Why do we search for life?

Discussion in 'Astronomy, Exobiology, & Cosmology' started by grazzhoppa, Apr 18, 2005.

  1. grazzhoppa yawwn Valued Senior Member

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    Is there scientific basis for searching for lifeforms outside of Earth? What does finding fossilized microbes or creatures on another planet bring to us? Are people doing this for media attention, curiousity, scientific understanding?

    Going to the moon did not bring any direct benefit to people. Sure there was political benefit, sci-fi in the media benefited, new technology was created which spread and helped people. But all that is indirect.

    If people are sent to explore Mars what is their purpose for being there? Are exploring planets steps into some greater idea that scientists have in mind?

    I'm trying not to think in terms of give and take - spending tons of money and effort is worth finding information about the solar system and the universe. What's the basis for discovering information, is there some catch to it?
     
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  3. Imperfectionist Pope Humanzee the First Registered Senior Member

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    I think you said the reason, scientific understanding. Going to the moon gave people hope for the future when things seemed bleak, and pride in their country. I don't think people are needed to explore Mars, but eventually, people will go. Exploring planets can give us a greater understanding of our own, and how the greater universe works. I'm not really sure what you're getting at with this question. It is one of the best things people can do with their time.
     
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  5. Clockwood You Forgot Poland Registered Senior Member

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    Hope for a delayed benifit. It may cost us a lot now, but it will buy us even more in the long run.

    We are investing in the survival of the human race, setting the foundation for extraterrestrial colonies and our expansion into the rest of the universe. We develop new technologies due to this every year. We learn the conditions and nature of every world we touch. When it comes time to pay off, it will pay of BIG.

    Eventually, it will be the difference between extinction and continued survival.
     
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  7. Balerion Banned Banned

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    Clockwood makes a good point.

    If luck allows us to live long enough, our current baby steps into the universe will be looked back upon as the foundation for what will most likely become a galactic colonization by the human race.

    And I believe firmly that science isn't looking for life per se, as much as they are looking for places that may be/might have been/may one day be/ capable of sustaining life. It's like we're looking for a new apartment, as opposed to a roommate.

    Joe
     
  8. blobrana Registered Senior Member

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    Hum,
    Find them before they eat us?
     
  9. Rk001 Registered Member

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    Blobana before they eat us???
    Nobody is gone to eat us
    I think going to Mars is a great idea
     
  10. KennyJC Registered Senior Member

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    Well our destiny surely is in space if we survive any natural/man-made disasters becaues life on earth won't last for long. We already know that.

    I think finding life on another planet would confirm what we already know, that we are not that special.

    I think anyone finding purpose in their life via religion is kidding themselves. Well to be honest, I know that. The pope was basically someone who belived in such a fantasy, that we are special. But he is wrong... and he is nothing more than dust now.
     
  11. Clockwood You Forgot Poland Registered Senior Member

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    If we are not alone, I would prefer to be the ones meeting them instead of the other way around. I certainly don't think anything is going to eat us... but we might become a galactic version of the third world if we just sit on this rock and wait.

    We would probably have to wait a very long time due to the speed of light so we aren't trying to race anything else. We do, however, have to race ourselves. The longer we stay here the fewer natural resources we will have to get off this rock. We are in a key window where both our resources and technology are sufficient.
     
  12. superluminal I am MalcomR Valued Senior Member

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    You could ask the same thing about billion dollar colliders looking for the next goofy particle. I think the point of basic research (which SETI is) is that you have no idea what information will be practical until you need it. And if you don't have it, by the time you need it, it's usually too late. A Prime minister supposedly asked Michael Faraday, regarding his discovery of electromagnetic induction, "What good is it?" and Faraday supposedly replied "What good is a new born baby?".
     
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    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 3, 2007
  14. craterchains (Norval What will you know tomorrow? Registered Senior Member

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    Well said Clockwood, very well said. I do concur and fully comprehend it is a matter of
    mankind's survival. I have said this before right here in these forums.

    But as to why the search for life? SETL of life, and SETI for intelligent life.
    The idea is to collect as much information, then to process it for answers to
    questions. Next is to use those answers to extrapolate what other answers
    can be found based on the new knowledge.

    Thus, I am convinced we are not alone, and never have been.

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2005
  15. Fraggle Rocker Staff Member

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    Finding life somewhere other than here would be the greatest discovery since we learned that the Earth is not the center of the universe. It would actually be the next step in that same series of discoveries.

    It's the essence of man's hubris that we are the greatest thing in the universe, that this is the only place with plants and animals. The earth may not be the center of the universe any more in our science, but man is the center of the universe in our philosophy.

    If we find life, even evidence of past life, somewhere else, it might be just a matter of time until we find intelligent life. All of a sudden Homo sapiens may not be the king of the universe any more. The discovery of extraterrestrial life would be as monumental and as controversial as heliocentricity.
     
  16. DwayneD.L.Rabon Registered Senior Member

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    locked
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2005
  17. Novacane Registered Senior Member

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    The fact that we haven't found or recieved any contact from so-called intelligent life forms beyond our own planet or from deep space using our most advanced forms of radio signal detection means something. Something significant.

    Novacane
     
  18. spidergoat pubic diorama Valued Senior Member

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    Nova, maybe we aren't looking (or listening) for the right thing.

    We desire another habitable planet, and unless there is life there, it probably won't be habitable, since life on Earth is responsible for the oxygen here.
     
  19. Novacane Registered Senior Member

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    Or maybe there isn't anything or anybody out there to listen for except ourselves. Even if they're out there and they have the technology, maybe they don't want to listen for us? That's significant.

    Novacane
     
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  21. KennyJC Registered Senior Member

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    man discovers earth is not flat
    man discovers earth is not the center of the universe
    man discovers man is not alone in the universe
    man discovers man is not the only intelligence in the universe...

    Anything else?
     
  22. Lucas Registered Senior Member

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    man discovers man is not the only intelligence in the universe that gets drunk...
     
  23. Cottontop3000 Death Beckoned Registered Senior Member

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    Lucas,

    that was good.

    Personally, I think we search simply because we want to know.

    CT3000
     

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