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Why are we still alive?

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rubylights On November 30, 2021




Miami, Florida
#1New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 04:47:41
When you think about it, the chances against us as a planet are overwhelming. There is no statistical reason why we should still be comfortably orbiting around the sun after so many years. There are so many things that could have gone wrong at any second, and they still haven't, but there's really nothing to stop it. It's mind-boggling just how fragile all this is. People are freaking out about 2012 but the truth is all of this can come to a crashing halt at any minute. It's kind of crazy...
young_nick On December 11, 2010
The Dude





Auckland, New Zealand
#2New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 05:03:20
Well sure, but we're not really statistically due for an asteroid impact or anything.
rubylights On November 30, 2021




Miami, Florida
#3New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 05:14:06
@young_nick Said

Well sure, but we're not really statistically due for an asteroid impact or anything.



and we're not not due for one either. (if that made any sense)

but that's not what i'm talking about. i'm just astounded at how delicate the balance is on the plante and in this galaxy. a foot closer to the sun and we'd burn to death. a foot further and we'd freeze. it's all so fragile, you know?
raditz On March 24, 2024
Blah





Houston, Texas
#4New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 05:16:51
@rubylights Said

When you think about it, the chances against us as a planet are overwhelming. There is no statistical reason why we should still be comfortably orbiting around the sun after so many years. There are so many things that could have gone wrong at any second, and they still haven't, but there's really nothing to stop it. It's mind-boggling just how fragile all this is. People are freaking out about 2012 but the truth is all of this can come to a crashing halt at any minute. It's kind of crazy...





I'm a dork and got a laugh from this. lol
rubylights On November 30, 2021




Miami, Florida
#5New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 05:19:11
@raditz Said



I'm a dork and got a laugh from this. lol



it's just speculation and sensationalism. that's not what i'm talking about, though.
Willi On August 21, 2018




northinmind,
#6New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 05:20:05
@rubylights Said

and we're not not due for one either. (if that made any sense)

but that's not what i'm talking about. i'm just astounded at how delicate the balance is on the plante and in this galaxy. a foot closer to the sun and we'd burn to death. a foot further and we'd freeze. it's all so fragile, you know?



order from chaos.
Willi On August 21, 2018




northinmind,
#7New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 05:24:18
or is it better said order within chaos?
young_nick On December 11, 2010
The Dude





Auckland, New Zealand
#8New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 06:15:21
@rubylights Said

and we're not not due for one either. (if that made any sense)

but that's not what i'm talking about. i'm just astounded at how delicate the balance is on the plante and in this galaxy. a foot closer to the sun and we'd burn to death. a foot further and we'd freeze. it's all so fragile, you know?



There's a relatively large area where the earth could sit called the Habitable Zone . The Habitable Zone is the distance a planet can be away from its star for it to support liquid water, and therefore, life. It's so large in fact that Venus and Mars are only just sitting outside it. Venus being too hot, and Mars being too cold.

I do get what you mean though, the conditions of earth are certainly rare. There are a lot of factors which allow us to live here, without any one of them, life wouldn't be possible.
buffalobill90 On July 12, 2013
Powered by tea





Viaticum, United Kingdom
#9New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 15:21:18
@rubylights Said

When you think about it, the chances against us as a planet are overwhelming. There is no statistical reason why we should still be comfortably orbiting around the sun after so many years. There are so many things that could have gone wrong at any second, and they still haven't, but there's really nothing to stop it. It's mind-boggling just how fragile all this is. People are freaking out about 2012 but the truth is all of this can come to a crashing halt at any minute. It's kind of crazy...



We've only been around for a very short time as a species. I think I heard that the average mammal species lasts about 5 million years; homo sapiens hasn't existed as a distinct species for that long.

Over the course of natural history, you'll see that the world has practically ended several times, where cataclysmic events have caused mass extinction and altered the course of evolution drastically. The Permian extinction is the most notable such event, which eradicated 95% of species. The impact that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs is another such event. Every now and again there is a doomsday which life slowly recovers from; in the unlikely event that such a thing happened while humanity was around I doubt it would destroy humanity altogether but it would set us back a long way.
buffalobill90 On July 12, 2013
Powered by tea





Viaticum, United Kingdom
#10New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 15:25:04
@rubylights Said

and we're not not due for one either. (if that made any sense)

but that's not what i'm talking about. i'm just astounded at how delicate the balance is on the plante and in this galaxy. a foot closer to the sun and we'd burn to death. a foot further and we'd freeze. it's all so fragile, you know?



Thankfully there are countless trillions of planets in the universe, so no matter how unlikely it is for life to emerge and stick around long enough to become as complex as us, there are plenty of opportunities for it. We happen to be one of the ones that has reached that stage, because we have a stable position in a single-star system far from the volatile galactic core. It's called the anthropic principle - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle
ssnot_me On February 01, 2016




big D, Texas
#11New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 15:32:15
@rubylights Said

When you think about it, the chances against us as a planet are overwhelming. There is no statistical reason why we should still be comfortably orbiting around the sun after so many years. There are so many things that could have gone wrong at any second, and they still haven't, but there's really nothing to stop it. It's mind-boggling just how fragile all this is. People are freaking out about 2012 but the truth is all of this can come to a crashing halt at any minute. It's kind of crazy...



I hear ya, but things have gone wrong in the past, ie dinos got knocked off and the world has had ice ages, etc. It is amazing that we are here. Also I like to look at it that we are not alone, because there are sooooooo many stars and planets out in the galaxy and universe that this whole "life" thing had to have happened some where else.
KAMPA On October 28, 2013
Admiral Karl Donuts





Uhlan Bator, Mongolia
#12New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 15:50:27
Ragnarok
rubylights On November 30, 2021




Miami, Florida
#13New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 19:29:23
@ssnot_me Said

I hear ya, but things have gone wrong in the past, ie dinos got knocked off and the world has had ice ages, etc. It is amazing that we are here. Also I like to look at it that we are not alone, because there are sooooooo many stars and planets out in the galaxy and universe that this whole "life" thing had to have happened some where else.



maybe, but maybe not.

we're only here because of a crazy one in a trillion chance. it's likely it may have happened somewhere else too, but who knows? maybe...
treebee On April 13, 2015
Government Hooker

Moderator




London, United Kingdom
#14New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 19:32:58
you could go nuts thinking about it actually, i do believe everything, our existence is entirely a freak happening.
ssnot_me On February 01, 2016




big D, Texas
#15New Post! Jan 15, 2010 @ 19:34:33
@rubylights Said

maybe, but maybe not.

we're only here because of a crazy one in a trillion chance. it's likely it may have happened somewhere else too, but who knows? maybe...



we are finding more and more planets orbiting stars... i think that increases the chances of life happening again. at least i hope there is other life. it would be nice to know that there is more out in the universe.
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