Extraterrestrial Life on Other Planets
Is there life on other planets?
A little over a year ago, a spacecraft named Kepler started traveling through the universe in search of other Earth-like planets capable of extraterrestrial life. . NASA has recently made announcements about the shocking discovery of hundreds of planets that could possibly hold life similar to the life we experience here on Earth. Personally, I don’t find it that shocking. Interesting, yes. Shocking, no.
The only thing shocking about the news is the fact that they ONLY discovered hundreds of possible earth-like planets. I was expecting millions or billions, but the fact that only discovered hundreds could just be a matter of our own technological insufficiencies and our ability to only cover a limited amount of space.
The universe is to big not to have life on other planets
The universe is bigger than we can possibly imagine and Earth is smaller than a pinpoint when compared to the rest of the universe. With all this space out there, with billions of galaxies resembling our own, it seems a bit conceited to think that earth and the human race are the only life or even the only intelligent life in the universe. What makes us so special? Quite simply, we aren’t.
When we look at our own world, we see humans as a sort of super species. When we look at the other species, they seem insignificant. What is a bed of ants or even a living cell to us? They are tiny and insignificant to us. But now imagine a much larger scale. To the rest of the universe, we are the insignificant, microscopic living organism. We have no idea where we came from or why we are here and our lives really seem to have virtually no impact on the rest of the universe.
Could there be intelligent alien life?
Also, we consider ourselves to be intelligent life. We are intelligent compared to other species here on Earth, but how intelligent are we compared to the rest of the universe and alien life? If we do discover life on other planets, their intelligence could possibly be much higher than ours. Perhaps they already know about us but have no real motive or reason to visit us because we are insignificant to them. What are these extraterrestrial life forms capable of?
What is alien life capable of?
We already know that there are a lot of things on Earth that we cannot explain. Take for example, the quantum leap. If you have ever seen the show, “Quantum Leap”, then you know what it means. A quantum leap is when something moves from point A to Point B without ever going anywhere between the two points. It sounds impossible but it is actually a proven fact that it is possible and happens all the time right here on Earth. We just haven’t been able to understand how it happens or duplicate it. If you have ever studied the atom, then you know quantum leaps are real. In an atom, electrons orbit around a nucleus. Sometimes, the electron will jump from one orbit to another. When they jump, they never travel from one orbit to another. Instead, they seem to just disappear and then reappear somewhere else. It is a known fact. We obviously aren’t intelligent enough to figure that out but maybe species on other planets have.
Species adapt to their environments naturally and evolve in order to survive. Maybe we haven’t figured out the quantum leap yet because we haven’t had a need to do so. However, another planet has a terrain that makes it difficult for alien life to travel, they could naturally evolve to just “knowing how” to quantum leap. Kind of like how a baby just knows to suck when a bottle is put near its mouth. If moving great distances very quickly is crucial to survival on other planets, I don’t see any reason why this couldn’t be a natural instinct for them.
What effect will alien life have on religion?
What effect would the discovery of life on other planets have on religion? If we find another planet with intelligent life, capable of all the same feelings, morals and emotions as we are, do we assume that our same God made that planet and those humans also? I can think of three possible scenarios. First, the discovery of intelligent life on another planet could lead to the assumption that each planet has its own God. Like little boys collect ant farms, These Gods create planets. They care about us, give us everything we need to survive and they watch us work and play. The second scenario would be people believing in one Universal God. One almighty being that created and is the ruler of everything. The third scenario would be the extinction of religion altogether and a transformation to belief in science.
While the future of religion is unknown, one thing is for sure. The discovery of extraterrestrial life would open a world of unanswered questions and theories proved wrong.
