Ain't nobody here but us chickens

[andygates]

I'm not sure why, but lately I've become convinced that we are alone in the universe.  Just us, on our precious and singular little rock.  I don't think that it's the rock - my money is on the exoplanet guys finding a ton of Earthlikes soon - but I just have a gut feeling that they've all got bacterial mats, stromatolites, and that's the lot.



In the Drake equation, that's fi, the fraction of life-bearing planets which develop intelligent life.

It's a strange and profoundly melancholy feeling which makes even the most wretched human twaddle seen unbearably precious.

Comments

Cheer up, Munky

[ravenbait.livejournal.com]

Drake's equation, as I understand it, strictly applies to our galaxy.

How many billions of stars in our galaxy?

What proportion of stars in our galaxy have Earth-like planets?

How many galaxies in the universe with similar numbers of stars?

We might be bloody rare in our galaxy. It might be that any intelligent life out there is of a similar stage in development rather than more advanced. It might be less advanced.

But the only sentient life in the entire universe?

The numbers make a mockery of such anthropocentrism. I cannot bring myself to believe that we are unique. Just us, the only ones capable of complex tool manufacture, screwing our environment until we're on the verge of rendering it inhospitable, making a mockery of altruism and throwing ourselves off high bridges because we've reached the end of our tether?

Nah. That's like saying that the decay of the lunar orbit is specifically at its current stage right now so that it can produce eclipses for us to see. Just for us to look at. Because we're so big and special and clever.

Humanity is a unique and beautiful snowflake. I just doubt it's the only unique and beautiful snowflake in the whole universe.

Optimists believe this is the best of all possible worlds. Pessimists are afraid that it is.

Even unbearably precious wretched human twaddle is wretched human twaddle.

[katebush.livejournal.com]

http://xkcd.com/384/