I have absolutely no problem with this. Either way. The vastness of the Universe makes the existence of other life almost certain, and the existence of other intelligent life likely. However, it took life on Earth 3 billion years just to develop multicellular forms from the time the first pond sludge appeared, and a total of almost 5 billion years since dust collapsed to form the Sun. The Universe is only likely to be 13.8 billion years old and the elements heavier than helium had to form via stellar supernovas. It would have taken awhile for enough matter made of heavier elements to accumulate to allow for the complexity of life. So whose to say that this process didn't take all 13.8 billion years to seed the Universe with intelligent life, and we're the first? I'm not disputing the Creation story either. That is a true description of God's work, but when we view it, we see what science is describing. A day to God may well be a billion years to us.
Time as Einstein demonstrated is an illusion as well. If I go to Mars travelling the speed of light and return to the earth after having been gone 300+ years, I will arrive at a much earlier point in time. Time is a marker, nothing else. Statistics indicating the age of the earth etc. are at best unreliable in that they imply a steady state that does not exist anywhere in the universe.
And there are many unexplained features. What exactly is Dark Energy and Dark Matter, for instance? Actual physical entities, or our miscalculations because we simply do not yet see the entire picture? I suspect many of the mysteries of Space-Time are like this.
Excellent point. Yes, I fully agree. Look at black holes. Not too long ago, they were treated as fantasies relegated to a Star Trek episode. Now, scientists appear to have observed them in action. As the human being is very arrogant, I often wonder if we do not come up with complex theories or names just to conceal the fact that WE DO NOT KNOW and yet do not want to admit it. Most of the universe is a mystery. Our knowledge is extremely extremely limited.
I have absolutely no problem with this. Either way. The vastness of the Universe makes the existence of other life almost certain, and the existence of other intelligent life likely. However, it took life on Earth 3 billion years just to develop multicellular forms from the time the first pond sludge appeared, and a total of almost 5 billion years since dust collapsed to form the Sun. The Universe is only likely to be 13.8 billion years old and the elements heavier than helium had to form via stellar supernovas. It would have taken awhile for enough matter made of heavier elements to accumulate to allow for the complexity of life. So whose to say that this process didn't take all 13.8 billion years to seed the Universe with intelligent life, and we're the first? I'm not disputing the Creation story either. That is a true description of God's work, but when we view it, we see what science is describing. A day to God may well be a billion years to us.
Time as Einstein demonstrated is an illusion as well. If I go to Mars travelling the speed of light and return to the earth after having been gone 300+ years, I will arrive at a much earlier point in time. Time is a marker, nothing else. Statistics indicating the age of the earth etc. are at best unreliable in that they imply a steady state that does not exist anywhere in the universe.
And there are many unexplained features. What exactly is Dark Energy and Dark Matter, for instance? Actual physical entities, or our miscalculations because we simply do not yet see the entire picture? I suspect many of the mysteries of Space-Time are like this.
Excellent point. Yes, I fully agree. Look at black holes. Not too long ago, they were treated as fantasies relegated to a Star Trek episode. Now, scientists appear to have observed them in action. As the human being is very arrogant, I often wonder if we do not come up with complex theories or names just to conceal the fact that WE DO NOT KNOW and yet do not want to admit it. Most of the universe is a mystery. Our knowledge is extremely extremely limited.