Why are we still alive?

Supreme Goddess

Out in Nature, Wisconsin

Jan 15, 2010 @ 19:46:44

I find it more amazing that we were ever here to begin with. (That we are still here doesn't strike me as so odd, as armaggeddon type events are rare in themselves.)

But the fact that humans ever came to exist in the first place is the miracle. A slight variation in our planets position in the universe and there's no life on earth. A slight variation in the structure of the planet and there's either no life or life has evolved along a completely different track.

That humans existed is a miracle... But it's really only a miracle if humans were the original goal. Otherwise we are simply some random results, and we are only impressed by the odds because it is our species and we couldn't imagine a scenario that didn't lead to man...

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Nodak

,

#17

Jan 15, 2010 @ 21:51:59

The other possibility is that things are not as fragile as a lot of special interest groups would have us believe. Considering that extinction events happen on a scale of millions of years. There is a lot of money to be made by people who love power. The more fragile everything can be made to seem the more money to be made. I guess that idea sounds very cynical but, for me anyway, it needs to be considered.

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rubylights

Miami, Florida

#18

Jan 16, 2010 @ 03:56:54

@ssnot_me Said

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.

i agree.

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buffalobill90

Powered by tea

Viaticum, United Kingdom

#19

Jan 17, 2010 @ 01:30:30

@chisa96 Said

I find it more amazing that we were ever here to begin with. (That we are still here doesn't strike me as so odd, as armaggeddon type events are rare in themselves.)

But the fact that humans ever came to exist in the first place is the miracle. A slight variation in our planets position in the universe and there's no life on earth. A slight variation in the structure of the planet and there's either no life or life has evolved along a completely different track.

That humans existed is a miracle... But it's really only a miracle if humans were the original goal. Otherwise we are simply some random results, and we are only impressed by the odds because it is our species and we couldn't imagine a scenario that didn't lead to man...

It's not a miracle, it's practically a statistical inevitability that sentient life will emerge on at least one planet if there are trillions, even if the odds are very slim.

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Willi

northinmind,

#20

Jan 17, 2010 @ 02:20:03

@buffalobill90 Said

It's not a miracle, it's practically a statistical inevitability that sentient life will emerge on at least one planet if there are trillions, even if the odds are very slim.

life happened.
do we know how yet?

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chisa96

Supreme Goddess

Out in Nature, Wisconsin

#21

Jan 19, 2010 @ 01:08:54

@chisa96 Said

Otherwise we are simply some random results, and we are only impressed by the odds because it is our own species and we couldn't imagine a scenario that didn't lead to man...

@buffalobill90 Said

It's not a miracle, it's practically a statistical inevitability that sentient life will emerge on at least one planet if there are trillions, even if the odds are very slim.

Yes, that was basically my thought in the above sentence. That there is sentient life is not impressive in the vastness of space; there's probably many more forms of sentient life. That our environment was able to sustain an evolutionary train that lead to man is impressive when considering the infinite possibilities for variation that a little tweak in our planet could have brought us to.

But only because we are of that species and looking back. Ours is the only end result we could really imagine, so when we look at what a slight variation could have meant for us and realized that man as we know it wouldn't exist if that variation existed, the fact that it didn't and we do seems much more impressive.

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aqualord88

, Pennsylvania

#22

Jan 19, 2010 @ 01:14:54

This planet has been hit by many asteroids, 98-99% of all species that have ever lived on this planet are now extinct....
to me, we are about due for some time of no destruction...

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young_nick

The Dude

Auckland, New Zealand

#23

Jan 19, 2010 @ 01:34:54

@Willi Said

life happened.
do we know how yet?

They're pretty sure it's a combination of liquid water and lightning. Somehow the lightning created amino acids, which are the building blocks for life.

I think this is the experiment, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%E2%80%93Urey_experiment

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Willi

northinmind,

#24

Jan 19, 2010 @ 01:54:47

@young_nick Said

They're pretty sure it's a combination of liquid water and lightning. Somehow the lightning created amino acids, which are the building blocks for life.

I think this is the experiment, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller%E2%80%93Urey_experiment

what if it came from space?

Panspermia

gives life more time to start.

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nightmare

whitehall,

#25

Jan 19, 2010 @ 01:57:45

cuase there is a balance of planet rule and human rule but the planet can over rule us any time it wants but it rather watches us die sloly instead of very fast. like the planet could just stop cause we r going like qw24i3u650924365975693659285632498569857632806320857632058976320945623095876302946542309876miles per hour and if the earth stopped we all would fling into a wall thing be shot off the earth

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buffalobill90

Powered by tea

Viaticum, United Kingdom

#26

Jan 24, 2010 @ 13:39:31

@nightmare Said

cuase there is a balance of planet rule and human rule but the planet can over rule us any time it wants but it rather watches us die sloly instead of very fast. like the planet could just stop cause we r going like qw24i3u650924365975693659285632498569857632806320857632058976320945623095876302946542309876miles per hour and if the earth stopped we all would fling into a wall thing be shot off the earth

For Earth to stop it would require an object of equal mass and speed to strike it in the opposite direction.

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vicki

Deleted

manhattan,

#27

Jan 24, 2010 @ 13:57:14

It's humanity. The only thing that can stop it is when womanity decides upon it.

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Edited: January 24, 2010 @ 13:57

KAMPA

Admiral Karl Donuts

Uhlan Bator, Mongolia

#28

Jan 24, 2010 @ 14:22:22

@young_nick Said

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

What makes you think Asteroids consult statistical tables?

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young_nick

The Dude

Auckland, New Zealand

#29

Jan 25, 2010 @ 00:58:24

@KAMPA Said

What makes you think Asteroids consult statistical tables?

Well they don't

But anyway, there are astronomers keeping an eye on all the known large asteroids in our solar system, they'll know if anything's coming for us.

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carlstss

Derby, United Kingdom

#30

Jan 25, 2010 @ 01:05:22

its a small thing called gravity love the sun has huge amounts of it that keeps all the plannets circling it in orbit it would need an unimaginable power source to shut it down. and our solar system is still extremely young compared to other galaxys and solar systems in the universe that we know off we still have a lot longer to go before anything happens.

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