General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The universe is much bigger than big [View all]eqfan592
(5,963 posts)We have millions of data points in a multitude of different environments. They just all happen to be located on a single planet. However, all that data points to a very high probability of life developing elsewhere.
I'm familiar with the book, as well as the assumptions it makes to generate its conclusions. Assumptions that actually DO have a single data point (our earth, and it being the only sort of environment that can yield complex animal life). Suffice it to say that the book (and its premise) has not aged well as we continue to learn more and more about other star systems and the planets that orbit them (and the number and location of those planets), not to mention discoveries in biology (like a form of multicellular life that doesn't need oxygen, but hydrogen, which flies in the face of one of the primary assumptions in the book).