The Fermi Paradox and the Drake equation are so fun to think about in terms of this kind of stuff. Ants trying to comprehend the possibility of aircrafts.
The universe is big. Time is infinite. Life is short.
I suspect we are more likely to find the remnants of life than life itself. And to find that we will likely need to send probes deeper in space than a person could ever possibly travel in a lifetime.
We want to find life because it tells us the human race might not have to some day end.
The article freely mixes "alien civilization" with "alien life." But these are very different! It would be spectacular to find an alien civilization of intelligent robots, even though they would not be alive.
We are alive so we know life is possible. We don't know what other things are possible. But why should the universe need to repeat itself?
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 26.9 ms ] threadI suspect we are more likely to find the remnants of life than life itself. And to find that we will likely need to send probes deeper in space than a person could ever possibly travel in a lifetime.
We want to find life because it tells us the human race might not have to some day end.
I hope I am wrong.
We are alive so we know life is possible. We don't know what other things are possible. But why should the universe need to repeat itself?