Bit by bit, Earth seems more and more rare
The latest bit of evidence for Rare Earth
has to do with the conditions under which our solar system formed, and how the conditions which enabled a life-sustaining planet to emerge here have been notably absent in pretty much every other observed planetary system.
As a Christian, I should note that I fully accept that sapient, non-human entities exist. In fact, I can think of at least two such species: angels and demons. As to other…erm…biological creatures existing elsewhere in the Universe, I’m rather more agnostic — in fact, I don’t really care if they exist or not. If they do, it’s probable we’ll never meet them anyhow. If we do, I highly doubt that it will be the final death-blow to god-belief and Religion that those of an atheistic bent often seem to think that the discovery of intelligent alien life will be.
But I will say this: if there are other sapient species out there, I rather doubt that there are a lot of them. Should humanity ever take to the stars, I imagine that our experience will be more like that of the characters in e.g. Firefly or Battlestar Galactica — human beings, effectively alone amongst the stars, save for the antagonists that they have made for themselves.
I started blogging back in 2004 -- in May, if the Wayback Machine is to be believed. Not that I remember the exact day. To be honest, I didn't take it that seriously then; it was a fun distraction, but nothing more.
That all changed, I think, once the Danish cartoons were published, and the assault on the right to freedom of expression became very visible. With the recent issues in Canada concerning the "human rights" commissions, the gravity of the matter has only increased, and my interest in blogging has increased right along with it.
I used to blog at a domain called Time Immortal, but it seemed to be the right time for a change -- there's been a lot of that in my life of late. Hence this blog: a fresh start, and proof positive that I won't shut up even if I get shut down once in a while.
