Got into a discussion the other day about the idea of "intelligent" life existing elsewhere in the universe.
My position: I don't doubt that life, as in living organisms, exists elsewhere. But to me the thought of one specific trait, that one specific species has had for only (roughly) 150,000 years, arising in another planet doesn't make sense. For me, something like, say, sonar is probably more likely, if there are large species, than intelligence.
Their argument followed the logical thought process that, if there is intelligence on one planet, why not on other planets? Which seems like a fair position. But, not convincing enough for me.
I find all traits unique to Earth and
it's specific, random and chaotic natural history, and don't believe any of the traits that species have on this planet should
have to be common anywhere else but here.
To make an analogy, the species on Earth are like human fingerprints, unique to the individual and not shared by anyone else.
Now, we can definitely debate my position, but, what I'd like to talk about would be, what traits, if any, would be realistically favored in a biological system?
Is there a common pattern that any biological system follows? Are there common traits that more than likely will exist on another planet? Like for example, more than likely we'll find plants and other organisms using photosynthesis.
Could any of the biology folks here chime in on this? What would more than likely be found on other planets, and, will intelligence be a common trait?
Also, as an aside, if they'd like, the creationist can give their take on what life elsewhere in the universe says about evolution and it's mechanisms.
- Oni
Edited by onifre, : No reason given.
Edited by onifre, : cleaned up a bit