Michael Cole
2019-02-09 16:30:50 UTC
Hi all. I thought I would share a cranky observation about the way media likes to dumb down everything. On one of the news shows this morning they interviewed a scientist who argued that the weird space rock Oumuama that recently passed through our solar system was evidence of intelligent alien life. So they made a big deal of having the audience answer a poll question "Is it arrogant for us to assume we are alone in the universe?" I find the stupidity of the question annoying. What the hell does human ego have to do with a factual question about the universe?
I have no interest in being arrogant or humble when considering a question of fact. Putting aside the question of arrogance, I think it is STUPID to assume we are alone in the universe and equally stupid to assume we are not. I could make all kinds of cogent arguments that the sequence of events that led to the evolution of complex life on earth was sufficiently serendipitous, it could be a once-in-a-universe happening. But then we must consider different ways complex life could evolve and on that we can only speculate in the dark. My guess, which is as worthless as anyone else's, is that simple life such as photosynthetic bacteria may be fairly common and more complex life much rarer. How rare? Well, now you've got me guessing.
I have no interest in being arrogant or humble when considering a question of fact. Putting aside the question of arrogance, I think it is STUPID to assume we are alone in the universe and equally stupid to assume we are not. I could make all kinds of cogent arguments that the sequence of events that led to the evolution of complex life on earth was sufficiently serendipitous, it could be a once-in-a-universe happening. But then we must consider different ways complex life could evolve and on that we can only speculate in the dark. My guess, which is as worthless as anyone else's, is that simple life such as photosynthetic bacteria may be fairly common and more complex life much rarer. How rare? Well, now you've got me guessing.