Back to the Beginning

        So far I have examined some of the possible places that life may be found in our solar system. I also covered some of the methods that are used to locate planets around other stars. I went in depth about the transit method and its strength and limitations. I started this blog with the hope of gaining a better understanding of what life was and if there was a possibility of life being someone else in the universe.  I believe that there are places in the universe where life would or has evolved. The universe is to vast for life to only be limited to our little planet.  We as humans believe that we are special that we are the only intelligent life on our planet but I feel that we are not special enough to be the only intelligent life that is able to communicate.  I have also struggled with trying to grasp if what we will find is life in the mere sense that it fits our 6 categories of what life is, or if we will in fact be able to find life that is intelligent.  I feel that we will be able to find simple forms of life; we know that there are many places in our own solar system that may be able to harbor primitive life.  But it will take more resources and time to try to find intelligent life. So it comes down to the fact that I think that we will eventually find life in primitive forms but we may be less likely to find intelligent life that can communicate with us. 

If we are lucky many years down the road to communicate with intelligent life, is that going to change anything? They would be many light years away from us and if they are able to communicate that doesn’t mean that we will be able to meet face to face. I feel that it is great to go out and look for the unknown and search for life. If life is found it will give us a sense that we are not alone but I feel that it won’t change us. It may be better that we never find other intelligent life; humans are constantly in war and conflict with each other.  If life is found would there be a war between planets?

                Even though I have been able to gain a better understanding of the universe and the search for life there are still more questions that cannot be answered.  I feel that through gaining an understanding of these topics it has also given me more questions. These questions do not have answers and they may never be answered but it does make one stop and look up at the sky and contemplate life beyond Earth.