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To: Windflier

No, just that if life does exist, it’s exceedingly unlikely that we are the first.

If we are first, we are likely alone. I mean it’s possible that we could be first and not alone, but that’s very much more difficult.

The more likely life occurs, the less likely this is to happen. The less likely life is to occur, the less likely that it will happen more than once and that we would be first.


84 posted on 01/23/2011 11:19:42 AM PST by BenKenobi
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To: BenKenobi
...if life does exist, it’s exceedingly unlikely that we are the first.

Higher life forms have risen and fallen many times in our planet's history. The same could be true for other planets. In the big picture, I don't think it matters much whether we're first, or not.

My guess is that it's likely that life has begun on countless worlds in more or less random happenstance. Life here may be old in comparison to life on some other planets, while others may have established ecosystems that predate ours by millions, or even billions of years.

We won't really know the answer to that question until we're able to closely study life on another world. I still hold out hope that we'll find some in our own solar system.

97 posted on 01/23/2011 11:48:06 AM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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