210. Footsteps on the Moon: Write about the possibility of life in outer-space.
I liked the movie “Contact” with Jodie Foster but loved the book it was based on by Carl Sagen. In the movie, Foster says:
Oh, look at all those stars. If only one in a million of those stars had planets, and if only one in a million of those planets had life, and if only one in a million of those life forms were transmitting, there would be millions of signals for us to detect.
– Contact
This felt hopeful and romantic to me. I loved the idea that there was life out there in whatever form it was in. I shared this with a friend (now my DH2) is a biochemist and wrote an astrobiology book. He shot this theory completely and I was a little resentful of his scientific explanation. I then audited his course taught to upper class biochem majors and although I did not understand the math aspects of the information, I did digest the conclusion of why there probably is not any other life out there. When I discuss this with others, they resolutely cling to the belief that we are not alone. I suggest they read DH2’s book but they decline. I’m ok with this conclusion now that I understand what it really takes for something to jump from inanimate to alive. Ah, education.
