Originally posted by CommonSense
A couple of followup questions for you. Where did we come from? What's the basis for saying aliens become increasingly likely as we explore our
surroundings?
I'll tackle those in reverse order, if you'll indulge me, but I'd first like to apologise for any needlessly antagonistic phrasing in my previous
post. I *must* stop writing under the influence of caffiene...
As we learn more and more about the universe, alien life looks less like a possibility and more like a cast-iron certainty. We have discovered in our
surveys of this planet that life exists in almost unimaginable conditions - from volcanic vents on the ocean floor, to the summits of the highest
mountains, to the hellish infernos of the deepest deserts. Life will always - *always* - find an exploitable niche. Combine this with our
discoveries that other stars in our galaxy have families of planets, some of which may well be Earthlike, and we see that for life to be unique to
this world would be... well, it would be unimaginable.
And wherever life exists, sentience will inevitably arise. It's possible, though unlikely, that we are the only sentient species in our galaxy at
the present time, but others will follow after (or have gone before!).
Indirectly, this also answers your first question. Despite CyberRav's somewhat metaphysical invocation of an Infinite Field of Energy, the
spontaneous development of life is described by highly plausible theories. Life is chemical in nature, not spiritual or miraculous. Sentience and
consciousness, I agree, seem to defy a starkly scientific rationale according to our *current* knowledge base, but I have no doubt that we will unfold
these mysteries in the years to come.
There is nothing - *nothing* - found in the universe which requires the intervention of a creator. I'm the first to admit that our understanding is
imperfect, or at least incomplete, but that doesn't mean that we, in our arrogance, our vanity and our sickening ignorance, must turn to a mysterious
and omnipotent being. There isn't a single particle of evidence of God's existence which withstands even cursory scrutiny.
Given these facts, these fundamental truths, God becomes not only less likely, but irrelevant. At the same time, alien life becomes not only more
likely, but inevitable. I do not deny spirituality, I do not deny a moral and philosophical need in every human being - but I deny a farcical
definiton of a living God who called the universe into being in an arbitrary and random way, but saw fit to underpin it all with scientific laws and
principles which function elegantly, perfectly, and *without His interference*. What, I ask you, is more likely - that He created a universe which
didn't need Him, or that He doesn't exist at all?
I look at the universe, and I see beauty. I see wonderous infinity. I see awesome power and unimaginable splendour. But I do not see, anywhere, the
face of God.
