Will We Know Alien Life When We See It?

Re:Will We Know Alien Life When We See It? by alienalp on Saturday January 07, 2023 @10:36PM (#34295776)

Even if it doesn't define life obviously replication is the thing here. Without capability of replication there is no continuation and even if some matter is alive it has limited time to obtain this ability. Which is actually seems like slightly more possible than impossible to me. Not saying straightforward impossible just because we exist.

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Re:Will We Know Alien Life When We See It? by yarg on Saturday January 07, 2023 @10:43PM (#34295818)

Any non infinitessimal probability leads to certainty given enough time.

Consider it in terms of reactions per second - take the likelyhood of non-formation of replicators (call it 99.999999999% - because it actually does not matter), to the power of the number of reactors, to the power of the number of seconds since the universe began.

The likelyhood that no self-replicators form rapidly plummets to a vanishing value.

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Re:Will We Know Alien Life When We See It? by moloch-hai on Sunday January 08, 2023 @04:21PM (#34303269)

By that standard there hasn't been much time.

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Re:Will We Know Alien Life When We See It? by yarg on Sunday January 08, 2023 @06:37PM (#34304636)

I may have added too many nines, but the point stands.

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