iamnotaparakeet wrote:
I think it is possible for life to exist on planets other than Earth. I am a Christian though, and my views about aliens are basically derived from C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy starting with Out Of The Silent Planet. If they do exist, and God is the designer of both them and us, then there should be common design features. Often taken for granted in science fiction, DNA is not chemically deterministic and neither are the patterns of the genetic code, so if abiogenesis were to be the source of life, such alien life would almost certainly not have the same kind of heredity molecule. Then ensues the ad hoc addition of panspermia if such life were to have the exact same molecule of heredity, deoxyribonucleic acid, whereby evos would rather evoke passage through space of the DNA molecules from one mega distant location to another just so as to reject the mere possibility of a common designer.
I have always hated how some scientists get all excited that "maybe life started on mars and came here on asteroids". Well, sure, maybe. But they get a little excited about it, positing theories when its just as likely, if not more, that it all started here. They are just looking for a creation myth, ignoring probability.
Note that I don't have a problem with the idea of amino acids arriving from space(I'm sure it happens). I dont even have a problem with life starting elsewhere. Its just that they get so damned excited about it, and discount that the basics of life
are here.
That being said, you have a point that there could be all sorts of life forms out there that we fail to recognize for the very reason that they are of a different basis from us.
Well, if life evolved and started from abiogenesis, then it should be very different from each other where there is non-interaction. The likelihood of abiogenesis occurring is very minute, but if extraterrestrial life were to develop by such means then the chemistry would be unique to each location of development, since the geometry of molecules which compose our bodies and all of life on Earth are just one possibility of composition. However, if extraterrestrial life were to have the same basic composition it would speak more in favor of a common designer rather than a common ancestor. The basic homogeneity of chemical composition on Earth is acceptable in terms of explanation by common ancestor, at least more than it would be for life in Andromeda being basically the same. Having unique compositions would be more favorable for the abiogenesis notion. Here on Earth, it could be argued that one form destroyed the others or otherwise survived any possible hypothetical other forms. However, on other planets if abiogenesis occurred it would have decreasing likelihood for the same composition surviving in multiple non-interactive locations. It would not be impossible to explain uniqueness by a common designer, but in such a case it would be more in favor of abiogenesis. Also, it would not be impossible to explain all life being the same, as then non-interaction would just be thrown out the door in favor of things such as wormholes and space-faring ancestor aliens and all so much of Farscape and Stargate.
28 May 2010, 9:26 am
