Thursday, July 30, 2015

Life on other planets

Is there life on other planets? Assuming we agree on what defines life then we must consider the possibility that there are. Consider this. There are 125 billion galaxies that have been detected by our own telescopes. If only 10% of all stars have orbiting planets, there would be more than 6 x 10(with 18 zeros) possible planets. Even if only 1% of those planets could sustain life there would still be billions and billions of possible planets.

What if we discovered such life tomorrow. How would it impact us here? Would we panic? Would we be curious. Would we have to rethink the majority of world religions that claim that they're people are the only chosen ones of the universe? Creation stories of almost all cultures mention the beginnings of mankind, the animals, and the earth but none mention that the creator also made green globules of living matter on a planet millions of light years away. It is more comforting to believe we are the only ones.

That's what the Kevutians have always believed as well. There was never a need for any other beings. They alone were created for the purpose of seeking perfection in the universe. What happens to a society when its long standing sense of self importance is shattered?