We assume life on this planet can only exist within certain parameters, BUT.....?

Question

In the deep ocean, abundant life exists at what could be considered an "alien" environment.....unimaginable water pressure, temperatures far beyond the boiling point, and absolutely zero sunlight. Yet the lifeforms are so perfectly adapted to their environment, they could not live anywhere else. You'd have to put them in a giant pressure cooker for them to exist. Think about that for a moment.....normally, if you boil something you'd kill it, including bacteria, yet this is the only way certain creatures could survive.

www.seasky.org/monsters/sea7a6.html

So my question is, how could these life forms be anything but perfect example of evolution? Can you honestly believe some god created these animals and plants that exist so far from the rest of the world? What would have been the point??

Alex J - your capacity for self-delusion stuns me.

Answer 1

While no one on earth has any current data to support or refute the issue whether life exists elsewhere in the universe of a sort that we would recognize, the Drake equation is most useful as a way of documenting the state of our ignorance.

Drake noted, simply and logically, that the number of communicating civilizations in our own galaxy must be the product of seven factors
1.The number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy ( about 100 billion ), times
2. The fraction of stars that have planets around them, times
3. The number of planets per star that are capable of sustaining, times
4. The fraction of those planets where life acutually evolves, times
5. The fraction of these where the life that evolves is intelligent, times
6. The fraction of these that actually developed the ability to communicate, times
7. The fraction of these planets' life during which the ability to communicate overlaps with ours

We have been able to communicate beyond Earth for less than a hundred years. If given that the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, so Drake's last factor reflects only a tiny fraction of Earth/s years of existence: 0.000000022. ( one might argue, depending on one's perspective about the distinct likelihood of our destroying ourselves in future ; ) , whether that fraction will ever get much larger than this. )

Drake's formula is interesting but essentially useless, because of our inability to state with any degree of certainty the vlaue almost all of the terms except for the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Certainly other stars have been discovered with planets around them, but the rest of terms remain hidden mystery.

I believe that God exists, and seeks to have fellowship with sentinent beings like ourselves, and can handle the challenge of interacting with 6 billion of us currently on this planet and countless others who have gone before, it is not clear why it would be beyond His abilities to interact with similar creatures on a few other planets or, for that matter, a few million other planets. It would, of course, be great interest to discover whether such creatures in other parts of the universe also possess the Moral Law, given its importance in our own perception of the nature of God.

Realisticly, however, it is unlikely that any of us will have the opportunity to learn the answers to those questions during our life time.

Answer 2

I believe life exists on other planets in the same sort of way that I believe a creator exists as well. I look at the world around me and realize that we are all connected and all part of one organism, what we do affects all, and in this perfectly balanced system I see cycles and transitions that seem to be of intelligent design. I realize that even the slightest difference in any atoms would have changed the universe in profound ways. Now when I see this the idea that this all happened(the universe) by luck is impossible, it is unfathomable. However is this proof for a creator, no it isn't, however I still believe in a creator through reason and logic alone. Now about the E.T. Its the same sort of thing I feel that the universe is so big that to think we could be the only higher life forms within this beautiful creation is, as well, unfathomable. Now does this prove that extraterrestrials exist? No but I still believe that aliens exist through reason and logic alone. Here is the Drake equation i'm sure you've heard of it. The equation The Drake equation states that: N=R*(Fp)(Ne)(Fl)(Fi)(Fc)(Fl) where: N = the number of civilizations in our galaxy with which communication might be possible; and R* = the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy fp = the fraction of those stars that have planets ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets fℓ = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point fi = the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life fc = the fraction of civilizations that develop a technology that releases detectable signs of their existence into space L = the length of time such civilizations release detectable signals into space.[3] Now I plugged numbers into this before and I damn near peed myself at how many intelligent civilizations came out other than ours, however its still just a theory.

Answer 3

This is related to a similar question I have always had about Biblical creationism.

A literal reading of Genesis holds that all life forms were created in the service of man. As for life forms that are harmful to man, the argument is that these were originally created benign and useful, but which God transformed into something harmful as part of God's punishment for the curse of Adam.

So what of all the organisms that are neither beneficial, nor harmful to man ... organisms for which man was completely unaware, and which do not fit into any food chain that benefits man in any way? What purpose do these serve in creation?

If unrelated to man, then is this an admission that God does things, creates things, that have nothing to do with us ... just for God's own enjoyment? That we are not central to God's plan, but a side-project?

Answer 4

The point would be to show the expanse of what God has created. I would think that since life all has a common ancestor according to the evolution theory then there would be no early life that could survive in those conditions. That shows creation more than evolution.

In Jesus Name

Answer 5

I have a friend that really believes God created the Earth by process of evolution. (Not saying I agree, but he's an extremely intelligent guy).

Answer 6

Mutation of an original. Man himself has mutated over the eons since we were created. Why wouldn't animal life also? And by the way...in case some do not understand my meaning...mutation is not the same as evolution.

Answer 7

You are right. They are perfect examples of evolution.
Nature is absolutely amazing.

Answer 8

How could anyone believe that a creation such as the one you were speaking was anything other than a special creation since they defy every commonly held idea of what environment anything could survive in.... Jim

Answer 9

Good question.
I can only give you a simple explanation: God doesn't exist.

Answer 10

The point of life being here is to give God glory,honor and praise.