Other Forms of Life (Evolution)

by dhw, Monday, November 24, 2008, 15:25 (5841 days ago) @ BBella

BBella has raised the question of whether the universe may contain other forms of life, more advanced than our own, which may even have experimented with us here on Earth. - You say you are "not offended my question has been brushed aside like a bothersome child's wide eyed wonderings...I just find it curious the reasons to dismiss this idea so quickly....and yet, the 'God' subject and 'his' purpose for creating us, is discussed endlessly as if the evidence for such a being is so great!' - First of all, I do apologize if you have the impression that your question has been brushed aside. So far David alone has responded, and I can only plead for myself that in the two days that have elapsed since you posted it, I haven't had time to comment. The (for me very interesting) discussion with Mark has occupied the time I had available. So please be patient with all of us. - The point you make seems to me quite devastatingly accurate! We are prepared endlessly to discuss the nature of an invisible, omnipotent being to which we attribute innumerable, idealized characteristics, and yet whose very existence is doubtful. But the moment people talk of other forms of life (e.g. extra-terrestrials, ghosts), they are often dismissed as cranks, sometimes even by those who believe in God. I would like to thank you for raising the subject, and to add a few thoughts of my own, with a view to opening up the discussion. (I'm changing the thread title, as "Catastrophes" no longer seems appropriate.)
 
1) Clearly the existence of such beings won't help us solve the problem of origins. Instead of asking how we got here, we would have to ask how they got here. But the same question can be asked of God's origin, and in any case the forum is not confined to discussing origins. - 2) If God exists, there is no reason at all why he should not have created other forms of life elsewhere. Why confine himself to one tiny planet? - 3) If God does not exist, there is no reason why there shouldn't be other planets elsewhere in the universe where conditions are suitable for chance to bring together the materials for other forms of life. - 4) What evidence is there of such forms? None of us can possibly read all books on all subjects. Some experts have devoted themselves to studying the possibilities, and if they disagree, then they are in the same boat as the pro-God, anti-God lobbies, and we should at least consider what evidence they have to offer. (The same applies to the possibility of an afterlife.) - 5) Who knows what technology we might have developed in, say, ten thousand years ... if we are still around? Space exploration and colonization must be a distinct possibility. If we accept that as a hypothesis, why not go back ten thousand years and imagine a planet like ours, from which beings have set forth to explore us? Maybe even colonize us? - 6) For those who are now tut-tutting, and mumbling, "Science fiction", it might be an idea to discuss BBella's initial point: what is the difference between debating God and debating other forms of life?