I do not have an opinion on the subject, nor do I believe opinions can really be made. And here is why:
There is absolutely no current universal definition of "Life". These characteristics are what we use to define Life:
Adaptation, Homeostasis, Organization, Growth, Metabolism, Response to stimuli, Reproduction
There are problems with those characteristics. First off (somewhat off-topic), Catatonic Schizophrenics alone will occasionally lack the 6th characteristic. 2nd, Those characteristics only apply to life on Earth so I'll make this simple for those who believe in Evolution, or Creationism:
If you believe Evolution is real: Then those characteristics apply to life that has evolved to our planet, filled with water, oxygen, etc. Who knows how life would evolve on a different planet.
If you believe Creationism is real: Then that life applies to what God created for thisplanet. He created us to survive one this Earth.
Let's not make this about Religion. Now, I continue with this statement:
We could go to another planet, and find a "creature"...Let's just say he looks like those stereotypical Steven Spielberg (Sp?) aliens. That creature could eat, sleep, make and use tools, and even communicate with others like itself. It walks, make noises and just for fun, let's say he like do dance a little. Yet it could lack the characteristics I listed earlier. Would you then say "No, that is not Life?".
One more view I will talk about. Many people say "Look at how big the universe is. There is probably Life on other planets". The flaw with this statement is this.
Let's say that (just an example) this is the number of planets in the universe: 10 X 10,000 ^ 5,000,000,000,000,000
We don't know the probability of a planet creating life. For all we know, it could be this number:
1 / 10 X 10,000 ^ 100,000,000,000,000,000
My point is that we don't know, so the statement listed above cannot be valid.
Now, discuss
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