Duality of Astrobiology - Considering the Grim Reality We Are Truly Alone in Our Universe

They say that ignorance is bliss and things you do not know cannot hurt you. While I try my hardest to apply that philosophy to my daily life, it is has always been impossible for me to overlook life's most nagging question: are we truly alone in the universe? I'd like to preface this by saying I would not call myself a hand-wavey alien enthusiast nor a conspiracy theorist studying every UFO sighting. I have simply always found this question fascinating and would stop at nothing to see it answered in my lifetime.

After seeing every single way this question could be answered over the years, a quote from British writer Arthur C. Clarke has always stood out to me as the most undeniably haunting response.

"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying." - Arthur C. Clarke

Only the writer of 2001: A Space Odyssey could deliver such a terrifying duality. My issue is I cannot figure out what school of thought to subscribe to. Giving up on my dreams of getting a PhD and helping the world's brightest minds search for life on other worlds seems silly. But, as much as I would give to be in the room when humans find life elsewhere, what are the implications? If there is life, is it far more primitive than us humans, or is it ancient and extremely advanced? In this scenario, life on earth may cease before the true golden age of life in our universe begins. Or, earth is one of the final frontiers of life in our cosmos and it is our duty to persist as long as possible. It is probably not much of a surprise anymore why I wish I could be a little more ignorant.

The field of astrobiology will never cease to pull me deeper as research finds more and more exoplanets that we deem possible hosts for life as we know it. Any single exoplanet announcement is a massive event. We have a long line of possible new worlds waiting for us to explore them just sitting out in space. Currently, the entire astrobiology community is on the edge of their seats waiting for the data on the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system from the James Webb telescope. Three of these earth sized planets sit snugly in the star's habitable zone and have been marked as some of the most optimistic candidates yet for supporting life--if they have atmospheres that is.

What I love the most about cases like TRAPPIST-1 is that we can get a reality shattering confirmation of an atmosphere, deep ocean, or biological chemicals at any given time. Being in that room for such a discovery would probably be an unforgettable experience. The weight of the entire human existence lies in crunching the numbers over and over and looks of disbelief shooting across the room. To experience that would be (in a twisted way) one of the biggest honors you can possibly receive as a human being.

Now I realize I do not sound very terrified about life in our universe like Clarke suggests. However, I could not be more freaked out about the possibility of us truly being alone. This scenario now calls upon Robin Hanson's famously proposed solution to the Fermi Paradox: the Great Filter. To greatly simplify the theory, it poses that there is some limit (unbeknownst to us) that life in the universe is never able to overcome, thus explaining why we do not run into other life forms. There may be thousands of other civilizations similar in technological advancements to the human race, but none of us are able to expand past our own system due to life's limitations. Perhaps the development of intelligence dooms us to destroy ourselves before we can even reach that goal. Both are the most probable solutions... if we are not alone.

The sheer terror (and the most intrigue) comes from the solution that Earth has become the first place to break through the filter of life itself. If life was never meant to become multicellular, what does that mean for us? We would be stranded on a rock, with no hope of escape, forever a prisoner of the universe's only mistake. Or, something is lurking out in the cosmos, something that is the reason for great civilizations of the past to be nothing but dust in an endless void. How much longer would we have until it finds its final victim?

Now I bet you wish you were blissfully ignorant too.

-Wade Templeman


Amazing youtube video on this exact conundrum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUelbSa-OkA&list=WL&index=45

TRAPPIST-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1#Possible_life

Great Filter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter

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