How Did Aliens Find Earth? What are the Chances?, page 1

reply to post by l neXus l

WE are actively (with great hope, for some) seeking signs of intelligence off-world. Limitation being the EM spectrum, though.

I think too many have a "Star Trek" biased impression of other sentient life that very probably must exist elsewhere in our Galaxy, just by simple rules of logic and probability (number) theory.

By "Star Trek" bias, I mean 'parallel development' of civilizations, in terms of time elapsed. "Star Trek" needed to have extraterrestrial species in order to have stories to tell, for dramatic purposes. It is Science Fiction, after all.

BUT....when one considers the VAST spans of time that define the cosmos, then it comes clear that species' development will occur at very, very different rates.

Example: It could be argued that, perhaps, had not the Earth been struck by the massive meteor 65 million years ago, one of the dinosaur species could have continued to evolve, possibly even achieving sentience. Velociraptor, for instance, seems a likely candidate. But, we know so little, that is still just a guess.

SO....if you get my drift? If not, I'll try this: Using only our Sun as an example, a main-sequence G-type (third generation in our Galaxy) that we are familiar with, since it's in our neighborhood, so to speak.

We know, intrinsically, that this G-type can provide a source of adequate energy for life to develop, this is obvious since we're here discussing it. The Sun is not unique, in composition. AND, it is roughly four Billion years into its life, or about half-way before exhausting most of its fuel and blossoming into a red giant. During those Billions of years life took many twists and turns on this planet. Other planets, in other star systems, can have had life evolve at a defferent rate, due to different environments, fewer cataclysms (or more, whichever)....four Billions years is LONG time, life can develop rather quickly, in comparison. Very advanced multi-cellular life, that leads eventually to tool-use and sentience, well that's the big open question --- but, still, in all likelihood it could have happened a mere 1,000, or even 10,000 (or more) of OUR years ago, somewhere else. SO, with the technological edge, of course they'd be so far advanced as to be virtual magicians, to us.

Difference, of course, is that WE can eventually learn....it isn't like the modern man, and the primitive man situation. Although, in some aspects, there are problems with acquiring too much technology before you're really ready for it. Like, giving a gun to a toddler analogy.....

[edit on 17 March 2010 by weedwhacker]