Why the idea of alien life now seems inevitable and possibly imminent | Hacker News Reader

Why the idea of alien life now seems inevitable and possibly imminent

theconversation.com

The author seems to be unaware of the Fermi Paradox and also the current view of quantum physics as it relates to the possibility of a multidimensional universe. It's quite possible, even likely, that our observations of "material reality" are neither material nor reality. To posit that aliens must exist because animals live in harsh conditions on Earth is scientifically unsupportable.

The first part is unrelated and comes off as a straw man argument. As for your second point, the article said alien life, not aliens. The Panspermia theory is widely accepted in the scientific community. The organic compounds that are the building blocks for living organisms or living organisms themselves were most likely introduced to our planet via comets. These chemical compounds are common in our universe and the universe is unfathomably massive. But if we're going with you're first point then aliens would have to exist in one or more of the infinite multiverses. Besides the observation of our "material reality" doesn't negate the possibility of other observers or that a conscious observer is necessary for something to exist. The universe existed before humans could observe it so it's existence or anything else in it is not dependent on our observation of it.

I'll stick with my two points. The OP claims that because animals exist in unusal places on Earth that there should be aliens who will visit us. The Fermi Paradox attempts to address why they might not. The possibility of a multidimensional universe addresses why nothing we experience on Earth is necessarily related to any kind of "physical reality," and that includes the existence of said strange animals and/or aliens.

i take issue with the Fermi paradox:

- it’s a theory created by humans for humans; it’s a product of our extremely narrow and short existence

- timeframe wise we’ve been living on Earth for a very limited amount of time (peanuts compared to our planet’s history)

- we’ve barely started to understand our planet, nevermind our universe

the Fermi paradox smells of our inability to humble ourselves in front of something much more complex than anything else in our history as a species.

"The OP claims that because animals exist in unusal places on Earth that there should be aliens who will visit us."

Show a quote from the article where he states this.

I concede that was my misinterpretation. On closer inspection, the OP didn't suggest anything other than "finding" life, not have it visit us. Thanks for pointing that out.

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