Astronomy Picture of the Day -- NGC 253: The Sculptor Galaxy

NASA ^ | December 20, 2011 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Cat’s Eye.

[Hebrews 11:6]

It still amazes me, that given the number of galaxies out there, the number of stars in each galaxy, even with the physical limitations required for life to exist, some people persist in maintaining that our tiney speck of dust is the only inhabited world.

I used to agree wholeheartedly with you, even writing a paper supporting that view. That was the argument made famous fifty years ago by astronomers Willy Ley (iirc) and Carl Sagan.

To the uninitiated it seems like an irrefutable argument, residing as it does in the largest possible numbers: a hundred billion galaxies each housing a hundred billion stars, rotated by innumerable planets.

However, science has progressed considerably since Sagan, to put it mildly; he took into account only two dependent factors. Now there are literally hundreds of dependent factors known, all of which must be within narrow parameters for any life to exist, must less intelligent life.

For a list of those parameters, see "Probability for Life”. It posits at least 10²² planets in the universe but finds that, "Thus, less than 1 chance in 10^282 (million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion) exists that even one such life-support body would occur anywhere in the universe without invoking divine miracles."

And we're already on one.

[SunkenCiv]

Ooooh, that was a good post!

[ixtl]

Believe me, I understand where you are coming from. And I don’t take the phrase “miracle of life” lightly. And no, I don’t believe my position is an irrefutable argument. But as author Michael Crichton once wrote (I think in was in “Jurassic Park”) “Life will find a way.” Before you rule out all possibilities, look at the extreme conditions life endures here on Earth. From the Antarctic ice, to super-heated thermal vents, you find living things. Then consider the possibilities of other types of life. Just thinking about it boggles my mind, but in a good way.

[Hebrews 11:6]

It rather sounds like you are invoking the old "given enough time, life will appear" canard. The problem is that, without any sort of "primordial soup" and in the harshest imaginable conditions, just after the earth's late heavy bombardment, we find evidence of life within ten million years. That is far too short a period for life to evolve.

The inevitable result, that God put life here, leads also to your result: that God also created life that can withstand and even thrive in extreme conditions. That doesn't boggle my mind, it satisfies it, and it directs it to its wise and benevolent Creator.

[ixtl]

With all due respect, that is not what I was saying. What I was saying is that we limit our thinking - life must be carbon based, needs water and oxygen, etc. Your own quote: “(T)hat God also created life that can withstand and even thrive in harsh conditions.” When we set the paramets for life, we seek to limit God. Who is to say that on some other world, in some other galaxy, God has created electromagnetic life? (just an example).

Have a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

[Hebrews 11:6]

We already know of an entirely different type of life-form God has indeed created, significantly more exotic than the example you cited: the angelic creatures. So, I'm certainly not limiting Him, either. But the conditions He has permitted us to see throughout the universe appear to limit not just carbon-based life but non-God-created life. I'm guessing we can agree on that!