Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life By Paul C.W. Davies
The biggest shortcoming of this book is the fact that I read it 20 years after its publication. There's no doubt that its contents would be dramatically different if it were written in 2014, not because we've discovered life outside our planet, but because the heart of the book is a philosophical exploration of consciousness and patterns of evolution. I'm sure these fields have grown in interesting ways since 1995.
This book is exactly what I expected it to be: An overview of the SETI program, coupled with an interrogation of the philosophical issues related to the potential for life on other planets. Davies writes with an engaging style, probing accepted truths with individual acumen and thorough understanding of the subject matter.
My favorite passage is one wherein he explains his view that intelligent life is neither a crazy accident, nor a miraculous act of the divine:
I believe that consciousness is not as trivial a thing as it appears in the standard biological picture. In fact, it's not a trivial thing at all. It's a fundamental property -- a fundamental emergent property -- of nature, a natural consequence of the outworkings of the laws of physics. In other words consciousness is something that doesn't depend crucially on some specific little accident somewhere along the evolutionary way. To nbe sure, the details of our mentality will depend on the minor and accidental specifics of evolutionary history, but the emergence of consciousness, somewhere and somewhen, in the universe is more or less guaranteed, I claim.
I'm always happy to find science writing that moves beyond simplistic materialism, and this is one of those moments. Highly recommended. 0465004199 I enjoyed the book but I found it a bit frustrating too. Davies identifies two fundamental issues that I have been pondering since reading.
1. Is it the case that life is inevitable given our universe, or is it a stupendous chance, or did it arise from miraculous intervention? Davies believes it is the former - but he doesn't offer any convincing reasons for that belief. However, it is interesting to note that if he is right, other life forms must exist in our vast universe - and as Davies points out, they will probably have had a much longer time to evolve into something far more intelligent than us.
2. The universe is finely tuned in a way that makes life form possible. Once again, this can be a massive fluke - but the odds against it are astronomical. Alternatively, there could be multiple (billions?) universes and therefore one of them will beat those odds. (Davies, and I think that to be unlikely). Lastly, it could be a case of intelligent intervention. Davies doesn't say which he prefers but if he rejects the multiverse option, the intelligent intervention options seems the only realistic one left standing.
I don't think Davies goes deeply into the philosophical implications of alien life. The book was too short really. 0465004199 MY MAN NEVER MISSES 0465004199 Spätnachrichten bei Radio SETI, 1.420 GHz
Die Erde wurde in 7 Tagen geschaffen. Dann kamen die Geologen und sagten ne. Naja, immerhin steht sie im Zentrum des Universums. Bis dieser Kopernikus kommt und sagt ne. Naja, immerhin sind wir Menschen das Ziel der Schöpfung. So ein Engländer namens Darwin sagt ne, wir stammen vom Affen ab und alles ist nur Auslese. Uff. Na, wenigstens sind wir einzigartig im gesamten Universum. Und dann bauen die dieses vermaledeite Radioteleskop, haben die den Knall nicht gehört?
Abgesehen davon, dass ich befürchte, dass wir als erstes Signal von den Außerirdischen das arkturianische Pendant zu Frauentausch oder Ab ins Beet empfangen werden, so ist das ganze Thema doch sehr interessant - und zwar nicht nur von der rein naturwissenschaftlichen Seite aus betrachtet, sondern auch von der philosophischen. Dieses Buch beschränkt sich bei der Betrachtungsweise hauptsächlich auf die Argumente, die es für und wider die Existenz, und falls es es geben sollte, für und wider die Möglichkeit einer Kontaktaufnahme mit extraterrestrischem Leben. Dass hier kein von Däniken (den ich als Autor sehr schätze) am Werk ist, spürt man schon am distanzierten Schreibstil, und daran, dass der Autor seine Meinung zwar klar kundtut, dies aber immer als seine Meinung und nicht als Fakt deklariert. Kritiker kommen ebenso zu Wort wie Befürworter, und von der Wunderhypothese über anthropische Zustände über Panspermie bis hin zur Stringtheorie werden diverse Argumentationsketten vor dem Leser spannend und lehrreich ausgebreitet. Einen Aspekt, den andere bei ihrer Diskussion über außerirdische Intelligenz gern übersehen, wird hier besonders aufgearbeitet - was ist eigentlich Intelligenz, und wozu braucht es Intelligenz eigentlich? Ist Intelligenz und Bewusstsein vielleicht eine Zielfunktion des Universums?
Einzige Voraussetzung, diesen sehr lesbaren Text genießen zu können, ist ein allergröbstes Verständnis von Physik und Statistik. Gerade die Statistik wird in diesem Werk sehr häufig zu Rate gezogen, schließlich muss man bisher, mangels physischer Beweise, mutmaßen. Das Gesetz der großen Zahlen in Verbindung mit der Unendlichkeit des Universums scheint über die Diskussion über nichtirdisch entstandenes Leben (was nicht dasselbe ist wie außerirdisches Leben, wie wir erfahren werden) viel Spielraum für zusätzliche Spielereien, wie der des kosmischen Duplikats, zu bieten.
Die Titelgebung der englischen Werke ist hier etwas verwirrend - man sollte als Leser das vorliegende Are we alone? aus 1995 nicht verwechseln mit dem 2010 erschienenen The Eerie Silence - Are We Alone in the Universe?. Auch biegt die deutsche Untertitelung die vom Autor beabsichtigten philosophical implications frecherweise um in schnöde Wahrscheinlichkeit. Einige recht simple Illustrationen sowie eine Bibliografie komplettieren das Werk.
Komplexe Vorgänge, auch für Laien verständlich erläutert, und mit viel Stoff zum Nachdenken angefüllt, dabei ohne Fantasiererei, Fanatismus oder Pseudowissenschaft. Ein wirklich tolles Buch für alle, die nicht wissen, wie sie ihr kosmisches Duplikat finden können. 0465004199 This book is realistic and down to Earth, no pun intended. It is a scientific analyses of the possibility of intelligent life on other planets. It covers not only our current time but eons back and forward. It is exceptionally informative and you come away, not only with a thorough understanding of the question Are we alone, but a thorough understanding of the answer. The statistics revealed, the realism, the science behind the question is presented in nothing but rationality by Paul Davies. Spoiler......We are definitely not alone, but the chances of meeting other forms of intelligent life are ridiculous. The universe is just plain too big. So put away your aluminum foil hats and delete the resources you've saved on Area 52 and Roswell. It just didn't happen and never will. 0465004199
Paul C.W. Davies ↠ 9 Read & Download
Scientists and governments are actively searching for signs of life in the universe. Will their efforts meet with success? Award-winning author Paul Davies, an eminent scientist who writes with the flair of a science fiction writer, explores the ramifications that the discovery of extraterrestrial life would have for our science, our religions, and our worldview in general. Are We Alone? Philosophical Implications of the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life
A surprisingly deep analysis of the potential answers to the title question. Somewhat too dogmatic, but it raises some rather interesting points. 0465004199 This is a deeply philosophical book that also has a strong grounding in scientific theory and what we do and don’t know.
It focuses itself around 3 Philosophical positions on the origins of life on Earth;
1. It was a miracle
2. It was a stupendously improbable accident
3. It was an inevitable consequence of the outworking of the laws of physics and chemistry, given the right conditions
Having established these 3 positions and the various arguments for and against them, Davies underlines why all SETI scientists argue strongly for number 3, which itself is based upon the adoption of 3 philosophical principles;
1. The Principal of Uniformity of Nature
2. The Principal of Plentitude
3. The Copernican Principle (or Principle of Mediocrity)
These 3 principles are then covered in detail before the inevitable dive into the origins of the universe, the evolution of life and consciousness, particularly at one point does consciousness manifest and — for how long — does intelligent life tend to remain alive without self-destructing. Davies talks around a number of theories, most notably the theory of intelligent life being prone to destroying itself, something that feels very likely as we observe what is occurring in the modern world, with a few focussed so much on dominating the resources, wealth and power that it restricts humans from being all they can be.
From Wikipedia: “This is the argument that technological civilizations may usually or invariably destroy themselves before or shortly after developing radio or spaceflight technology. Possible means of annihilation via major global issues, where global interconnectedness actually makes humanity more vulnerable than resilient, are many, including war, accidental environmental contamination or damage, the development of biotechnology, synthetic life like mirror life, resource depletion, climate change,or poorly designed artificial intelligence.”
On the origins of life, the Panspermia hypothesis is one that inevitably courts a lot of attention and disagreement.
Panspermia (from Ancient Greek πᾶν (pan), meaning 'all', and σπέρμα (sperma), meaning 'seed', is the hypothesis that life exists throughout the Universe, distributed by space dust, meteoroids, asteroids, comets, planetoids, and also by spacecraft carrying unintended contamination by microorganisms.
The biggest issue with the panspermia hypothesis is that Panspermia studies concentrate not on how life began, but on methods that may distribute it in the Universe.
Discussing Intelligence elsewhere in the universe or in relation to non-homo Sapiens creates a lot of heated debate and contrasting opinions around the notions of intelligence and consciousness, which do not - according to some - need to be mutually inclusive. However, it does create what is known as the “mind-body problem”.
“According to Rene Descartes , the mind is a real entity that attaches itself to human brains. It is a popular image of the mind (or soul), and was ridiculed by Gilbert Ryle as “the ghost in the machine”. Few scientists or philosophers subscribe to such a dualistic picture today.”
Some posit that Consciousness is what’s known as an “emergent phenomenon”, best described by the wetness of water. Water is wet. It has a certain quality that we recognise and it’s a real rather than an imagined quality. But it’s not a quality we would attach to an individual molecule of water: a single water molecule can’t be said to be wet in any sense. However, a large collection of such molecules does have the quality of wetness. So, we say that wetness is an emergent phenomenon because it emerges when there are a sufficient number of molecules or a sufficient level of complexity in the system. I like this explanation and it’s probably the one that resonates the most in terms of an explanation of consciousness.
However, considerations that emerge at this point if - as this theory tends to suggest - consciousness is simply a natural phenomenon disconnected from the idea of a soul and/or creator. How do we explain:
• the Hive mind phenomenon
• Past life regression
• Language arguments between Skinner vs Chomsky (Learned or Pre-Programmed)
• Conditions such as bilingual aphasia (patients who have woken up from a coma or near death experience fluent in a language they have no or limited prior knowledge of)
There is much to ponder in this book, from a theological perspective, psychological, evolutionary, scientific and - as ever - the origin story. Davies is concise in relating the key information and leaves you researching more behind each topic.
0465004199 Interessante. Un breve compendio di ciò che potrebbe implicare la scoperta della vita fuori dal pianeta terra, sia in campo filosofico che religioso e scientifico.
Si può concordare in parte in toto o per nulla alle posizioni dell'autore, ma almeno sono lì, chiare e semplici; ottime basi per una discussione :) 0465004199 Heute, da fast wöchentlich neue Planeten um ferne Sonnen entdeckt werden, und Nachrichten über Hinweise auf mögliches Leben auf anderen Himmelskörpern des Sonnensystems für Aufregung sorgen, ist dieses Buch immer noch wichtig, weil es versucht, die Bedeutung für uns auf der Erde zu ermessen, wenn eines Tages wirklich außerirdisches Leben entdeckt wird. Der Titel des Originals gibt den Tenor viel besser wieder als der Titel der deutschen Übersetzung. Eines ist mir klar geworden. Wenn es zum Kontakt mit Außerirdischen kommen wird, dann sind dieser ganz sicher nicht auf der irdischen Stufe der Zivilisation, das wäre bei den Zeiträumen im Universum einfach viel zu unwahrscheinlich. Ist für SF-Fans und besonders Autoren und Autorinnen sehr lesenwert. 0465004199 Full disclosure: I think most UFO reports can safely be dismissed as unreliable or false.
I also think we have underestimated the possibility that intelligent alien life is out there but ignores us - that Earth might be, to use a metaphor, the galactic monkey cage.
Anyhow...
The author Paul Davies is no crank; he's a science professional who's written several popular science books on physics and astrophysics.
ARE WE ALONE? is based on his lectures about the search for extraterrestrial life. He outlines the history of speculation about aliens since antiquity; scientific theories about the number of alien civilizations (and why we haven't found any signs of them); and the actual search for alien communication signals by radio telescope.
Most interesting is Davies' argument that life is NOT a cosmic accident but an inevitable product of natural processes. That is, there's no rational reason to assume we are alone in the universe, since life will spontaneously emerge elsewhere.
I recommend this book as an introduction to serious study of SETI (=Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence), if you can find it. 0465004199
