Are We Alone?

The bookcase in our guestroom contains perhaps 100 books, split almost evenly between fiction and non-fiction. I place them there under the assumption that some of our guests might actually enjoy turning the pages and reading a real book in this day of eBooks and Kindles. Apparently some do. A few years ago a guest appeared at breakfast with one of my books in his hand -- a book of Irish poetry. He then noted with some surprise that I had included quite a few science fiction novels among the fiction in the bookcase. "I've never understood the attraction of science fiction," he said. "It's all so bizarre, far too weird to take seriously -- all that outer space stuff and monsters and strange planets. Nothing real. Nothing human."

Nasty Aliens on the Attack

He apparently assumed I was far too cultured to allow such "literature" to pollute my personal library and asked, "I suppose you have a few friends who actually read it?"

The question, of course, was meant to appease me, to offer an escape hatch so I could claim no personal interest in the genre. But in a rare display of honesty I replied, "No, I include them because I like them. I believe that some of today's best writing can be found in science fiction. Read almost anything by Gene Wolfe and you'll see what I mean. And don't forget, several of the famed Inklings, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams, were all writers of what today would be called science fiction or fantasy."

Our conversation, which had started with such promise, seemed to deteriorate from there. My guest's real stumbling block was his refusal to suspend his disbelief: "How can you believe all that stuff? Do you really believe in UFOs and a universe filled with weird creatures in flying saucers?"

He was even more surprised when I answered, "No, not at all. In fact, I believe we humans are unique, completely alone in God's universe. Don't you agree?"

"Well," he began, tossing me another bone, "I suppose it's possible..." Then he got serious, sounding very much like the late Carl Sagan: "But not at all probable. When you consider the vast size of the universe -- billions of galaxies, each containing billions of stars -- there must be countless planets that support life, even intelligent life."

"No," I said, "I believe we're the only ones. I think God created everything else just to remind us who He is."

That ended the conversation, and allowed Dear Diane to begin a new one: "Who wants waffles, and who wants eggs?"

Waffles and Eggs: A fine product of life (chickens & wheat) on earth

I found it extremely interesting, and puzzling, that I, who believe we humans are alone in the universe, should enjoy science and fantasy fiction, while my friend, who accepts the probable existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life, abhors science fiction. My excuse is that I simply enjoy a good story with interesting, well-developed characters. I also appreciate the literary challenge of creating worlds and cultures that bear little or no resemblance to our own. And yet I believe that science fiction is also fictional science. As for my friend, I can't speak for him or explain the apparent contradiction between his beliefs and his literary tastes. I never got around to asking him.

Interestingly, most scientists would agree with my friend. How can a universe so mind-bogglingly vast contain only a single planet populated by intelligent beings? Indeed, there's a group of scientists engaged in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) that has spent years scanning the universe with radio telescopes searching for signals from other civilizations. Their search is based on their belief, like that of my friend, that the universe must contain many earth-like planets on which intelligent life has evolved.

SETI Hunting for Smart Aliens

This search for extraterrestrial life was spearheaded by Frank Drake of the SETI Institute, predictably founded in California back in the 1960s. Drake devised what came to be called the Drake Equation, used to this day by those engaged in the search. Interestingly, the equation, although used by many claiming to be scientists, is highly non-scientific. Speculative at best, it is based on a series of highly subjective best guesses, all leading to even more unlikely conclusions. The "equation" estimates the number of stars in the universe, how many have planets, the number of these that could possibly sustain life, the likelihood that life will form on these habitable planets, and the probability that intelligent life will evolve...and on and on.

Based on all this guesswork, Drake and the SETI folks estimated that in our galaxy alone there are probably 10,000 or more planets supporting intelligent lifeforms that are sending signals out into space. Many of the scientists involved believe it's inevitable that we'll detect these signals from other worlds very soon.

There are a few problems, though. The SETI estimates may well be very wrong. For example, we have no idea what percentage of stars actually have planetary systems. And we certainly don't know how many planets have what could be considered habitable environments with solid surfaces, an atmosphere, and water. We don't know because we've never found one.

Most disturbingly, though, the SETI folks assume that if a planet has what they consider to be a habitable environment, then the likelihood of life forming is 100%. The thinking is that the scientific laws that govern our planet are the same throughout the universe. Since life formed on earth, it must also form on any planet with a similar environment. Recent research, however, seems to argue that the possibility of life on other planets, even those that might be most hospitable to its formation, is very low. The research is based on the premise that life on earth began very early, and it took nearly four  billion years for intelligent life to evolve. If you're really interested in all this, you can read the paper written by two Princeton astrophysicists here: Life Might Be Rare -- but to read and understand it, you might first want to pick up a doctorate in astrophysics.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... [Gen 1:1]

We know for certain that life exists in only one small place in the entire universe: Earth. And yet we have scientists who call themselves exobiologists, those who study extraterrestrial life, despite the fact that so far they have nothing to study. Sounds like a pretty easy job to me. There also remains much speculation about the initial formation of life on earth, because scientists really don't know exactly how life came to be. And so they search the heavens for signs of intelligent life and try to create life here in the lab from scratch. To date both efforts have been futile. Through it all they struggle mightily to avoid any mention of God who will no doubt have the last word, just as He had the first Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." [Jn 1:1-3]

Kinda sums it all up, doesn't it?

Alone At Last

Have you ever watched one of those UFO "documentaries" that appear now and again on various cable channels? Usually I just click the remote and move on to something else, but the other day I actually spent perhaps ten minutes watching the end of one of these programs. The narrator, whose deep, sonorous radio voice sounded very serious indeed, seemed convinced that aliens from other worlds were visiting earth on an almost daily basis. Why, the evidence is simply overwhelming. How else can we explain all those blurry photos of flying saucers and strange lights in the sky? How can we possibly dismiss the hundreds of personal testimonies of so many seemingly normal people who have experienced close encounters with intelligent extraterrestrials? How else can we explain Area 51 in Nevada? And, of course, the almost incomprehensible vastness of the universe argues that there must be millions of planets right here in our own galaxy capable of supporting life. At least that's what some people think.

I, however, have always been an ET heretic. Aliens are wonderful grist for the science-fiction mill, and make great movie heroes and villains, but do they really exist? Personally, I don't think so. That's right, I believe we earthlings are all alone in the universe. As I said, this is scientific heresy.

Based on the Hubble telescope's deep space exploration, some astronomers estimate that our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains perhaps 300 billion stars and that there are probably 500 billion galaxies in the universe. How many stars, then, are in our universe? Assuming your pocket calculator can handle so many zeroes, you would end up with a very large number indeed:

150,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

...which I believe is 150 sextillion. I might be wrong here, since it's easy to lose track of some of those "...illions" when you get to the really big numbers. But, really, does it make a heck of a lot of difference if we're off by a few zeroes one way or the other? The number is still mind-boggling and if anything is likely an underestimate since astronomers seem always to be discovering more and more in our fascinating universe.

Hubble Telescope - Deep Space - Galaxies

Now, estimating the number of stars in the universe doesn't generate a lot of controversy. I would guess that most astronomers consider such estimates as moving targets, and one educated guess is likely as good as another. Things can get a little interesting, though, when scientists start talking about extraterrestrial life. Most who study such things seem to believe there must be lots of planets capable of supporting life. Such planets must have solid (rocky) surfaces, water, and an atmosphere. Exobiologists -- they're the very smart people who devote themselves to the study of extraterrestrial life even though they have yet to find anything to study -- make a lot of assumptions about such planets. The most remarkable assumption is that life will definitely arise on any planet with those basic requirements. Without any real evidence to support their position, they claim that the creation (a word they wouldn't use) of life is inevitable. It's so inevitable that Frank Drake, a scientist of the SETI Institute estimates our galaxy contains at least 10,000 advanced civilizations that are searching for us just as we are searching for them. (SETI, by the way, stands for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.) All of this optimism is based on nothing more than a single data point: earth. And despite all our knowledge, we really don't understand how life came into being on our own planet -- lots of guesses, but no real knowledge.

So far, the ongoing, active search for extraterrestrial life has yielded absolutely nothing. We've heard no Martian hip-hop, viewed no soap operas from Alpha Centuri, caught no news reports from Andromeda. What if we actually are unique? What if earth is the only place in our entire universe where life exists? I may well be wrong; there may be all kinds of intelligent aliens driving around the universe in their warp-drive spaceships. But so far...nothing.

Actually, I think most of these scientists and their fellow travelers are petrified of dealing with the ramifications of earthly uniqueness. If we are alone in the universe, then life isn't quite so "natural"; it doesn't just happen. And this, of course, would bring God back into the picture. What if "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...Then God said: Let there be Light and there was" the Big Bang. A scary thought indeed.

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place -- "What is man that you are mindful of him, and a son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than a god, crowned him with glory and honor." - Psalm 8:4-6