The Evolution of Extraterrestrial – How E.T. might look like?
Today I have an exciting article on my desk that traces the current state of research on the question of the morphology of potential extraterrestrial life forms. It is the article by Douglas A. Vakoch, The Evolution of Extraterrestrials. The Evolutionary Synthesis and Estimates of the Prevalence of Intelligence Beyond Earth, in: Vakoch, Douglas A., Archaeology, Anthropology and Interstellar Communication, NASA History Series NASA SP-2013-4413, pp. 79-94. (Download the book here: https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/Archaeology_Anthropology_and_Interstellar_Communication_TAGGED.pdf)
Although at first glance the essay does not seem to provide much that is new, it clearly highlights the importance of viewing researchers’ statements about extraterrestrial life in their respective scientific contexts.
So, for example, a mathematician working on statistical models may come to a different conclusion than a biologist who makes his statements based on his research on biochemical processes at the molecular level. Likewise, Vakoch points out, the question of the morphology of an extraterrestrial being is strongly influenced by which side of Darwin’s theory of evolution the researchers position themselves. In short, what E.T. might actually look like depends either on the Darwinian premises of variation, (natural) selection, and re-combination of appearances – or (among other things) on classical environmental factors or random changes. Influences of the physical environment, such as X-rays, which are known to trigger sudden genetic mutations, may have contributed to the evolutionary process of humans.
The still unanswered question of whether human-like, or humanoid, beings actually existed off Earth has been rejected by some researchers on the basis of statistical probability. Too many specific, biological-chemical factors would have led to the emergence of humans, which most likely do not exist in this form on other planets. So the fact that we exist is just a big coincidence?
Humanoids and other Qualified Quiz Candidates
I as an Egyptologist cannot decide that. But I wonder: Why do we expect humanoid beings on other planets? Why not a completely different species, which – detached from its physical form – could have the necessary intelligence in the sense of extraterrestrial research? An insect-like species could have explored the galaxy while we were still trying to light a fire with flintstones. The search for humanoids in space is thus a strongly anthropocentric approach, which is not wrong, but from my point of view not very purposeful. Because the probability that the same evolutionary conditions, as they have led on the earth to the emergence of the modern man, were also still exactly the same light years away, I consider small.
Not completely can be excluded a theoretical approach which assumes that the earth is much older than we know so far. According to this there had already been an earlier, similar period before the present human era, in which the people became space travelers and had left the earth for different reasons. The “remained behind” rest had to start practically evolutionary from the beginning and forgot everything what one knew up to then.
When I say that this approach “cannot be completely ruled out”, it does not mean that I consider it probable. Nevertheless, as a scientist, I must note at this point that we too have sometimes been very wrong in the past, especially in dating issues. The strictly scientific approach is indispensable when it comes to visible evidence and verification of discoveries. However, it is sometimes a little “sluggish” when progressive models of thought are developed.
History has shown that great inventions are sometimes preceded by completely absurd thoughts. If these had been contemptuously pushed aside, we would perhaps still not know that there are atoms in ring form. The German researcher Friedrich August Kekulé pondered for a long time about the organic structure of atoms. He did not know how the 6 carbon and 6 hydrogen atoms of the chemical element benzole were arranged – until he saw a snake biting its own tail in a dream. His own intuition had shown him the way. But he had to walk that path himself. The hint that his own subconscious had given him put him on the track: The snake formed a ring. And suddenly everything was clear: the benzole molecule had a ring structure, which was later scientifically proven in corresponding experiments.
Vakoch, in the context of such progressive models of thinking in the field of E.T. research, points to a very different approach that could open the mind to the potential that lies beyond our earth: Art.
On page 202, he describes the work of artist Bonnie Dalzell as follows:
“By hypothesizing planets that differed from Earth in terms of gravity and temperature, she imagined environments that would support a wide variety of land-based, aquatic, and flying life.”
She practically drew from her imagination the most diverse manifestations of intelligent life adapted to each environment.
