Comments on: Sugar molecules — building blocks of RNA — found around young star

By: Himoura

Himoura — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 10:34:35 +0000

That’s the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Conscious life is the natural progression from chemistry? That’s so stupid it’s insane. So chemistry authors code now? It’s funny to me that people actually swallow this crap.

Codes can only be created. Information can only be created. The day any type of code or information system evolves I will admit that this is possible.

RNA is an instruction set. It does not evolve and cannot exist as a result of luck. Every theory science postulates in regard to the origin of life is false because it relies so heavily on nothing but ridiculously good luck.

U idiots have invented a purely deterministic view of life that makes no sense whatsoever. Quantum Mechanics and Murphy’s law cannot be ignored. Life as a result of chance is impossible.

By: african mango

african mango — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 05:51:25 +0000

It became cold and cloudy!

By: JFH

JFH — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:34:26 +0000

I’ll check that out Peter. My own pet theory is that the astrophysicists have it wrong when they talk about phase I, II, and II civilizations. Thats a linear, star trek view of the future. I think it may be more likely that there is only a long pre-technological phase and a very short pre-singularity phase. That phase ends either with total annihilation or the singularity. Once singularity is achieved that species transcends and becomes something undetectable to pre-singularity species. Still… you’d think there’d be enough pre-singularity species out there to at least get a single radio signal.

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 02:32:46 +0000

Well, if the universe does indeed ‘wake up’ in that everything becomes intelligent and capable of supporting life….then it will be exactly as you wish: everything is ‘alive’. It’s interesting though that you say Kurzweil actually does believe in God…he’s actually said more then once that, when asked if he believes God exists, he says “not yet”…so you could indeed take this as he does — the universe, he says, is the closest thing to God he can imagine, and it will one day become conscious…rather then the deist viewpoint in that a creator got everything started and turned away, he believes a conscious universe will wake up; hence “not yet”.

Indeed…Spirituality comes in all kinds of forms, and you could indeed call him and his beliefs to be very spiritual.

By: Bri

Bri — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 01:24:32 +0000

I love when I get a direct response to my statements. My question was rhetorical, and so was meant to stimulate debate. Although I haven’t read those books, these ideas are debated. I’m persueing a line of reasoning that Ray has written about. That life keeps progressing up a ladder of sorts. Similar to tool use. Life utilizes whats at hand to extend it’s sphere of influence. Ray champions the idea that we are an evolutionary phase of the universe, and that it is waking up. I think this lends credence to the fundimentality of god. That if the progression is taken to it’s logical extreme, you end up with a consciousness that is god like. In fact from my point of view they are one in the same. That it is responsible for the holodeck reality we are in. That ultimately Ray does believe in god, just not in organized religion. So the start of the premise is that organic molecules want to form life. That the whole shebang is a scaffold for life to take root on, and evolve to that end point of an even bigger singularity, as it were, of the whole universe being alive. Even the inorganic molecules. Like I’ve said before. I’m very animistic in my beliefs. Even empty space is just briming with the pregnancy of potential life expression.

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 23:00:44 +0000

Wondering the same thing?

By: Marcos Marin

Marcos Marin — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:58:48 +0000

Which PROVES God had too much alcohol when creating life. Too much methyl-formate and apparently also sugar high.

By: Futuron

Futuron — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:14:37 +0000

Life is everywhere perhaps, but maybe we are the only example of life in this entire galaxy to evolve a society and language complex enough to carry ever accumulating knowledge down through the millenia towards a technological singularity.

Or maybe going from those simple sugars to RNA to life is just stupendously unlikely, and while the potential building blocks of life are everywhere, they are extremely unlikely to grow into the further forms needed for actual life, making it very rare even in our 300 billion star galaxy.

By: Peter Kinnon

Peter Kinnon — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 20:23:23 +0000

“Doesn’t it seem like conscious life is a natural progression from chemistry?”

Absolutely, Bri.

Indeed, in the final analysis, consciousness can be held to be an expression of chemistry. Furthermore it can be argued that chemistry should be considered to be the evolving entity.

Certainly, there is a strong case to be made for a much broader evolutionary model that extends beyond biology. From the formation of the chemical elements in the stars right through to the autonomous evolution of technology in the collective imagination of our species which is so apparent today.
A model which can give useful insights into short-term future outcomes

This, as well as trakk’s point,. is considered, very informally in “The Goldilocks Effect: What Has Serendipity Ever Done For Us?” (free download in e-book formats from my “Unusual Perspectives” website)

JFH – One possible answer to Fermi’s question “where are they?” arises from this broad evolutionary picture. Essentially a form of “cosmic censorship” which restricts the interaction of biological entities beyond their local domain. This conjecture is developed in chapter 17 of “Unusual Perspectives: An Escape From Tunnel Vision” which is also a free download.

By: Bri

Bri — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:47:45 +0000

Doesn’t it seem like conscious life is a natural progression from chemistry?

By: trakk

trakk — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:16:07 +0000

Not only the presence of organic chemicals/building blocks, but places (planets) with right conditions should also exist, to give birth to life.

By: JFH

JFH — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:40:53 +0000

One more piece added to the Fermi Paradox. We now know that planets are everywhere and organic chemistry is rife throughout the known universe. So…where is everyone?