Discussion Should life be given a second chance?

[gnarly]

As I hope most of you know. Eventually all of everything on earth will eventually die out. If life where to rise again in the near future. Would it even go in the same direction? Will it all just loop? Do you think life should be given another chance? Ik it's much to ask since we don't exactly know. But I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions.

 

[chester]

If life where to rise again in the near future. Would it even go in the same direction?

I don't think so. Too much randomness was involved in the evolution process.

Evolution is driven by genetic mutations which happen at random. There can be two outcomes of the mutations:
1. Disease - genetic mutation dies with the organism
2. Better adaptation - genetic mutation gets passed on to new generations and these organisms outcompete those without it.

Even if we started over in the exact same conditions which were on Earth when life emerged, the outcomes could be completely different. Take a look at the diversity of plants and animals. I'm sure this isn't the only way life could adapt to the current conditions, this is just one of the possible scenarios.

If you're asking if there would be intelligent life capable of creating a civilization like ours, we know it's possible, because we exist. It's not something that must happen though.

Do you think life should be given another chance?

What do you mean by "should"? It's not like there's anybody that's deciding about that. And "another chance"? Chance at what exactly?
To me it sounds like "do you think we should give weather another chance tomorrow?". Weather is not going to ask our permission and it doesn't care about our expectations. It's going to be what it's going to be.

 

[gnarly]

I don't think so. Too much randomness was involved in the evolution process.

Evolution is driven by genetic mutations which happen at random. There can be two outcomes of the mutations:
1. Disease - genetic mutation dies with the organism
2. Better adaptation - genetic mutation gets passed on to new generations and these organisms outcompete those without it.

Even if we started over in the exact same conditions which were on Earth when life emerged, the outcomes could be completely different. Take a look at the diversity of plants and animals. I'm sure this isn't the only way life could adapt to the current conditions, this is just one of the possible scenarios.

If you're asking if there would be intelligent life capable of creating a civilization like ours, we know it's possible, because we exist. It's not something that must happen though.



What do you mean by "should"? It's not like there's anybody that's deciding about that. And "another chance"? Chance at what exactly?
To me it sounds like "do you think we should give weather another chance tomorrow?". Weather is not going to ask our permission and it doesn't care about our expectations. It's going to be what it's going to be.

The question is really more for anyone who believes in god or religion. Sorry for the confusion. It thought it'd be pretty clear when I said "another chance". But thank you for your response.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I like the idea of life continuing to thrive but, not humans. I'd prefer to see another species get a chance. Not that I have much hope of a better outcome! I sort of suspect that the vast majority or organisms on this planet would try to take over- given the chance, rather than live in harmony with nature. I think we're wired to survive at all costs. Maybe just all plants would be nice. Imagine how beautiful that would look.

Sentient life is kind of problematic here though I feel. Still, I don't think we know enough about plants to know whether they suffer.

I suppose that's what it comes down to at the end of the day. There will likely be some suffering present with any life that develops here. Ok- there will be lots of creatures having fun too but- what amount of suffering is acceptable? The moral answer is none- if there is no need for it. The problem is- we don't actually know if there is a need for life. All of what we feel is based on beliefs. Religious beliefs, a personal sense of purpose in life. With none of that confirmed and the distinct possibility a lifeform could again develop self awareness, we're back to the same problems people here are facing. As in- Why am I being put through all this? I don't even want to be here!

What other outcome could life give us I wonder... I have my doubts on whether it could actually be much better. The whole process of evolution is built on competition. Winners and loosers. The winners get to propogate and pass their genes on. It's surely competition and loosing in life that makes so many of us miserable. So, we kind of hate the cornerstones of what life is based on. Maybe life shouldn't be messing about with sentient, self aware lifeforms.

 

[chester]

The question is really more for anyone who believes in god or religion. Sorry for the confusion. It thought it'd be pretty clear when I said "another chance". But thank you for your response.

Fair enough. Even though I don't believe, I have no problem assuming god exists for argument's sake.

I can see two possible assumptions that would result in different conclusions:

1. There is a theistic god. In this scenario human beings are God's ultimate creation, made in his image. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all teach that sooner or later an end of the world will come and there will be some sort of final judgement. I don't see much room here for God trying again, or any reason for him doing so. If he's perfect and almighty, he would've created everything just the way he wanted it to be, no need for trying again.
2. There is a deistic god. Here we assume that God created the universe and set the things in motion to play themselves out without further intervention. If the laws of nature he defined allow life to emerge, there's nothing that would imply that life on Earth is the only one. There might've been some other before us, there might be some other after us, there might even be life somewhere else in the universe right now, we have no way of knowing. This is a much less humanity-centered approach, in which your question is valid, and I think I've already answered it in the previous sentence :)

 

[ijustwishtodie]

No, life shouldn't be given another chance. As long as there's life, there will always be suffering and there's no need for life to exist to begin with. For example, there aren't martians who are begging for life and they have no need to be here. Once they are here, there will be suffering and bloodshed so it's best to prevent that. The other planets that are devoid of any life are peaceful and it should be kept that way

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

Sure but next time just don't create another me and everything would be perfect.