational basis.
    - pfdietz 5y ago
      If origin of life is uncommon, then any place it does arise will necessarily be special. You are simply asserting, as an axiom, that life cannot be uncommon. The core of your erroneous thinking is that you have not taken into account observer selection bias. https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/W6-Observer-selection-effects.pdf https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/W6-Observer-sele... Your sort of reasoning also led people to think in the 1700s that all the other planets in our solar system had intelligent life on them.

go_elmo 5y ago

It is highly unlikely that life - as on earth - does not exist anywhere in the universe. Where the great filter is is a great question, but I am 99.9999% sure that it is NOT basic life with some intelligence (e.g. animals). - The elements CHNOPS are verywhere - including oldest asteroids - enough habitable zone exoplanets - enough evidence of primitive life forming where energy gradients exist - ... so humans really are not that important for the universe, just for ourselves. But this should be enough for us not eradicate ourselves for the mid term benefit of a few.

pfdietz 5y ago
> It is highly unlikely that life - as on earth - does not exist anywhere in the universe. This is a common senitment, but there is no rational basis for believing it to be true. > enough evidence of primitive life forming where energy gradients exist There is no evidence that life has arisen more than once.
- GeoAtreides 5y ago
  > there is no rational basis for believing it to be true. Denying that humans and their blue little planet are in any way special is such a rational basis.
  - pfdietz 5y ago
    If origin of life is uncommon, then any place it does arise will necessarily be special. You are simply asserting, as an axiom, that life cannot be uncommon. The core of your erroneous thinking is that you have not taken into account observer selection bias. https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/W6-Observer-selection-effects.pdf https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/W6-Observer-sele... Your sort of reasoning also led people to think in the 1700s that all the other planets in our solar system had intelligent life on them.