Photo by Philipp Salzgeber.
Maybe we can’t handle the truth. As we increasingly detect other planets and assess their habitability, we also might start to question the uniqueness and significance of life on Earth. It’s a potential development that would affect our society and religious world views like never before.
That’s the interesting topic addressed in the panel session entitled, “Astronomical Pioneering: The Implicatons of Finding Other Worlds.”
Wesley Traub, Chief Scientist for NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program, and the Project Scientist for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C), gave an update on how we try to detect other planets and how the search is going. In short, scientists are trying to detect where a planet is moving around a star within a system. And it’s going pretty well. In one system, four planets have been found to be circulating around a star. As of last week, 528 planets have been detected, something he describes as a “spectacular achievement that shows no signs of slowing down.”
He predicts that we’ll find five nearby terrestrial planets by 2030; planets that could potentially support life.
Howard A.Smith, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics doesn’t think we need to worry about the “what if…” questions. “We are probably alone,” he says, to the dismay of ET enthusiasts. “And we will have to solve our own problems.” Smith thinks the universe is rather inhospitable for the formation and development of life.
And he’s not really concerned about microbiotic life. Only intelligent life really matters here, because we can’t share and communicate with anything but intelligent life. If we find anything, Traub says it won’t be for a very, very long time.
“Even if the universe lasts forever, folks out there will never enjoy episodes of I Love Lucy.” He says we will probably be alone for at least 100 human generations.
Traub offered a Jewish perspective on the matter: “We are blessed…Atheists and religious alike can express in this solitude a pride in humanity. These are happy thoughts we should rejoice in our good fortune.” He said blessings include responsibilities, and this includes the responsibility to care for others and care for the environment.
“We may not be at the physical centre of the university, but we might be at its spiritual centre.”
Astronomer Jennifer Wiseman, AAAS Science and Policy Programs, offered the Christian perspective.
She referred to a survey that showed that most people don’t think finding extra-terrestrial life would change their religious views.That’s fine, but in the Christian tradition there could be some challenges.
Would alien life experience redemption through Jesus Christ? Is alien life also sinful and fallen? Another threat to Christianity could be the belief that God became incarnate to save human-kind, not aliens. And what if aliens have their own religion?
But in the end, Wiseman predicts that the discovery of exosolar life would likely be seen by Christians as a sign of the greatness of God.
The Islamic view was offered by Nidhal Guessoum, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. In a way, the Islamic perspective is rather simple, he says: There is no concept of original sin, fall or incarnation. Islam is a religion and culture grounded in a book, the Koran.
“Our position in the cosmos, our status or stature…are all immediately related to the Koran.” He points out that few studies have been done on this topic in the history of Islamic scholarship. Those ideas that are presented align with what Wiseman reported: It’s not going to be a big deal in Islam.
Guessoum said it is often accepted in Islam that other worlds have to exist, because in the Koran the creator refers to himself as “Lord of the Worlds.”
The session ended on a more optimistic note for ET enthusiasts with a presentation by Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute. He thinks we’ll find intelligent life within the next two decades. And he’s willing to bet a cup of coffee.
Are we alone? If not, can we handle it?
Photo by Philipp Salzgeber.
Maybe we can’t handle the truth. As we increasingly detect other planets and assess their habitability, we also might start to question the uniqueness and significance of life on Earth. It’s a potential development that would affect our society and religious world views like never before.
That’s the interesting topic addressed in the panel session entitled, “Astronomical Pioneering: The Implicatons of Finding Other Worlds.”
Wesley Traub, Chief Scientist for NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program, and the Project Scientist for the Terrestrial Planet Finder Coronagraph (TPF-C), gave an update on how we try to detect other planets and how the search is going. In short, scientists are trying to detect where a planet is moving around a star within a system. And it’s going pretty well. In one system, four planets have been found to be circulating around a star. As of last week, 528 planets have been detected, something he describes as a “spectacular achievement that shows no signs of slowing down.”
He predicts that we’ll find five nearby terrestrial planets by 2030; planets that could potentially support life.
Howard A.Smith, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics doesn’t think we need to worry about the “what if…” questions. “We are probably alone,” he says, to the dismay of ET enthusiasts. “And we will have to solve our own problems.” Smith thinks the universe is rather inhospitable for the formation and development of life.
And he’s not really concerned about microbiotic life. Only intelligent life really matters here, because we can’t share and communicate with anything but intelligent life. If we find anything, Traub says it won’t be for a very, very long time.
“Even if the universe lasts forever, folks out there will never enjoy episodes of I Love Lucy.” He says we will probably be alone for at least 100 human generations.
Traub offered a Jewish perspective on the matter: “We are blessed…Atheists and religious alike can express in this solitude a pride in humanity. These are happy thoughts we should rejoice in our good fortune.” He said blessings include responsibilities, and this includes the responsibility to care for others and care for the environment.
“We may not be at the physical centre of the university, but we might be at its spiritual centre.”
Astronomer Jennifer Wiseman, AAAS Science and Policy Programs, offered the Christian perspective.
She referred to a survey that showed that most people don’t think finding extra-terrestrial life would change their religious views.That’s fine, but in the Christian tradition there could be some challenges.
Would alien life experience redemption through Jesus Christ? Is alien life also sinful and fallen? Another threat to Christianity could be the belief that God became incarnate to save human-kind, not aliens. And what if aliens have their own religion?
But in the end, Wiseman predicts that the discovery of exosolar life would likely be seen by Christians as a sign of the greatness of God.
The Islamic view was offered by Nidhal Guessoum, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. In a way, the Islamic perspective is rather simple, he says: There is no concept of original sin, fall or incarnation. Islam is a religion and culture grounded in a book, the Koran.
“Our position in the cosmos, our status or stature…are all immediately related to the Koran.” He points out that few studies have been done on this topic in the history of Islamic scholarship. Those ideas that are presented align with what Wiseman reported: It’s not going to be a big deal in Islam.
Guessoum said it is often accepted in Islam that other worlds have to exist, because in the Koran the creator refers to himself as “Lord of the Worlds.”
The session ended on a more optimistic note for ET enthusiasts with a presentation by Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute. He thinks we’ll find intelligent life within the next two decades. And he’s willing to bet a cup of coffee.