Zachary Smith said:
TerriOneirodynia said:
Just for the sake of discussion, what would be the point of an infinite universe if Earth is the only planet in that infinite space that contains life, and we're not capable of even seeing a good portion of the universe? What's the rest of the universe for, then? Why is it there?
Like the man said when asked why he climbed the mountain--Because it's there?
Interesting that you ask such a question as if there MUST be a REASON for such a thing as the "rest" of hte universe existing (as if it's seperate from us somehow) as opposed to it just being that way. "Reason" implies design and design, of course, demands intelligence of some sort at its core.
Okay, first off, I never said the universe was separate from us. We're one planet in the universe. I'm talking about all of the other stars, planets, asteroids, comets, etc. in the universe. The "rest" of the universe.
Not necessarily. Perhaps it's the inherent humanity of the person asking the question. Let me see if I can rephrase it a bit.
Take one of the galaxies from the Hubble Deep Field. If we're the only life in this universe, there's no logical theory as to the purpose of the expenditure of energy used by the universe to create that galaxy, yet we know it happened, because we can see the proof.
So, if we are the only life in the universe, is it not natural for mankind to wonder what scientific forces drove that galaxy to form? Is the rest of the universe solely there for us to study? Colonize? Take pretty pictures of? "Why?" is an inherently human question, but it does not predicate an external intelligence. "Why?" is the question that often begins a scientific quest. "Why does the apple fall from the tree?" for instance.
Unless we want to settle on the notion that the universe does not exist solely for humanity to live in? Perhaps life on Earth was an accident? Perhaps the entire universe outside of Earth is devoid of life. That just leads right back to the question "Why?"
That doesn't assume a creator. That assumes scientific events caused life to only evolve one place, and the result is the search for measurable scientific answers for that event.
Yes, absolutely I think we will eventually find other life and, yes, other intelligent life, elsewhere in the universe. I'm expecting it and I would be startled if none were EVER to be found (though it might not happen in my life-time). The "why" for my expectation is based on solely on the premise of precedent. WE exist and, unless something extraordinarily unusual happened that allowed us to develope here (a possibility--but seemingly less likely all the time, what with how apparently common planets are in the universe and all), obviously some other life could develope elsewhere. While I DON'T believe that INTELLIGENT life is necessarily inevitable in the course of evolution--after all, it's only happened ONCE in the entire history of this planet--again, if it COULD happen here, it might WELL have happened (or will happen) somewhere else.
But I disagree that there's any rationale or plan to the universe. It's there because it's THERE, the same way the Earth is here because it's HERE. It's not here FOR us. For most of the life of planet Earth, it has done quite fine without us. If something were to happen to us as a species, Earth wold probably do fine again. The universe is something on the order of 14 billion years old. Earth is 4 billion + and we have been around as a species maybe a few hundred thousand years. If anything, so far as time earned goes, the Earth was here "for" the dinosaurs and we are just a blip on the radar after-thought.
Oh, I totally agree. The Earth is a gift we give our children.
However, what's the point of the other parts of the universe, then?
