Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 7766108" data-attributes="member: 177">Yes it is.&nbsp; Now, consider, if you took a spoonful of water from the ocean, and found life in it - what are the chances that you *just happened* to take the *only* spoonful with life in it?&nbsp; How many spoonfuls are there?&nbsp; And you got the *only one*?&nbsp; That's extremely unlikely, statistically.&nbsp; Over the course of human discovery, one common thread has been that Earth isn't particularly special.&nbsp; We aren't the center of the Universe, or the Solar System.&nbsp; Ours isn't a particularly uncommon type of star.&nbsp; The galaxy has a bazillion of them.&nbsp; And the Universe looks pretty much the same in every direction, with a bazillion more galaxies each with its bazillion stars.&nbsp; We are also not particularly separate from other animals - with other species on the planet sharing 90% and more of our DNA.&nbsp; We have a couple of small differences that lead to stunning differences in behaviors, is all.&nbsp; We used to think we were special, even anointed, but it turns out... not.So, when we pose the question of whether we are special in the Universe, which way should we lean?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 7766108, member: 177"] Yes it is. Now, consider, if you took a spoonful of water from the ocean, and found life in it - what are the chances that you *just happened* to take the *only* spoonful with life in it? How many spoonfuls are there? And you got the *only one*? That's extremely unlikely, statistically. Over the course of human discovery, one common thread has been that Earth isn't particularly special. We aren't the center of the Universe, or the Solar System. Ours isn't a particularly uncommon type of star. The galaxy has a bazillion of them. And the Universe looks pretty much the same in every direction, with a bazillion more galaxies each with its bazillion stars. We are also not particularly separate from other animals - with other species on the planet sharing 90% and more of our DNA. We have a couple of small differences that lead to stunning differences in behaviors, is all. We used to think we were special, even anointed, but it turns out... not. So, when we pose the question of whether we are special in the Universe, which way should we lean? [/QUOTE]

Verification