New Planets discovered..Does this shatter ones belief?

[gerobbins]

This is a question for those who have strong religious beliefs.

NASA has discovered another 1200 new EXO planets. 9 of them in their stars Goldilocks zone, which means they are capable of supporting life as we know it.

Its only a matter of time before we find life on other Planets.

As people of faith, does this bother you? It shows that we are not unique in the universe...

I myself believe in God... That being said, it does not shatter my belief whatsoever. I do think in scientific terms though.


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[Quintessence]

While I don't consider myself a "person of faith," I have a religion and am very religious. Things like this are neither shattering nor bothersome. I don't understand why they would be, honestly.

 

[gerobbins]

Its seems that some people of faith believe that there is no life on other Planets.. They deny the existence..

 

[Quintessence]

I suppose if that floats their particular boat, why not? I'm skeptical that the existence of other planets, much less there being life on them or not, has much relevance to day-to-day life for humanity at this time. Thus, I don't see what people believe (or not) about that as an important thing compared to, say, what someone believes they should have in their diet.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

This is a question for those who have strong religious beliefs.

NASA has discovered another 1200 new EXO planets. 9 of them in their stars Goldilocks zone, which means they are capable of supporting life as we know it.

Its only a matter of time before we find life on other Planets.

As people of faith, does this bother you? It shows that we are not unique in the universe...

I myself believe in God... That being said, it does not shatter my belief whatsoever. I do think in scientific terms though.


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On the contrary, the more the 'great silence' of the Galaxy is established, the more this supports that we are alone, as the primary beneficiaries of creation.

In the days of Verne and Poe, we wondered what sort of folks lived on the moon, assuming somebody had to because we found people everywhere.

Now we'd be amazed by a fossilized microbe on Mars. The more we learn, the more unique and improbable we realize Earth is. I think the universe would have to be much much larger to make another one likely.

 

[Demonslayer]

While I don't consider myself a "person of faith," I have a religion and am very religious. Things like this are neither shattering nor bothersome. I don't understand why they would be, honestly.

Some versions of religion claim humans were created by God, in God's image, and that we are his greatest creation. In the very strict version of the Christian religion, God only created the Earth to hold life. If there are all these other planets with creatures evolving, etc., it rubs up against their creation story.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Some versions of religion claim humans were created by God, in God's image, and that we are his greatest creation. In the very strict version of the Christian religion, God only created the Earth to hold life. If there are all these other planets with creatures evolving, etc., it rubs up against their creation story.

I agree, if we ever found intelligent life pondering the same questions, I 'd be willing to accept the implication -that the universe was not necessarily created primarily for us.

I'm also willing to accept the opposite implication, that of observed reality; a silent galaxy, no sign of ET whatsoever, and ever mounting hurdles against the possibility of it

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

On the contrary, the more the 'great silence' of the Galaxy is established, the more this supports that we are alone, as the primary beneficiaries of creation.

In the days of Verne and Poe, we wondered what sort of folks lived on the moon, assuming somebody had to because we found people everywhere.

Now we'd be amazed by a fossilized microbe on Mars. The more we learn, the more unique and improbable we realize Earth is. I think the universe would have to be much much larger to make another one likely.

So, it's safe to say that if/when life on other planets is discovered, it will crush your belief in the unique improbableness of life on earth and humanity? (Sorry, you responded to Demonslayer on this before I got it posted...oh well!)

Still not convinced that there is a "Great Silence" going on, since we have only been looking/listening with any sort of regular, systematic programs for a few years, and highly selective and intermittent programs for only a few decades before that. When humanity has looked and listened in a systematic and dedicated way for--say--100 years and found no evidence of life anywhere but on earth, and no signs of intelligent life elsewhere, then I'll be ready to say that we are probably pretty much alone. I already accept that we are unique .

 

[Parsimony]

It wouldn't bother me from a religious standpoint: I actually hope there is life out there.

 

[Deathbydefault]

Given the sheer number of estimated planets in the universe, for there not to be life anywhere else would be amazing...

 

[lewisnotmiller]

This is a question for those who have strong religious beliefs.

NASA has discovered another 1200 new EXO planets. 9 of them in their stars Goldilocks zone, which means they are capable of supporting life as we know it.

Its only a matter of time before we find life on other Planets.

As people of faith, does this bother you? It shows that we are not unique in the universe...

I myself believe in God... That being said, it does not shatter my belief whatsoever. I do think in scientific terms though.


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I might be missing something, but surely it would be the discovery of life which would truly challenge some belief systems, not simply 'Earth-like' planets??

 

[Ouroboros]

I'm with several of the other posters. It wouldn't shatter my belief, rather it would enforce it. I believe there must be life everywhere. Also, my view is that life as we know it isn't the only kind that could exist. We don't know all the permutations of the mechanics in the universe can take on. We haven't even mapped all possible proteins possible from the few amino-acids we have. I think the estimate is in the billions. Who to say there isn't life we can't recognize as such?

 

[Quintessence]

I agree, if we ever found intelligent life pondering the same questions, I 'd be willing to accept the implication -that the universe was not necessarily created primarily for us.

I don't find the speculation that the universe was created for a single species dwelling in it to be tenable at all, even without this finding. Simply looking at the world around us and cessation of specist anthropocentrism is enough for that to be readily apparent.

 

[Quintessence]

A question.

What's the big deal about life, anyway?

That we make this a marker of regard says more about us than it does about the universe, yes?

 

[Ouroboros]

Given the sheer number of estimated planets in the universe, for there not to be life anywhere else would be amazing...

Agree. Actually, if life only exists on our planet in this vast universe, I'd say it would be a miracle. Only one place of all the 20 sixtillion stars? Hardly a "fine tuned universe for life" if it requires that much of nothing to just make a small little thing right here.

 

[Ouroboros]

A question.

What's the big deal about life, anyway?

That we make this a marker of regard says more about us than it does about the universe, yes?

We're very anthropocentric when it comes to life. Humans and the way we think and have a consciousness, that's how life must be for it to be recognized as life. A very egocentric view.

What fascinates me is that when they make some models of the universe with filaments and walls from the superclusters, it looks like a picture of neurons in a brain...

 

[Koldo]

I agree, if we ever found intelligent life pondering the same questions, I 'd be willing to accept the implication -that the universe was not necessarily created primarily for us.

I'm also willing to accept the opposite implication, that of observed reality; a silent galaxy, no sign of ET whatsoever, and ever mounting hurdles against the possibility of it

On the other hand, since it is unlikely for life ( as we know it ) to emerge by itself, you would have more of a reason to assume there is a Creator out there if we did find life in other planets. After all, the odds of it showing up in multiple planets would be even lower.

At the end of the day you would choose to interpret the data in a way that suit your needs.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

So, it's safe to say that if/when life on other planets is discovered, it will crush your belief in the unique improbableness of life on earth and humanity? (Sorry, you responded to Demonslayer on this before I got it posted...oh well!)

Still not convinced that there is a "Great Silence" going on, since we have only been looking/listening with any sort of regular, systematic programs for a few years, and highly selective and intermittent programs for only a few decades before that. When humanity has looked and listened in a systematic and dedicated way for--say--100 years and found no evidence of life anywhere but on earth, and no signs of intelligent life elsewhere, then I'll be ready to say that we are probably pretty much alone. I already accept that we are unique .

It would definitely change my perspective yes, I suppose that's why it's such a fascinating question - alone or not, either answer is profound!

We have only been listening for a short while, but the time delay works both ways here- i.e. we could detect a powerful enough signal from 10000 years ago if it were 10000 LY away-

so in effect it's a wash- in terms of the odds of a hit, it's exactly the same as listening to the entire galaxy at once- and nada.

And even given a perfect replica of Earth, and granted that life began there also- intelligence is another thing entirely- the better bet would be domination by dinosaurs as our's was for so long- right?

 

[Guy Threepwood]

On the other hand, since it is unlikely for life ( as we know it ) to emerge by itself, you would have more of a reason to assume there is a Creator out there if we did find life in other planets. After all, the odds of it showing up in multiple planets would be even lower.

At the end of the day you would choose to interpret the data in a way that suit your needs.

Well that's a good point- though as you say- many would interpret that in the opposite way, proof that 'nature' can spontaneously make life appear willy nilly!

Meanwhile we are alone as far as we can tell, and that observation is objectively consistent with being the primary intended beneficiaries of creation

 

[George-ananda]

This is a question for those who have strong religious beliefs.

That includes me.

Its only a matter of time before we find life on other Planets.

Not necessarily. You are making the assumption physical life even appeared on earth without conscious intent.

As people of faith, does this bother you? It shows that we are not unique in the universe...

Being unique in the universe is not part of my belief system.