Rare Earth Hypothesis
This hypothesis states that based on astrobiological findings, multi-cellular life forms found on Earth may actually be more of a rarity than scientists initially assumed. It provides a possible answer to the Fermi paradox which suggests, "If extraterrestrial aliens are common, why aren't they obvious?" It is apparently in opposition to the principle of mediocrity, assumed by famed astronomers Frank Drake, Carl Sagan, and others. The Principle of Mediocrity suggests that life on Earth is not exceptional, but rather that life is more than likely to be found on innumerable other worlds.
The anthropic principle states that fundamental laws of the universe work specifically in a way that life would be possible. The anthropic principle supports the Rare Earth Hypothesis by arguing the overall elements that are needed to support life on Earth are so fine-tuned that it is nearly impossible for another just like it to exist by random chance (note that these terms are used by scientists in a different way from the vernacular conception of them). However, Stephen Jay Gould compared the claim that the universe is fine-tuned for the benefit of our kind of life to saying that sausages were made long and narrow so that they could fit into modern hot dog buns, or saying that ships had been invented to house barnacles.
Read more about this topic: Astrobiology
Famous quotes containing the words rare, earth and/or hypothesis:
“I know some of my self-worth comes from tennis, and it’s hard to think of doing something else where you know you’ll never be the best. Tennis players are rare creatures: where else in the world can you know that you’re the best? The definitiveness of it is the beauty of it, but it’s not all there is to life and I’m ready to explore the alternatives.”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)
“How false is the conception, how frantic the pursuit, of that treacherous phantom which men call Liberty: most treacherous, indeed, of all phantoms; for the feeblest ray of reason might surely show us, that not only its attainment, but its being, was impossible. There is no such thing in the universe. There can never be. The stars have it not; the earth has it not; the sea has it not; and we men have the mockery and semblance of it only for our heaviest punishment.”
—John Ruskin (1819–1900)
“It is an hypothesis that the sun will rise tomorrow: and this means that we do not know whether it will rise.”
—Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)