Does it matter if there is life elsewhere in the universe?

Meditations on the emergence of the physical universe and our place in it yield many questions whose answers may forever remain elusive. Even when speculations are put forth with the appearance of theoretical rigour, there is still much to be desired in terms of clarity and wholeness of thought. Alternate proposals involving deities and other theological narratives also fall short of these standards and one is placed in a quagmire of non-cognition, left to despair at the futile pursuit of one of the most important questions that have held sway over the minds of our species. Nevertheless, despite this pathetic epistemic situation, one has to have some implicit beliefs regarding the metaphysical aspects of the universe and our position in it so as to structure various aspects of existence and to live meaningfully as self-reflective organisms. In this regard, if the tendency of an individual is to have notions about being and causation that are generally non-theistic in nature, then, assuming that there is no life elsewhere in the universe, the unique presence of this phenomenon in all its myriad manifestations on Earth may inspire awe and wonderment. It can be suggested that for these individuals, especially those with heightened poetic and artistic sensibilities, an almost indescribable sense of amazement washes over the self and it is ultimately this kind of sentiment that allows for a subjective valuation of the concept of life. In other words, such feelings become a major mechanism for meaning as well as an important influence in the shaping of moral sentiments. This is by no means an original claim and it is useful to examine a certain novel whose artistic insights will provide us a framework to elaborate on this topic. However, at first, it is essential gain a grasp of what we really mean by ‘life’ given the context of our discussion.

Any attempt to give a realist definition of life - one that seeks to capture what the word should mean in its truest sense, is a misguided endeavour. The notions that we hold of this phenomenon are conditioned by our current understanding of organisms on Earth and given our cognitive limitations and incomplete information regarding most things, it would be unreasonable to expect any realist definition to capture all essential characteristics of all possible manifestations of life all across the universe. Similarly, employing a functional or lexical definition to give us a definite framework to approach the idea of life for our current task at hand would be detrimental because, in theory, we will inherently prevent certain novel conceptions from being part of the criteria determine whether something possesses life. So, with these limitations in mind, it is felt that the best definition for life is a non-definition - one that relies primarily on our intuition - that 'we will recognise it when we come across it'. Although this is not the most desirable approach, it is the safest one given that our major objective is to determine whether it matters to us if life exists in any part of the universe, and for the sake of humility, we are assuming that there may be other conceptions of life that are not yet known to us but we will be able to recognize it and include in our cognitive apparatus when we come across it (To make this point clearer consider the following example: in 12th century, no one would have conceived of bacteria and as a result, it would not have been part of their idea of something that possesses life but in the 21st century, bacteria is very much considered a living organism). Therefore, if the assumptions and the approach outlined here are accepted, then, an explicit definition of life becomes unnecessary. At best, we can term life as an 'unquantifiable abstract' and given its complexity, we must submit to a relatively less precise notion of it.  Now, given these conditions, a certain novel can be examined whose artistic insights will provide us a foundation for having a discussion regarding life manifesting elsewhere in the universe.

'Watchmen', a graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons is a towering work of art written and published towards the late eighties. While it is tedious to give a plot summary at this juncture, the novel essentially revolves around five costumed crimefighters and sheds light on their complex psychological profiles. It is also a serious commentary on ideas such as utilitarianism, nihilism and existentialism, among many others. For our purposes, it is chapter nine titled 'The Darkness of Mere Being' that is mainly of interest. In it, Doctor Manhattan, the only costumed vigilante who has superpowers, transports himself and a fellow crimefighter named Silk Spectre to Mars in order to gain a clearer perspective regarding human existence in the face of an impending armageddon back in Earth. Doctor Manhattan, who has many abilities, one of them being the capacity to alter matter at will, allows his colleague and fading romantic interest to remain in conditions that will allow her to function normally, and he creates a spaceship that will enable both of them to traverse the landscape of Mars without any difficulty. He then ruminates on the marvelous topography of this alien planet and how some of its volcanoes are as "large as Missouri" and how there are no "pinnacles" in Earth to rival this. He also goes to various lengths to appreciate the grandeur of non-living entities such as a valley that stretches three thousand miles in length and has a depth of four miles. In other words, Doctor Manhattan suggests to Silk Spectre that human life is "brief and mundane" and that in his perception, all he sees is atoms: the "ancient spectacle that birthed the rubble". He does not contend human beings to be any more interesting or valuable than, say, a volcano or a planet or any other combination of matter. But, just as Silk Spectre also comes to accept life as an inexplicable grim entanglement, Doctor Manhattan has an epiphany and changes his mind. A serendipitous moment in their conversation induces him to look at human existence from a different angle and he exclaims that life is a "thermo-dynamic miracle...events with odds against so astronomical that they're effectively impossible, like oxygen spontaneously becoming gold". He muses on this idea and longs to "observe such a thing", implicitly indicating to us that since its odds are so astronomical, Earth may be the only region in the universe where life has manifested. Doctor Manhattan contemplates on human birth and finds the coupling of sperm and egg to form a zygote "the crowning unlikelihood". Ultimately, it strikes him that constant exposure to human beings leaves everyone so desensitized that nobody can appreciate "these miracles" unless viewed and reflected upon from "another vantage point".

Doctor Manhattan's new-found conceptions of human existence are definitely nobler and appreciative but the question remains whether an expansive idea of 'life' existing elsewhere in the universe matters to us as members of an intelligent species. To answer this, consider the following thought experiment: we have witnessed the birth of the universe and the elementary building blocks of matter and stardust are scattered all throughout; the universe is constantly expanding in front of us and the particles of the universe and other complex entities which we may not fully comprehend such as dark matter all lead to the formation of planets, stars, galaxies and all possible phenomena. We continue to observe for a few billion years and the same process keeps repeating and multiplying, as the universe expands into further reaches. But, in the corner of our eye, we notice a spectacle: a tiny blue planet in a certain part of this vast existence seems to exhibit a very unique phenomenon - the first life form emerges albeit in a very rudimentary form. Now, this is exceptional, for in the course of our viewing, no other area of the universe, not a single one, has experienced such a spectacle. With the passage of time, we notice that due to the conducive conditions of this particular region, these rudimentary life forms multiply and also grow in complexity leading to different forms of life with special features such as intelligence, emotions and the capacity for creation itself. All this seems miraculous, for our materialistic conceptions of the universe would have allowed even the emergence of the most basic life form only at the levels of highest improbability. It is as if in an infinite sample space, an event of 'zero chance' actually occurs. With this picture in mind, let us switch to a different thought experiment, one where the event of life emerging from the primordial stardust is common place. We observe it in different regions of the universe: in some places, the forms of life and its evolution is similar to that in Earth and in other places, new types of life forms emerge that may or may not correspond to our present notions of what life may constitute but we do identify it given our assumption for such a capacity. Every single galaxy seems to have around five regions where life seems to have taken hold of and when we multiply this by the number of galaxies that exist and are coming into being, the possibilities of life in the universe become endless, all too familiar and all too natural. We observe that even when a large meteorite strikes a habitat of a certain form of life in a distant corner of the universe and completely obliterates this region, life as a concept still exists in the universe and it is a common place phenomena like supernovas, white dwarfs and planetary formations. So, the question remains - does it matter if there is life elsewhere in the universe?

For the purposes of rudimentary existence - one that strives to satisfy the basic necessities of life, such a question is moot. Also, the answer to this question may or may not matter for those who structure their life based on a certain theological narrative that provides meaning and a range of ready-made solutions to many of the existential and moral dilemmas that may arise during the course of a human life. However, for individuals who possess non-theistic and materialist conceptions of being and causation, and who are fortunate enough to engage in grand metaphysical speculation, it is reasonable to assert that it does matter to them whether life exists elsewhere in the universe. As suggested earlier, it is vital for deriving a sense of meaning and purpose in life and also, meditations on such abstractions becomes a reservoir for enriching one's moral sentiments. For instance, if I lack a theology that places me in the center of the universe and gives me a reason to strive for some arbitrary transcendental ideal, then in place of it, the sheer improbability of my existence given the vastness of the cosmos in itself becomes a source of immense meaning: a reason for me to live, for such a combination of matter to yield the light of life as I now experience it may have never occurred elsewhere in any other form in the universe, and may never happen again as this universe fades away into oblivion in the face of entropy. 'Being' in any form let alone my human form is a miracle and making Doctor Manhattan's words my own, "[I] [am] life, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg, the clay in which the forces that shape all things leave their fingerprints most clearly". And this subtle conception of existence also gives me a reason to appreciate all other forms of life on Earth, from the magnificence of the lion and the whale, to the magic of the microbiome of bacteria that constitutes a great part of what I am. To hold life in any form or combination against the backdrop of the universe and marvel at it: this gives a reason for us to appreciate and preserve life in the absence of a self-evident moral code. Given our self-preserving instincts as well as certain impracticalities associated with preserving life, one is, it may be argued, inclined to a great deal to hold various forms of life as objects worthy of contemplation and as a consequence, the desire to harm or kill them in any way diminishes. To conclude, it is the uniqueness of life on Earth and the feelings that arise from contemplating on such a belief that becomes the subjective foundation of meaning and morality for the type of individuals described earlier. If there is life elsewhere in the universe, then the mechanism for meaning for such individuals may be adversely affected and also, it may possibly dull the subtler, awe-inspiring sentiments that one has for 'life'.

[All Souls College, Fellowship Examination, General Paper I (September 2009), Q. 27]