Why is the Earth Special?

I’m writing a Sci-Fi type story and I’ve written myself into a corner!
I’ve got to come up with a reason why humans are somehow important or
rather pivotal in the universal scheme of things.
I guess the real question is why is the Earth special?
Apart from the obvious science fiction reasons, like:
there is life here in abundance and not much elsewhere
or is that Earth is the only place where a species that has developed
intelligence slash consciousness!
My story has already stated that life is commonplace and so
is intelligence slash consciousness.
Let’s take it as a given that there is life elsewhere in the universe
and that other worlds have intelligent life, is there anything structurally,
culturally or biologically unusual about the planet Earth?
I’ve been thinking along the line that something happened on Earth
long ago that could have caused it to become a focal point of a
cosmic farce involving aliens, humans and beings from other dimensions.
So was there ever such an event in actuality?
I’ve already used the Roswell UFO crash in my story but I’m thinking
of something maybe in the geological formation of the Earth or placing
Planet Earth on a conjunction of cosmic Lay lines. But I’d rather have something
that’s a bit more plausible.

 

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Good luck with that!

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Why not say that the Earth people caused the entire universe to happen? They used a particle accelerator to cause a big bang and thus started the whole thing over and over.

 

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lol And where did the Earth people come from then ?

 

Hey, I'm not the writer, I only gave a explanation!

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It's not an explanation, unless you can tell him where the humans are supposed to originate from.

 

Say, who's going to get paid for their book, him or me? Do I have to develop everything for the guy? And then not be compensated as well? :shrug:

 

You already did, only you did a half-assed job at it

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Got to make him think of something , don't I, or do I have to write the whole thing for him too?

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You don't have to make him think of anything

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Could do a star Trek, and have the earth, because of it's inexperience with instellar travel, be naive enough to start a federation.

 

Depending if you want to follow - fact or belief... if you need proof, then you won't benefit much from this. It's MY belief that Earth is the resting place of some very old, ancient secrets... you can call them myth or whatever you want. But the secrets are such that nobody on Earth that I've heard has the key to unlocking the mystery.

But just take all the evidence and hearsay, from UFO sightings and crop circles to giant drawings on Earth's surface and cave paintings, to giant statues like those on Easter Island and humongous monuments like Stonehenge... These are some of our culture's more popular amazing and mysterious, but there are lesser known elements that point to either unbelievable human ingenuity for their time period or more evidence to support the mystery.

Perhaps there's not really a secret but that this is just one of very few M-class planets that are old enough to be in a somewhat stable stage of its development. And so if you have a starmap and you're cruising the galaxy, you probably want to make note of all the rest stops.

While you're here, you'd want to check out the sites - look what the earth beings have done. From highly populated cities to farmlands to beach front properties to tiny towns out in the middle of nowhere... and some of the architecture like the Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument and there's some other giant works of art like Mount Rushmore... We're not that advanced by some comparison but we have at least a little something for tourists.

Before leaving, you'd of course want to find a big field and leave the standard trademark symbol of your people. So feel free to leave a tag, whatever you choose to write, be it a symbol or your version of the 'peace' sign, or a graphic that translates to 'Theta House 2280' or 'Live Long and Prosper'.

What makes Earth Special? It's an M-Class, a rest stop, a camp site, a tourist spot. Maybe a well known one, by now, or maybe one of the galaxy's best-kept secrets. This could be the equivalent of a secret fishing hole that not many have stumbled onto, or a 'traditional' stopping off point. It could even be a 'last chance gas' for all we know. Either way - it is my belief that this is a place that has been visited and often still is. I think its rather special because its one place that has a society that has yet to accept it, and so... they pretend they don't come here... we pretend we're not convinced they exist. lol

Meanwhile, our government is still undecided whether or not we are obligated to follow the laws of the galaxy if we have yet to officially accept there is life on other planets... probably a political nightmare. Suddenly our global powers are all reduced to 'mall cops'. Our world leaders - barely allowed to vote. Arnold Schwarzeneggar ranks higher as an actor than he does as a political figure. Imagine that - our public left in the dark about visitors from other planets NOT because they're not ready to accept it, but because our understanding of 'status' would go right out the window. From an alien society's point of view - you ain't shit based on votes, your status comes from intelligence and popularity. Our scientists and actors will have the highest status. lol

 

Too much Star Trek, not enough science.
"M-class" means nothing outside of Trek: it's a fictional designation.

 

There are any number of ways to make terrestrial species special, since you define what all other species are like.

Perhaps most life elsewhere does not use DNA, and DNA is especially robust.

Perhaps most life elsewhere is asexual, whereas sexual reproduction is common on Earth (and there is scientific debate about whether sexual reproduction might not have been just a fluke here on Earth).

Perhaps intelligence is common, but humans have a special capacity for certain kinds of abstract thought. For example, perhaps humans are the only intelligent species able to purposefully concoct elaborate countrfactuals (i.e. "lies"). Perhaps our ability to think in abstractions is so pronounced that while most intelligent species took a million years to go from the stone age to space-faring, humans managed it in a few centuries.

Perhaps humans are the only species that has developed a belief in god or gods, and all other species simply lack a religious sense.

Perhaps there is a drug that can be made from the mitochondrion contained in (most) eukaryotic cells (it is "the powerhouse of the cell" after all). Since the mitochonrion may once have been a free standing organism that was absorbed by a cell in the distant past and somehow bonded to it on a genetic level, it is likely that Earth life would be unique in having it, as that is pretty random event.

Perhaps most other life forms have only three senses, sight, smell and touch. (There is no reason to believe we would have *any* senses in common with alien life, let alone that all species would be able to "hear." Even on Earth, there are plenty of lifeforms that can't.)

Perhaps everyone can hear, but only humans have the ability to compose music (assuming that other species appreciate and enjoy music, that would be a special talent).

Perhaps we are unusually aggressive, making humans especially sought after as mercenary generals and soldiers.

Perhaps the Earth is the only planet with plate tectonics (we know of no others), and that tends to dredge otherwise rare elements and minerals to the surface.

I could keep going for a long time.

 

I don't give a shit if its fictional or not. The meaning is still the same.
"a classification used to refer to a planet that is suitable for supporting human-like life. They usually have oxygen/nitrogen atmospheres, suitable surface temperatures and plenty of water necessary for life to evolve and survive."

Looks to me like 'fictional' fits the topic, Dywyddyr. And I never suggested using class M in the story, I just used it to get my point across. Why is it some people insist on finding fault in something? Shit, did you check for typing errors too?

 

Wrong.
"M class" only means something to a Trek fan.

Provided you know what it means - I had to look it up...

Causing googling. I had no idea what it meant: so much for getting your point across.

Nah I didn't bother checking for typing errors, I was too tired after having to find out what "M Class" meant.

 

Thanks for clearing that up.

Pandaemoni I like where you're going... I see a bit of Trek in there too. There's a lot of things that may be unique to our species, like even a sense of humor. Offhand, I remember that some people on earth are not very familiar with insults, and are very polite, like all the time, so its conceivable that there could be a planet where most of its population wouldn't understand why somebody would be verbally hostile. Another thing is our competitive nature, which serves many purposes from showing off and impressing others to boosting our own self esteem, to raising our status among peers, etc...

So yeah - I like this example of Earth being unique via its inhabitants behavior and culture.

 

Our moon is just crazy-big for our planet's size. And coincidentally proportioned with our distance from the sun to create perfect solar eclipses!

 

So the moon is nothing but a cover for evil alien scum who need solar power once in a while ?

 

Perhaps, without the extreme tides it creates, amphibious life (and therefore mammalian) would never have occurred! Imagine how flat and uninteresting most planet's oceans must be. A huge moon like we have is just bizarre. The glancing blow required, and subsequent capture... That was an amazing trickshot.