Why Finding Alien Life Would Be the Most Exciting (and Scariest) Discovery Ever

[NeoGreen]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2018/02/03/why-finding-alien-life-would-be-the-most-exciting-and-scariest-discovery-ever/

Why Finding Alien Life Would Be the Most Exciting (and Scariest) Discovery Ever
February 3, 2018 by Hemant Mehta

What would be the most exciting scientific discovery ever? Arguably, it would involve alien life forms, on or from another planet. But as this Kurzgesagt video notes, that would also be a terrifying revelation because of what it would say about our own existence.

As with everything they do, this video will mess with your mind and leave you with all sorts of existential doubt. But watch the whole thing and you really see life in perspective.

[longship]

1. It's a restatement of the Fermi Paradox.

That presumes the existence of The Great Filter, a supposed thing that prevents life in the universe from going beyond a certain stage of advancement.

I think this is balderdash. I think that the answer to the Fermi Paradox is that distances between stars is immense and that there are no warp drives available to help us bridge those gaps. Few or no civilizations attempt it when the brutal facts become known.

That is why we don't see flying saucers landing on The Ellipse in Washington, DC. Or anywhere else for that matter. It is also why SETI efforts have not been productive so far.

Space is fucking big!

[edbermac]

2. "It's a cookbook! It's a COOKBOOK!"