Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to Science and the soul: Descartes loses force

We are significant. We are rare, thinking, matter.
REB — (archived)

It saddens me that you really believe this.

Perhaps we are not important to some rock, sitting on the surface of some moon in the Alpha Centauri system, but we are important in that we are living, self aware, and intelligent matter. The vast majority of the matter in this universe is unaware and dead. Heck, you can say that of our solar system, or even our Earth. Just think of the percentage of matter on the Earth that is self-aware.

We are a rare thing and that makes us special. I also believe we are the end result of what God created the Universe for- intelligent life evolving independently of him. But even if you don’t believe that, how could you not see that we are special by being rare, self-aware matter?

There are countless dead worlds throughout the universe. If you traveled from star system to star system you would find nothing but dead, unthinking matter. Perhaps out of every 1000ths system you might find a world with living matter. Perhaps out of every 1000th of those you might find rare, intelligent matter. This matter is very special. It makes up so little of the universe.

It also saddens me to see someone who love Space and Astronomy so much, have such a negative, can’t-do attitude about the future of humans in space. I understand your disappointment from promises that never happened (Your generation had such grand visions of humans in space), but that is no reason to give up. Humans will eventually spread across the Solar System.

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