As a long time member of the Planetary Society, I was especially intrigued by a quote contained in this month’s Planetary Report. It seemed especially fitting in view of the ethical and existential questions raised by the discussion of AI in the previous post.
When an astrobiologist says ” life is hard, they could mean that life is a puzzle that we are nowhere near to solving. ”
” We are like second graders when it comes to understanding life ” says Betul Kacar. Professor of bacteriolgy at University of Wisconsin, ” We don’t know much “.
The report is fascinating and unabashedly admits that we are starting to realise that the search for alien life can be very different from the only form of life we know–ourselves —and alien life if it exists (and it most surely does –in one form or another) it likely looks very different from us. By exploring these alternatives in the lab and even resurrecting extinct forms of life , researchers are challenging one of our most basic assumptions not only what we think about aliens but what we know about ourselves. In other words challenging our very definition of of “life” itself. Our understanding of the primordial soup has changed and the ingredients of life have ,existed in many forms and places. We are living in this “vast and awesome Universe “as Jimmy Carter once said and we must be open to new kinds if life and what indeed defines life as we enter this new age of discovery. For people of faith, that will be disruptive and even frightening and their Churches must be prepared to support them through this , even to the point of interpreting doctrine in a new way. Even as I write this, I realise what a bold statement that is and part of me cant believe I wrote that . But with the discoveries of new technology and what we have seen with the James Webb telescope, we are living in a brave new world and we have to be brave and adjust to new ways of thinking.
Would love to hear your thoughts.
M.A.N.
