speculations on extraterrestrial life...

There is a view that existence of life in other planets is almost a certainty. It is also very likely that two life forms in different planets end up communicating. Science fiction is full of stories where civilizations collaborate forming galactic federations. The characters in such novels end up being remarkable human like. I often wonder if it is possible for "human" like life showing up on other planets. It does seem rather reasonable to expect that "intelligent" species on other planets look dramatically different from us. Is it also reasonable to expect them to have eyes, ears, hands, legs, brains etc?

I'm of the view that it is indeed very reasonable to expect them to possess the faculties that humans and lot of other life forms on earth possess. My reasoning goes something like this. The big bang throws out a huge amount of energy. A fair part of it ended up being matter. These elementary particles ended up producing "elements". I think it is reasonable to expect other planets to have "matter" that is largely like the "matter" on earth. Solid, Liquid and Gaseous. The laws of Physics would ensure that Chemistry works much like it does on earth. An extension of Chemistry to Biology and origin of life on some planets is also inevitable and can be expected to occur very similar to how it did on earth. So, it is reasonable to expect that the laws of biology are also universal. Natural selection, I think, is a fundamental law of nature. I think it is very very reasonable to expect any intelligent life on other planets to be subject to the laws of natural selection. In short, I think the laws of physics, chemistry and biology ought to be universal.

Light exists everywhere. Life everywhere will evolve sight. Eyes are inevitable. Such a reasoning would almost extend to the sense faculties that we possess.

Locomotion would add survival value. Life everywhere would evolve legs. It seems reasonable to expect hands to follow. Bipedal life would evolve.

Life would evolve very much like it did on earth. Most intelligent life on earth does have hands, legs, brains etc. Is there any reason to expect things to be different on another planet? I think not.

My speculation is that if and when we find life elsewhere, it is going to be boringly similar to life on earth. Maybe pink plants and green men. That's about it.

BTW, blogging is apparently good for your mental health. Some more reason to keep typing.