tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213372485142495383.post5838990414127582577..comments2023-04-09T03:21:36.096-05:00Comments on Alien Realities: Habitable Moons - Are They Common?David M. Merchanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03185161824423526994noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213372485142495383.post-39512730813761118402008-06-04T15:28:00.000-05:002008-06-04T15:28:00.000-05:00Good questions! The Drake Equation is rather contr...Good questions! The Drake Equation is rather controversial. <BR/><BR/>One possible argument is that you only need one intelligent species capable of building the radio on the planet. So out of billions of species on this planet, you only need one to rise up and build that radio. If humans didn't exist, another highly intelligent species would, eventually, arise. It may take millennia, sure, but that's OK as far as Drake's Equation is concerned. <BR/><BR/>If we look at our own Earth we will see that on this habitable planet the chance of an intelligent species arising is 100%, and the chance of that species building a means of communicating across space is 100%. <BR/><BR/>Some argue that given the right conditions (water, energy source, somewhat "boring" astronomical environment, and basic elements like carbon) life <I>will</I> arise - that it is a natural process. The building blocks of life are very common in space. Water is being found to be rather common itself. <BR/><BR/>The main question is intelligent life a natural result - is intelligence a logical result of life evolving over millenniums? Are there evolutionary pressures for intelligence to arise? Or does high intelligence arise only by pure random chance? A fluke? Those are the harder question to answer. <BR/><BR/>Whatever the answer, I fully agree that we shouldn't take for granted our existence. Over the long span of life on this planet, highly intelligent life has existed for only a small moment. There is some debate that intelligence was beginning to arise with the dinosaurs before they were wiped out and the process toward intelligence began again. <BR/><BR/>And even if intelligent life was somewhat common, it would most likely be different from us in many ways - culturally, emotionally, psychologically, and socially different. We, as an intelligent species, may be unique.<BR/><BR/>Finally, we need to keep in mind that the Drake Equation doesn't take into account seeding, "terraforming"/colonization or contamination from space probes: that is, aliens could artificially increase both the instances of life arising on planets, and of intelligent life eventually arising on those planets. <BR/><BR/>Since it would be difficult to find planets with exactly the same characteristics, the lifeforms artificially created, seeded, inserted, and/or modified would not be the same as the aliens' own lifeform. But the end result would be a higher result for Drake's Equation.David M. Merchanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03185161824423526994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1213372485142495383.post-50328987105805108582008-06-03T21:35:00.000-05:002008-06-03T21:35:00.000-05:00What percentage of intelligent life on Earth is ca...What percentage of intelligent life on Earth is capable of building radios, rockets, and computers? <BR/><BR/>Defiantly not 1%. That would mean 1 out of every 100 semi-intelligent species could build a radio. <BR/><BR/>I think it is more like 1 out of a few million/billion. <BR/><BR/>By simply looking in our own back yard, Earth, we can quickly deduce that highly intelligent life is a very rare phenomenon. Try plugging in .00001% into Drake’s equation and a very different bleak result will exist. <BR/><BR/>If humans didn't exist how many other species on this planet could build a radio?<BR/><BR/>I have always been very concerned with this flaw in Drake’s equation. <BR/><BR/>I believe there could be plenty of life and even basic intelligent life around our galaxy but in regards to highly intelligent life I am a bit concerned in putting a number based on 1%. <BR/><BR/>I know it is not very intriguing to think that we could be alone (or but a few) out there but perhaps we are truly a blessed species and shouldn’t take for granted our existence.Vakshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05124222799941868002noreply@blogger.com