Abstract
We do have some examples of life evolving, and, moreover, have some idea under what conditions life on Earth has evolved. We move here from physics and cosmology to the issue of life. What is life? How does it come about? And what kinds of variations can occur? These questions are addressed here at some length because they give us an approximation of the biological beginnings of possible ETI. Biology does affect, even if it does not determine absolutely, how ET intelligence will be limited and possibly structured.
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Notes
- 1.
It must, however, be noted that this is a contentious argument. Astrobiologists and others have come to the opposite conclusion which is also valid (see Gould 1983). Given the perspective of this book, we choose to ignore the reefs of caution. Sail on.
- 2.
Again, leaving exotic life forms apart for the time being.
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Ashkenazi, M. (2017). The Physical Parameters of ILFS. In: What We Know About Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Space and Society. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44456-7_3
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