ET... Stay Home

I came across this article which, of course, fascinated me. I am intrigued by the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. It's clear that it is in short supply here on Earth.

Something in the article struck me...

"When I was a student in the 1960s, the prevailing view among scientists was that life on Earth was a freak phenomenon, the result of a sequence of chemical accidents so rare that they would be unlikely to have happened twice in the observable universe. "

Somebody please tell the author that we have learned many things in the last 50 years that overturned what we believed back then. Learning should not stop for an individual until he or she passes away. Some might argue... Not even then.

I think there might be life throughout the universe, though I am not so sure it will be what we call "intelligent." Some of this life might be unrecognizable to us because, face it, we are a bit egotistical about such things... having a tendency to believe it should resemble living entities we find here. This in spite of learning that life of some kind appears to exist in places on this planet that we once thought couldn't possibly support anything alive.

I do believe, however, that any intelligent species which could develop space travel should have hands that can grasp, eyes, and a measurable dexterity. None of those amorphous blobs or multi-tentacled things the science fiction writers have invented. 
Call me silly, if you wish... I can handle it.