UFO UpDates Mailing List
From: Larry Hatch <larryhat@jps.net> Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 01:20:36 -0800 Fwd Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 08:01:04 -0500 Subject: Re: The Drake Equation >Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 14:04:55 -0600 >From: Dennis Stacy <dstacy@texas.net> >Subject: Re: The Drake Equation >To: UFO UpDates - Toronto <updates@sympatico.ca> >>Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 20:08:52 -0600 >>From: Roger Evans <raka@swbell.net> >>Subject: Re: The Drake Equation >>To: updates@sympatico.ca >>And if we're wrong about "life as we know it" here on our own >>planet, then "life as we DON'T know it" must surely be within >>the realm of possibility on other planets; even seemingly >>hostile ones. >Roger, >I don't doubt that there is life elsewhere in the universe. I do >doubt that spacefaring civilizations are a dime a dozen. >Just today I came across a few factoids on life here. In the >approximate 3.5 billion years of life on this planet, there have >been something like a billion species, 99.9% of which are now >extinct, and only one species of which has developed human >intelligence. (How do you like those odds?) I can't think of any >particular reason (that I know of) as to why there aren't 10, >20, or more intelligent species on this planet, but there >aren't. <snip> I just want to interject a thought here. If I recall correctly, several sub-species of hominids ( or whatever they are called ) arose at different times. Some of these could even interbreed. One could argue that competition between various semi-intelligent populations merely led to the predominance of just one. In short, if our lineage had not gained ascendancy, wiping out the competition while they were at it, its highly likely that another strain would have in time. Descendants of Neanderthals, Cro-Magnon men [ but no Piltdown men ] might be having this very discussion! By analogy, suppose there were never a company by the name of IBM ( or Microsoft, or Intel .. ) Would their products or something highly analogous also vanish from the scene? I think not. What is unlikely, is for another intelligent specie to follow the same exact and admittedly unlikely path that our natural history took. But, nobody is demanding that! Some of us are merely suggesting (and hoping I suppose in my case) that intelligent life might be relatively common in this galaxy. A dime a dozen? I doubt that too. But, it only takes one race, sufficiently advanced and given enough time, to explore large regions of space at least robotically. Best wishes - Larry Hatch = = = =
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