X-Message-Number: 11219
Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 22:29:31 -0700
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: Re: CryoNet #11213

John de Rivaz wrote

>In his popular science book "Science of Aliens"
>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=046507314X/longevitybooksA/
>Dr Pickover discusses the tenacity of life and how it has appeared on Earth 
>in the most unexpected places. The possibility of less hospitable planets 
>being totally sterile then seems remote. Of course some kind of like does 
>not mean intelligent like, and indeed human history may have always remained 
>in the Dark Ages.

Since we are here, something had to produce us (Anthropic Principle). That
something must have been reasonably robust, to have persisted as much as it
would have to. So life might be expected, on this ground alone, to have a
certain toughness and adaptability. This could account for why we also find
it "in the most unexpected places"--but always on Earth, where we also find
ourselves. It does not follow from this that life is likely to evolve
anywhere it *could* evolve. It could still be unlikely to get started in the
first place--though of course we don't know.

Mike Perry

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