I listened to several lectures on Post-Science about exoplanets and possible forms of biological life, and came to think that if we ever discover extraterrestrial life, the chances of creationism followers will skyrocket. Why? Because a cell became a cell and its constituent proteins became these specific proteins as a result of evolution, which by definition has a random nature, and life based on principles other than intracellular ones is theoretically conceivable. Moreover, it is conceivable around us.
For example, one could invent such a crazy concept as “living matter” based on micro-interactions between molecules of matter (such as gas) and distributed storage of information defining these interactions. Physically, each individual molecule does not store anything, but its instantaneous state carries the information necessary for such life. Micro-effects in the dynamics between molecules cannot be measured in any way (since trying to measure it would affect the system), and if we’re talking about huge volumes spanning hundreds of kilometers, where the wave of interactions and vibrations makes sense, such a hypothesis will be untestable for another century. If we imagine that such “life” coexists with terrestrial life, it would be impossible for us to detect them, and for them – us.
Alternative life may have its own flow of time, completely incompatible with ours. For example, a million times slower or a million times faster. The concept of intelligence is only understood through comparison with humans. If you think about it, intelligence is just an evolutionary mechanism, and not at all the only possible one.
I think it will be similar with extraterrestrial civilizations. We shouldn’t be looking for little green-headed men, but rather something entirely different, like the things mentioned above. Or something like this
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 