Are we alone in the universe?
Since I was a little child, I liked to spend hours watching at the blue, infinite sky. A question kept going on inside my head, desperately searching for an answer: 'Are we alone in the universe?'. This is maybe one of the hardest question to answer for mankind, but it's also for sure one of the most debated. The first, spontaneous conclusion that came to my mind was no. Something else had to be in our universe, which is infinite. As consequence there's an infinite possibility that somewhere, in a galaxy far far away (cit.) an alien society is prospering.
The reading of some books instead changed my mind. What made me less sure about my first opinion are basically this: the Universe is not infinite. Based on the most convincing theory we came up so far our Universe is expanding at a quite constant rate. This is not only implies that distances are inexorably increasing, making space travels such an utopia, but also nothing is given for sure to exist. The probability of another life form in the Universe drops drastically. Also because, life as we know it, requires a lot of features that are very rare (if not inexistent) outside of our Solar System.
This takes the question to another level: what can life be based upon? This, although can not look like this, is a way more open and uncertain question than the other. Imagination is the only limit here. Therefore, an answer to both questions does not exist so far. Based on what science taught us and on what we have discovered so far , we can say that it is more likely for another form of life not to exist, but everything is possible. I like to think that something has to exist, but I also embrace a nichilistic vision: if something exists out there, we better hope that they can get in touch with us (and maybe they already found us), because we don't have the technology at all to do so. Moreover, the interaction with another form of life is likely to take us to our extinction. We are a not very technologically advanced society, and it is more likely that another culture has more technological power than we do.
The reading of some books instead changed my mind. What made me less sure about my first opinion are basically this: the Universe is not infinite. Based on the most convincing theory we came up so far our Universe is expanding at a quite constant rate. This is not only implies that distances are inexorably increasing, making space travels such an utopia, but also nothing is given for sure to exist. The probability of another life form in the Universe drops drastically. Also because, life as we know it, requires a lot of features that are very rare (if not inexistent) outside of our Solar System.
This takes the question to another level: what can life be based upon? This, although can not look like this, is a way more open and uncertain question than the other. Imagination is the only limit here. Therefore, an answer to both questions does not exist so far. Based on what science taught us and on what we have discovered so far , we can say that it is more likely for another form of life not to exist, but everything is possible. I like to think that something has to exist, but I also embrace a nichilistic vision: if something exists out there, we better hope that they can get in touch with us (and maybe they already found us), because we don't have the technology at all to do so. Moreover, the interaction with another form of life is likely to take us to our extinction. We are a not very technologically advanced society, and it is more likely that another culture has more technological power than we do.
This was a very interesting read. We don't really know if there are others out there. Sci-fi movies like to help us imagine that there might be, but they usually paint them as evil. I guess we will just have to see if Elon can actually get people to live on Mars. If he could do that, then maybe just maybe others out there have been able to do the same on less habitual planets.
RispondiEliminaJacques, these kinds of questions FREAK me out. It makes me feel so overwhelmed. It is so insane. We think the world is so big; Africa seems so far away. But, above the sky we look at, there is space and beyond space we do not even know! It's so crazy to me.
RispondiEliminaThis is a very interesting topic and one that I have given much thought to. I like how you have actually read on it because I have not gotten to that point and I just tend to ignore getting too into the subject. Another subject that could be similar to this that I enjoy to think about is the possibility that we are all merely living a simulation.
RispondiEliminaI enjoyed your post, something I too thought about often growing up. Now I feel so caught up in the day-to-day, I never take time to stop and think about life beyond our universe. It's crazy, I could get so lost in thought wondering about this.
RispondiEliminaI really enjoyed this post. You have a very interesting view point, and its something I tend to think about from time to time. The Universe is just so big it is nearly impossible to know for sure.
RispondiEliminaI really enjoyed reading this post, and I'm keen to see the results of the most recent SpaceX launch that dominated the headlines. I remember being fascinated by the story of the radar transmissions from space when I was a kid: basically, scientists picked up a pattern of 5 radar signals that seemed to spell out H-E-L-L-O, but they were never able to determine the source. I think that due to the infinite size of the universe, it's likely that there is something else out there. I'm getting chills just thinking about it!
RispondiEliminaHi Jacques! I have also always been intrigued to find out if there is life outside of earth. I have to say after taking my astronomy class I truly believe there has to be. My professor stated that our solar system can be compared to a single pebble of sand on a beach. The universe is so big and we are just a small dot in it.
RispondiEliminaThis topic is definitely right up my alley, I love thinking about this kind of stuff. One of my favorite things is when you walk out of a conversation about the universe and feel completely mind-blown. There's a pretty high probability that there are/will be other forms of life in the universe, but as with all things there always has to be a first, so who's to say we are not the first life forms? This would still make us alone in the universe, at least for now.
RispondiElimina