scientists are fuckheads

[forelander]

in terms of life outside earth all i ever hear is the search for planets with running water, can't be too hot, can't be cold etc etc. this pisses me off because of the key yet completely flawed assumption that any life outside earth is going to be human like; take a look at the ocean. Before it was all "nothing can live there, there's no light to photosynthesise" (i can't spell, sue me)

wrong. things live near volcanic vent and use the heat to effectively photosynthesise, without light. so why the search for water for other life? My general opinion is that anything with some kind of intelligence outside of this planet is likely to be so different in its fundemental characteristics that we'd likely barely even be able to comprehend their being. Certainly not if our search is almost exclusively limitted to planets with water/earth like conditions.

hence why scientists are fuckheads.

[Demon of the Fall]

Agreed... scientists are idiots. Are we that arrogant as a species that we assume life on other planets must be like us? Unfortunately it seems that way...

[headcheese]

i'm going to assume that the way we live is the only way scientists know so they look for the things that keep us alive or what keeps plants alive etc etc. in thinking this way they are limiting themselves.maybe these scientists need some imagination.

[forelander]

the main reason i could see for would be that since they're almost looking at an infinite number of things to look for they're using it as a starting point. That would make more sense than "water and oxygen are essential to life..."

[Jshub1988]

I agree with you to an extent. HOWEVER, I think what most scientist are getting at when they claim "water and oxygen are essential to life" is that it's more viable that intelligent, carbon-based lifeforms would exist in these conditions. Chemosynthetic creatures that survive utilizing sulfur and all that other shit emitted from vents aren't exactly "intelligent" by our standards. I highly doubt they're completely excluding the possibility, because after all, that would be going against one of the fundamental processes of scientific inquiry; it's just a matter of determining what it more more probable based on observations and knowledge all ready acquired from here on Earth. If one if in search on something that requires a shitload of time, money, and technology, it would only make sense to focus resources on an area that is projected to have a greater likelihood. You know what I'm sayin'?

[forelander]

righteous said:

is that it's more viable that intelligent, carbon-based lifeforms would exist in these conditions.

And why do intelligent beings have to be carbon based?

[Jshub1988]

Well, carbon is a very versatile element and gives rise to millions of different combinations of organic compounds. There also happens to be an excess amount of it in out solar system. Of course intelligent life doesn't HAVE to be carbon-based, it's just hard to conceive of alternatives as we have no experience with such.

[forelander]

righteous said:

it's just hard to conceive of alternatives as we have no experience with such.

hence my point. what makes anyone think we're going to have any experience whatsoever with anything alien. As I said it's as good a place as any to start but I usually hear it within the context of being the ONLY possibility.

[Jshub1988]

You're probably misinterpreting what you "hear" then... either that, or you get your information from the wrong places. I doubt many well-educated, legitimate scientists would hold a disposition like that. It's simply... unscientific.

[Demon of the Fall]

righteous said:

You're probably misinterpreting what you "hear" then... either that, or you get your information from the wrong places. I doubt many well-educated, legitimate scientists would hold a disposition like that. It's simply... unscientific.

I don't know... I've never heard of any scientist giving consideration to the possibility of non carbon-based life.

Scientists, are still human, and as such still hold a very close-minded view of the universe. We as a species are so out of our league.

[Jshub1988]

Uhh, then you must not have heard many scientists considerations. The two main elements suggested in this regard are silicon and, of course, carbon. Why? Because they both have a high affinity for various combinations of compounds required for the composition of a complex being, which is a necessity for intelligence. At least, given our understanding of particle physics... which is universal in how is works. I mean, how can simple compounds of oxygen, nitrogen, and whatever else, form anything even remotely intelligent? You tell me.

[Demon of the Fall]

Meh.

Anything is possible. We haven't even come close to scratching the surface.