Hi, truth seeker,
Last week, we dove into the deep end, tackling the big G question - God. If you missed it, don't sweat it. You can catch up here. It's a mind-bender, for sure.
This week, we're zooming out. Way out. We're talking extraterrestrial life and our cosmic connections. Sounds far out? Maybe. But stick with me.
I'm about to challenge your view of life on Earth.
Spoiler alert: it might not be as "on Earth" as you think. We're going to explore how life could be a universal phenomenon, not just a terrestrial quirk.
This isn't just some sci-fi daydream. It's a perspective shift that could change how you see yourself, your problems, and your place in the universe.
Ready to feel like a cosmic being instead of just another earthling?
As always, I'm here to stir up your thoughts, not serve you pre-packaged answers.
Let's get philosophical and wonderful together.
Till next time, keep looking up.
Cheers, Adriaan
Does extraterrestrial life exist?
It's a question without a definitive answer—or is it? We'll explore this by reaching a logical conclusion. While we may never know everything occurring throughout the vastness of the universe across all of time, we can reason. Let's explore. A theory without evidence, but using logic.
First, let's define extraterrestrial life.
We can identify two types: intelligent and non-intelligent.
Let's start with the unintelligent.
There exists a hypothesis suggesting that terrestrial life originated from space, arriving on our planet as microorganisms. Some microorganisms and spores are capable of surviving in outer space. It has also been demonstrated that they can resisting the temperatures associated with entering a planet's atmosphere. This is the panspermia hypothesis.
While this might explain how life began on Earth, it would not explain the origin of life in the universe. This theory does not prove extraterrestrial life exists because all the tests were conducted with terrestrial microorganisms.
Discovering whether it is interesting to know if beyond Earth is intriguing. But, knowing this would not change much in our day-to-day life. What would change is our understanding of the explanation of how life began on our planet.
If a meteorite were to fall carrying alien bacteria, it would provide the first scientifically reasonable explanation, for the origin of life on Earth. It would spark a shift in consciousness.
In exploring this question, a bifurcation occurs.
On this planet, there exist bacteria and fungal spores capable of surviving in space; they can survive the journey through the atmosphere of a planet like ours.
As Albert Einstein said: "God does not play dice."
This means that nothing is random, and everything has a purpose.
There is an axiom that states something like this: Everything that can happen will happen.
This is the famous Murphy's law, well-known among industrial designers.
Eventually, our sun will implode and destroy our planet.
It's likely that microorganisms from our planet will survive that event and float on bits of the planet no larger than 1 square centimeter—essentially, meteorites.
Even if our solar system disappears, some terrestrial life will survive, floating in space.
All available evidence points to this possibility.
The question is: why can life survive such an event?
The answer: Exactly, so that it does.
At that point, life that survives would cease to be terrestrial and become floating universal life, until it finds another planet, if that ever happens.
Considering the vastness of the universe, the probabilities of Earth-like planets existing, and knowing there are bacteria capable of surviving in space, the most logical conclusion would be that there is a basis for universal life to exist in the universe.
If this proposition is correct, we can also conclude that terrestrial life as a concept does not exist.
What I mean is that the concept of terrestrial life is flawed: life is universal, adapted and developed on any given planet—currently on planet Earth.
Life is universal: it is linked to the universe, not to any specific planet.
Universal life is the only one created and spread throughout the universe, and when the right conditions exist, it adapts to the environment.
All humans share a common ancestor; we are one extensive family.
All mammals, including us, have ancestral relatives.
All plants also have a common ancestor.
Furthermore, plants and animal, tracing back far enough, have a common ancestor.
Evidence of our evolution —the scientific evidence—can be found in our DNA.
That information is traceable all the way back to the origin of life.
Life did not begin with the creation of this planet, but much earlier.
Life is linked to the universe, not to a particular planet.
But, that still doesn't answer the initial question.
To answer, we could rephrase the question with something measurable, such as: what is the probability of two rocks colliding in our universe?
First, we must determine the size of the universe.
Its size is difficult to imagine.
It is said that for every grain of sand on this planet, there are a million stars.
And probably more.
There are hundreds of billions of galaxies like ours.
And that is just the observable universe.
The matter in the observable universe is estimated to be only 5% of the entire universe.
We can say that the universe is infinite from our perspective, because we simply cannot measure it nor imagine what limits it could have.
Let us consider only the observable universe.
A light year is the distance light travels in one year, at the maximum speed of 300,000 kilometers per second.
A light year is 9.46 trillion kilometers.
We estimate the limit of the visible universe to be 46,500 million light years in all directions.
Now, imagine we are playing marbles.
You have a 3 by 3 meter court and two marbles.
You throw the first one into the center of the court, or at least you try to.
The marble lands randomly. With the second marble, you try to hit the first one, throwing it from outside the court. It's difficult but not impossible.
You must throw the second marble blindfolded, not knowing where the first one landed, to make an comparison of the situation. What is the probability of collision?
Would you bet on that game? No, because you would lose every time.
Now imagine the playing field is the observable universe.
And planet Earth is the first marble.
And meteorites, the size of dice, carrying bacteria or spores, are scattered throughout the universe.
Is it possible that they will ever collide?
It's not feasible.
Or at least, it's ridiculous to expect it to happen within the span of human existence.
It's impossible for us to find universal life floating around.
The answer to the initial question is that we're never going to find unintelligent extraterrestrial life.
I'm not saying it can't exist.
We will never find evidence that it does.
It is impossible because of the vastness of the universe and the short time we have as humanity.
Now let's consider the second variety of extraterrestrial life: intelligent.
In this case, the vastness of the universe plays in favor of the possibility that intelligent life exists outside this planet.
The basis of the theory would be the same: panspermia.
Currently, it is the most logical explanation of how life spreads throughout the universe.
Or how it could spread.
Therefore, the larger the universe, the more habitable planets can exist.
And, the more planets with the right conditions exist, the greater the probability of a small meteor with bacteria colliding with one.
—But now you might say I'm contradicting the marble example.
In that case, I said it was impossible for two marbles to collide.
Let me explain.
The difference is that one of the marbles is defined in time and space: our planet.
It is not a single marble to collide with, but hundreds of billions of possibilities.
In other words, it is more likely that some meteorite with life will collide with some planet with the perfect conditions to develop life.
Additionally, I consider marbles with life conditions we don't know about.
Not only those that resemble our planet, but also those that could develop life totally different from ours.
The most logical conclusion is that some form of intelligent life exists in the universe; either it has existed, or it will exist.
We conclude that life may exist outside our solar system.
The question is: when?
And with that question, we start the second part of the initial inquiry.
We will use logic to reach a conclusion.
We know that the theory of panspermia is possible, philosophically speaking.
But, it cannot be considered correct until we find evidence outside our solar system.
Which we have already deduced is impossible to happen.
We assume that if something is possible, it will happen at some point.
That is the key to the answer: when are we going to encounter extraterrestrial life?
The key to reaching a conclusion lies between the time of existence of intelligent life and the infinity of time.
Planet Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and human conscious life is only about 10,000 years old.
I consider humanity to have developed consciousness since the development of writing.
If we extrapolate from how we treat our planet, humanity will not survive another 10,000 years.
Intelligent life is finite and relatively short in the life of a planet.
It is also estimated that in about 20,000 years there will be another ice age, which will affect all animals and plants.
Bacteria will survive. It is not the end of life. We are finite; life is not.
Intelligent life on a planet is like a blink of an eye in the existence of that planet.
That would be the ratio of life span. Almost nothing.
It would be the same with intelligent life forms on other planets.
Or with past intelligent life on this planet?
I still don't understand why the planet is so old and we are such babies.
I'll have to philosophize about that idea.
The vastness of space and time perception.
To illustrate:
Let's say you represent a galaxy, like the Milky Way. Life is a blink of your eyes, from consciousness to extinction. A friend represents another galaxy with intelligent life.
The question is: what is the probability of both blinking at the same time? Basically, almost none, but it could happen.
Let's continue with the comparison.
Suppose you are both at home.
Your house represents the universe, and you are in different rooms.
How do you know if the other person blinked?
How do you know which room they are in?
And, how do you blink at the same time?
Even if you want to cheat and shout "now" when you start blinking, when the sound reaches the other person's ears, your blinking is already over.
But the universe is not like your house: it is like planet Earth. It is incomprehensibly vast.
Our existence is like an oxygen bubble in the ocean.
We will never encounter other life forms in our observable universe.
And what about beings that can travel through sub-dimensions?
Beings that travel faster than the speed of light?
Beings that exist outside our concepts of dimensions?
Our observable universe is bounded by the speed of light.
That speed determines our perception of time and space in the universe.
Nothing in our observable universe can travel at a higher speed.
We only perceive 5% of the universe—our observable universe—which has, for us, a beginning and an end.
To say that beings from outside our observable universe can come inside is equivalent to saying that God comes to us.
That leaves the realm of logical philosophy and the evidence of science.
It leaves out logical reasoning based on observations.
Final words:
Although to us our evolution of life on earth seems like a long time, it is merely a blink of an eye compared to the age of the universe, we are a small part of it.
We are trapped in the vastness of space and limited to the infinite present.
The Universal Life Paradigm:
Reimagining Our Connection to the Universe and Not Earth
You're not just a human on Earth. You're a spiritual being, part of a grand universal cosmos.
The atoms in your body were forged billions of years ago. You're literally made of stardust.
This isn't just poetic fluff. It's reality. And understanding this can change your perspective.
When you understand that life is universal, not terrestrial, you start seeing connections everywhere.
That tree outside your window? It's your distant cousin. That bacteria in your gut? A fellow traveler on this cosmic journey, where you are the universe to them.
But it goes deeper. The universe has been cooking up the ingredients for life since the Big Bang. You're not just connected to life on Earth, but to the very fabric of the cosmos. Think about it, information in your DNA, goes back till the very beginning of the universe.
This awareness can bring a profound sense of peace, and direction. Your problems? They're tiny specks in the grand scheme. Your existence? It's a miracle billions of years in the making.
Try this: Next time you're stressed, zoom out. Imagine the vastness of space and time. Feel your connection to it all. It's like a cosmic chill pill.
But don't stop there. Let this understanding fuel your actions. Treat the Earth with more respect – it's not your planet, it's your current home in a vast universe. Treat others with more kindness – they're your cosmic siblings, after all.
Remember, you're not just living on Earth. You're part of the living universe.
Embrace it. It's a hell of a perspective shift.
When words meet wisdom art is created
"The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff." - Carl Sagan
"We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe atomically." - Neil deGrasse Tyson
"We are not figuratively, but literally stardust." - Victor Stenger
"You are not IN the universe, you ARE the universe, an intrinsic part of it. Ultimately you are not a person, but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself. What an amazing miracle." - Eckhart Tolle
"Through our eyes, the universe is perceiving itself. Through our ears, the universe is listening to its harmonies. We are the witnesses through which the universe becomes conscious of its glory, of its magnificence." - Alan Watts
"We are the universe's way of thinking about itself." - Daniel Dennett
"You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop." - Rumi
“We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself." - Brian Cox, physicist
"The entire universe is contained within a single human being – you." - Morihei Ueshiba
"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." - Aldous Huxley
"The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are." - Rumi
Wrapping Up:
So, you're a universal being. What can you do with this knowledge?
Here's your cosmic to-do list:
Stargaze tonight. Really look up to the stars. That's your extended neighborhood.
Talk to a plant or an animal. Sounds crazy, but try it. They don’t understand words, but they do understand your intention.
Share this knowledge with a friend. Spread the universal life philosophy.
Keep questioning. The question of the meaning of life, just shifted. Why are we in the universe? Why now? Keep that brain working.
Remember, you're not just on Earth. You're part of the universe. Live like it.
Till next edition, keep expanding your mind.
Adriaan
P.S. Got thoughts or philosophical questions for next editions? Hit reply and I try to answer them…
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