Life Outside Earth A Philosophical Perspective

Life outside earth, and what is the most profitable philosophical standpoint, if there’s to be one at all. Concerning heavily on the concept of multiculturalism, I strongly believe humanity should forage life outside earth. There are many theories regarding the possibilities of any existing organisms living independently of earth, even one scientific reasoning to human existence comes from the possibility that we evolved from something outside our planet that made its way to our world, this theory is known as, “Panspermia”. I believe the present topic can greatly land upon the subject of multiculturalism. These two terms are relatable since, if we assume outside life does exist, then many questions regarding multiculturalism emerge, for example; would it be adequate to learn from these beings? Should we make any interaction at all? Would it be wise to create a multicultural connection with a culture from outside Earth? Like such, there are many unknowns that are related to the concept of multiculturalism.

Human evolution, the process by which the human organism through time has increased its development and changed its forms throughout history. It is a known fact that humans have case to evolve in the physical aspect for multiple past centuries, this does not mean we humans are not an evolutionary species, matter of fact I believe we have evolved more this past few hundreds of years, than the previous thousands, due to our technological, mechanical, and philosophical burgeoning. We have been in exponential growth for the past years, and have made multiple progress in many fields. This essay consists of a philosophical approach to the scientific and theological perspective to the inquiry of outer life. Due to the recent developments of these fields, we can now consider the possibility of having the scientific and technological advantages to seek foreign organisms. But with so comes the many philosophical concepts that question if we should really forage life outside earth.

Throughout history this concept has changed and evolved, as alike the perspective on it. From documentaries to news and sects, there have been many theories and tried evidence to confirm any of these existences, there has not been any proof, as of the writing of this essay, but the progress humanity has taken into finding an answer has increased exponentially over time. From discovering dinosaurs and investigating artifacts and buildings left by previous races, which are accused to be made by ‘aliens’, to this day where we have send a 10 billion dollar telescope to a specific studied coordinate on space, where all gravities from the earth, the moon, and the sun cancel out, full of the most recent technology, for the soul purpose to look for any living organisms (NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope).

I stand to believe and agree that humanity should search for life outside earth. As said before we humans are only progressing mentally not physically, and if we were to put a barrier on our knowledge gathering missions, that would stop our only method of evolution, therefore, stopping our consistent development. In this case the barrier would be the prohibition of looking further into space.

“Whether life exists beyond Earth is one of the most profound questions of all time. The answer will change us forever, whether it reveals a universe rich with life, one in which life is rare and fragile, or even a universe in which we can find no other life at all.” (Brennan, P. 2020, November 10)

The perspectives on the subject vary depending on many aspects. For this essay I will rely on religious groups' opinions as attestation. A common view for christian believers would be as follows, “...we can remember that the significance of humanity is based on God’s actions toward us here on Earth. On our planet, God became incarnate as one of us and sacrificed himself to save us. Whether there are aliens or not, we are significant in God’s eyes. We can stay curious about life beyond Earth and celebrate all life that God chooses to create.”(BioLogos. 2019, July 31) as said by Deborah Haarsma in the article under BioLogos.

Logically, talking about a topic lacking in proof, many judgements, opinions, arguments and especially fallacies can emerge. The perspective on this topic mostly falls individually per person, but there is a common opinion on certain groups, for example scientists; “This does not mean, however, that the universe is lifeless. While no clear signs of life have ever been detected, the possibility of extraterrestrial biology – the scientific logic that supports it – has grown increasingly plausible. That is perhaps the single largest achievement of the burgeoning field of astrobiology, the broad-based study of the origins of life here and the search for life beyond Earth.”(NASA. n.d.) as said by NASA.

Argument 1: Forbearing this expedition would be a wall to human evolution.

As reasons explained before, humans now are evolving mentally and not physically, we are evolving through our scientific, technological, and philosophical advances. Therefore, not seeking to prolong our knowledge on the Astronomy field would be illogical. I believe this topic in particular is very relevant to humanity and our future. The main principle justifying and valuing this argument would be, as learned in philosophy, the virtue of ambition.

Argument 2: There is no way to know how much we will gain from achieving this goal.

As previously stated by NASA’s scientist, we may find many types of fascinating disparities, there is no way to know how much we would gain from learning from outer beings. We could find ways to stop using earth's resources for daily living, which is something that has been strongly looked for by recent society. This will save humanity since, as it stands, our planet has not much to last. There is an infinite variety of things, concepts, materias, political views, anything and everything that we could learn and use for ourselves. The possibilities are vast.

Counter argument: Proceeding this expedition may bring risk.

When dealing with something unknown, where no previous experiences exist, it is rational to debate and inspect all prospects, in this topic there are many reasonable counterarguments, and there is adequate logic for opposing this search.

The biggest disagreement being the danger it might bring. This is a very logical thought, since going into a unknown situation full of uncertainties yields an environment where the possibilities of endangerment cannot be calculated. Assuming life does exist and humans were able to reach an answer; we might not be able to coexist with foreign organisms, and may put our race on conflict and risk. Said so, putting a stop to the search of outside life today would only be a temporary measure, since there will be a generation to come who disagree with this decision and proceeds with the forage. There is no controllable asset to measure what future generations will do, with so the question changes to when and not if.

To add to previous points, I believe with our knowledge today we are able to know if extraterrestrial life has an aggressive stand towards us, humans. Since if they seek our demise why have they yet tried to interfere with us. This creates the question; do aliens know of our existence? And if so why haven't they pursued communication?

For closure, I strongly believe and support that humanity should forage life outside earth. I support this because, forbering this expedition would be a wall to human evolution. The possibilities for benefit gain are incalculable and endless. In addition, we may end up finding a habitable planet for the near need of survival reason. Said so, in the same level of potential gain there is also equivalent danger, since this may cause the extinction and demise of Earth. If we, the human race, seek to progress and prosper then humanity should forage life outside earth.

Bibliography:

Choi, C. Q. (2016, March 24). 7 theories on the origin of life. LiveScience. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://www.livescience.com/13363-7-theories-origin-life.html

BioLogos. (2019, July 31). What would life beyond earth mean for Christians? - articles. BioLogos. Retrieved February 1, 2022, from https://biologos.org/articles/what-would-life-beyond-earth-mean-for-christians

Kennedy, C., & Lau, A. (2021, June 30). Most Americans believe in Intelligent life beyond earth; few see ufos as a major national security threat. Pew Research Center. Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/30/most-americans-believe-in-intelligent-life-beyond-earth-few-see-ufos-as-a-major-national-security-threat/

NASA. (n.d.). NASA astrobiology. NASA. Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/about/