Bonus Assignment
answer questions
(1) How the material offered in this course have changed your view with regard to the existence of life elsewhere in the universe? More specifically, please describe whether you have changed your opinion on the existence of life elsewhere in the universe or whether the material offered in this course have confirmed your previous view points on the existence of life elsewhere in the universe.
(2) Do you believe that intelligent life is abundant in Universe? How about bacterial life?
(3) Do you believe that the rare Earth hypothesis is a reasonable resolution to Fermi’s paradox? why or why not.
(4) In your opinion, describe why the topic of extraterrestrial civilizations remains such a fertile ground for conspiracy theorists.
(5) If you were to ever come into contact with extraterrestrials and be able to communicate with them as the sole representative of humankind, what is the one question that you will ask them? (please note that this question is in fact asking for your opinion on the most important unsolved dilemma facing humankind).
(6) Do you believe that a discovery of extraterrestrials will really put an end to the religious beliefs on Earth, as advocated by some scientists at SETI? Describe your answer in detail.
Title
Your name
Subject and Section
Professor's Name
Date
1 Extraterrestrials, or the existence of life elsewhere in the universe, has been an exciting topic for me. The material offered in this course had given me so many insights regarding this matter. The very first concept that I have learned about aliens was what is being portrayed in the movies. Such concepts like aliens with significantly advanced technologies, life forms unlike any other on Earth, and being able to transform into a life form of animals, being able to communicate with human beings fluently, so and so forth. I have confirmed that some of these are scientifically based, and some were just artistically made up. Some of the concepts that I think was confirmed were the aliens with incredibly advanced technologies and the life forms that are different from us. In the Fermi Paradox, there is part of talking about a type III civilization where technologies are way ahead of us. This somehow explained the possibility of us encountering aliens that have technologies that are out of our reach.
2 Tackling the abundance of intelligent life in the universe involves statistical analysis. This topic revolves around how common or rarely life had emerged then on how intelligence had occurred from that. Two main mathematical terms can tackle this matter: Frequentist probability and Bayesian probability. The first is used to predict events with a definite number of samples, resulting in specific outcomes. While the other is validating one hypothesis to every possible hypothesis (Seigel, 2020). In other words, the first needs to have a definite number of planets that are similar to Earth and determining the probability of the emergence of life on Earth to come up with a specific outcome. With that said, Bayesian probability is more applicable since there is still no proof that there are planets that is similar to Earth. Four hypotheses could lead to the outcome today. These are how common, and rarity life arises on planets like Earth and/but becomes rarely or frequently intelligent. On May 18, 2020, David Kipping published a paper that gave the first insightful analysis of these possible outcomes (Seigel, 2020). Kipping's paper tells that life's slow emergence from abiogenesis makes the birth of life and intelligence luck in the rewound and rerun of Earth (Letzter, 2020). For if it were to happen fast, life might have emerged at some point in the planet's billions of habitable years. However, there might be some contradictions or some disagreements with Kipping's paper. One of these is the insight of Isabelle Winder (Letzter, 2020). She said that Kipping only focused on the first emergence of life and intelligence after it became habitable. Winder said that life might have emerged several times before it became habitable, and then, intelligence may have also emerged. Moreover, she said that there is a various definition of intelligence, but Kipping only pointed out the human being's intelligence like being able to write (Letzter, 2020). To sum it up, determining whether it is abundant, intelligent life in the universe requires many data about the emergence of life. With a lack of data for determining such a matter, Bayesian probability takes place. David Kipping's paper would have been the most valid study in the emergence of Intelligent life, with it being rare in the universe. However, there is some contrast to other people's way of thinking. It depends on how "intelligence" is defined.
Also, I believe that bacterial life is abundant in the universe. Fossil is one of the best shreds of evidence that bacterial life is abundant in the universe. Fossils are the remains that are molded in rocks wherein an organism in pre-historical times are preserved. A distinct group of organisms that are believed to have evolved pre-historically and the knowledge of several stars in the universe can conclude that there is life existing somewhere in the universe. Bacteria can survive under extreme conditions (Science Daily, 2017). It is why it can be guaranteed that there is abundant bacterial life in the universe.
3 There was a story when Enrico Fermi, an Italian-American physicist in the 1950s, was discussing w...