Philosophical implications of extinction

Scenario: All humanity on earth gets destroyed. Nothing is left that is in any way human. In fact, since it could be argued that we would re-evolve from the lifeforms left, lets say that the planet just blew up. Discuss the implications of this on your own personal world view.1)Will humanity evolve on other planets? If so, do we (now)discuss this as our future, even though we will some day no longer exist?2) Carpe Diem? Or sackcloth and ashes? Discuss your philosophy of life.

Where to?

Im thinking Coffee House. It just does not fit precisely anywhere else, unless we had a philosophy forum.

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

1) It is definitionally impossible that human life would ever evolve on other planets. In order to be human life it would have had to be one of us. I guess the only possible way would be for genes from earth, carried by an explosion made their way to another planet where they become part of a new life cycle.If you mean humanoid or sentient life evolving, those are other questions entirely. I don't think it makes sense to discuss such a possibility as "our" future, but rather the future of life in the Universe. Lovecraft really scoped out this territory in his works.2) All you have is the life you are leading right at this moment, even if it is part of a life which spans eternity. Find who you are and live as best you can as your own being while allowing others to be who they are. Don't worry about what happens in some far flung future or for "humanity" which if evolution is correct we will likely one day grow out of anyway.Perhaps that might be another interesting question, should we be concerned about there eventually being no homo sapiens due to a progression of mutations over time?

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

quote:

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Carpe Diem? Or sackcloth and ashes? Discuss your philosophy of life.

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Until the end comes, we still need to eat, children need to be taken care of, and there are still jokes to be shared.

Ask the dinosaurs.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

Why? Are we unique to this planet? That would be, in a way, asking if a Father and Mother be concerned if their kids calling home once in awhile. If the kid is unlike his/her parents that is OK as long as relationally the family progression remains intact.This message has been edited by Phatboy, 10-01-2005 02:18 PM

Of course we are. Here's the chance for those improbability huggers usually arguing against evolution, to argue their huge odds against something that really has these huge odds against it.The chance that humans just like us have evolved on another planet as well as on earth are 1 in a ... well, 'brazillion' I think is the word. Even if you could turn back the clock and rerun evolution on earth, the chance that humans would evolve again is infinitessimally small.

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We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins

Since this is a coffee house thread, please allow this.Parasomnium,
You don't seem to post as often at others, but when you do you are always clear, elegant, and cogent. I like your style and want to ask, who are you?

Pars beat me to the punch, but I'll try and make it more explicit. Unless you are broadening the word "human" to mean anything that is humanoid in shape, or sentient, then it is not just confined to this planet but specifically to us.Humans are homo sapiens or perhaps a couple of the homo species around that. That means specific dna, which means a specific ancestry.As pars pointed out, even if you reran earth's history it is a bit unlikely that the exact same events would occur resulting in our specific species. Nice analogy. That could also be used to answer your OP. Should family be concerned about their kids. Even if the kid may not have children and continue the line, or the parents will not be alive to see it, and in any case they know their immediate children as they themselves will be dead at some point anyway, its still ok.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

Throwing common sense away for a second, the fact that we only have 1 data point to work with would make the answer to this question to be a big fat "I DON'T KNOW!!!"

Uh, given that humans are specifically the descendants of species existing on this planet, the answer must be that we are unique to this planet.In a vague metaphysical way we could say "I don't know" if we entertain the idea that humans were not descended from other animals, or that all of our descent was preprogrammed by humans from outside earth to create humans here (or all over the place), or that the only way evolution will work everywhere is through the same sorts of species leading to humans.Yeah, okay I don't know that those might not be true, but I have absolutely no reason to believe it is true and scientific evidence would point toward "no".

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

You have heard the one about a tree falling in the forest and nobody there to hear it?If a planet blows up in space, and a billion voices cry and then are silenced and if nobody hears them cry, did they ever really exist?More to the point: Do they exist now without colonization?This message has been edited by Phat, 10-02-2005 03:23 PM

Are you asking whether they ever existed, or whether they continue to exist in an afterlife or another form?Some would say that without intelligent life, the Universe itself ceases to exist.This message has been edited by Funkaloyd, Mon, 03-Oct-2005 11:27 AM