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Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet

(www.nytimes.com)
168 points julienchastang | 5 comments | 16 Apr 25 23:20 UTC | HN request time: 0.198s | source
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John7878781 ◴[16 Apr 25 23:32 UTC] No.43711464[source]▶
This is unsettling. If we are not the only intelligent beings in the universe, it adds credence to the idea of a "great filter."

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

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fsckboy ◴[16 Apr 25 23:52 UTC] No.43711601[source]▶
i don't see the connection. being the only intelligent beings in the universe (at the moment) lends credence to the great filter, and finding large numbers of other inhabited planets eliminates it, and in between why wouldn't it monotonically decrease?
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1. John7878781 ◴[17 Apr 25 00:14 UTC] No.43711727[source]▶
the idea is: if we do find life elsewhere, especially basic life, it suggests that getting to that stage isn't super rare. which means the great filter probably isn't behind us (like abiogenesis or single-cell to multi-cell jump), but possibly ahead of us - maybe in surviving long-term, avoiding self-destruction, spreading beyond one planet, etc.

finding life doesn't eliminate the great filter - it raises the unsettling possibility that we haven't hit it yet.

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2. chatmasta ◴[17 Apr 25 00:18 UTC] No.43711742[source]▶
The argument you're referencing is usually about finding life on a nearby planet, e.g. on Mars. Nick Bostrom has articulated [0] this argument. But finding life on a distant planet lacks the same statistical power for instilling this existential fear.

[0] https://nickbostrom.com/papers/where-are-they/

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3. John7878781 ◴[17 Apr 25 00:25 UTC] No.43711785[source]▶
Of course. It'd be much worse if we found life on Mars than on a distant planet. In either case, the chances of humanity being ahead of the "great filter" are greatly reduced.
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4. t0lo ◴[17 Apr 25 02:37 UTC] No.43712565{3}[source]▶
That's not taking into account that each solar system has its own set of circumstances, it could just be panspermia between earth and mars.
5. ◴[17 Apr 25 03:44 UTC] No.43712917{3}[source]▶