Essay Sample about Extraterrestrial Life
Light is the fastest travelling form of energy in the universe, moving at 299,792,458 meters per second, approximately 300,000 kilometers, or 186,000 miles per second. A light year is measured as the distance that light is able to travel in one year, which is about 9.6 trillion kilometers or 5.8 trillion miles per year. Due to the time it takes for light to travel such an immense distance, humans on Earth observe objects in space as they appeared the number of light years ago that they are away from Earth. For reference, the closest neighboring star to Earth, Proxima Centauri, is about 4.3 light years away, meaning that astronomers who observe the star today are viewing the state it was in 4.3 Earth years ago. Considering that Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Earth, it is a truly mystifying concept to imagine the distance from Earth that is the edge of the observable universe. Although the universe itself is infinite and contains an infinite amount of galaxies, the radius of the observable universe is estimated to be about 46.5 billion light years long. Even if scientists were able to study the edge of the observable universe with any detail, they would be studying its state 46.5 billion years in the past. Considering the limitless magnitude of the universe, how could anyone on the tiny speck of a planet that is Earth attempt to deny the existence of extraterrestrial life? The belief that life on Earth is the only life that exists in the universe is a naive idea which implies that somehow Earth is the most important little speck to ever exist, and greatly underestimates the vast expansiveness of space.
Despite scientists understanding the limits of the visible universe, only about four percent of it has been “discovered” and accurately researched. Although it is a difficult concept to grasp for the inhabitants of Earth, there is a possibility that humans and life on Earth are too small, far away, and insignificant to extraterrestrial life that other species simply do not feel compelled to visit. For example, humans acknowledge the existence of dust particles floating in the air but rarely do they investigate them. Enough is already known about specks of dust that it is unnecessary to continue to put effort into examining them. This theory states that Earth is like a single particle of dust in the universe compared to extraterrestrial life that has advanced millions if not billions of years ahead of what has been discovered on Earth.
Similar to the dust theory, the “Zoo Hypothesis” was created in 1971 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology astronomer, John Ball, and presents the idea that humanity is being observed by extraterrestrials who have intentionally kept themselves undetected, which explains why humans have not had success in their search for life in space. Other than the insignificance of Earth, which is supported by the dust theory, there are a number of reasons why aliens may be keeping their distance from humanity. Some say that they believe in the moral upstanding of the extraterrestrial beings, and that said beings leave humanity to its own devices in order to facilitate the pursuit of their own destiny. Others believe that aliens observe and study the inhabitants of Earth similar to how humans study animals in a zoo, or more accurately, fish in a tank. Despite the name of the theory, a fish tank is a more applicable example, as the fish are not aware that they are being watched, whereas animals such as lions or monkeys in a zoo are able to form relationships with their keeper.
Despite the mathematical likelihood that Earth is not the only planet to facilitate life, some still doubt the existence of extraterrestrial beings. A popular reasoning for this thought process is known as “Fermi’s Paradox.” This theory created by Enrico Fermi states that because the universe is billions of years old, the galaxy should have been colonized by other species long ago, and the fact that humans have discovered no proof of life in space means that it must not exist. Although it is true that the universe is billions of years old, it is also infinitely large. Due to the sheer size of the observable universe, 46.5 billion light years, even if other galaxies within the universe had been colonized, it is likely that humans would not uncover this fact until millions or even billions of years in the future. This serves as a reminder that the more light years an object is away, the further in the past humans can see it from Earth. The Zoo Hypothesis also serves as a rebuttal to Fermi’s Paradox, as it suggests that the aliens that do exist are deliberately shielding themselves from the view of those on Earth who are seeking answers.
To conclude, despite the solipsistic ideals of those who believe humanity is alone in the universe, the mathematical probability and theories based on said statistics prove that it is remarkably likely that there exists some form of extraterrestrial life somewhere in the vast expanse of the universe. Whether it be within the milky way, the observable universe, or even beyond the furthest estimation for the speed of light, aliens are out there somewhere.
