The main part I don't understand is: 'I feel like this planet doesn't really have anything to offer and compared to other planets we are severely behind.'
What doesn't it have to offer? Earth has enough oxygen/carbon dioxide/ carbon/water etc etc to sustain life, and is the only known planet to contain 'intelligent life'. I'm sure there are other planets out there which have equally, if not more sophisticated life forms, but, for now, we are the peak of evolution.
Most other known planets are dry, barren, frozen wastelands, so how the Earth is behind them all... ?!
Not to mention, OP says "imagine if we became more open to the universe" as if the advanced alien neighbors live down the street, and we're such big assholes that we haven't said hello yet.
We must get the idea that we are the "peak of evolution" out of our heads.
The most highly evolved creature on Earth is actually a Crustacean, a Lobster.
Think about that next time you might want to have one for dinner.
Believe it or not. Lobsters have 100 chromosomes, whereas humans have only 46. Furthermore, lobsters have far more genetic adaptations within those chromosomes in their DNA.
That's like saying "well, my alarm clock is made up of 50,000 pieces, and I've modified it way more times than you have." That doesn't make it a better alarm clock. There's no quantifiable measure for progression, or rather, to quantify it is to miss the point.
I think it's most plausible to think that of all possible life in the universe, we're probably somewhere in the middle in terms of advancement (it's called the Mediocrity Principle). That said, if you find nothing impressive about the complex web of language and culture we've created (not to mention our exponential technological/scientific/medical trajectory) then sure, lobsters are way further than us.
I did not say that Lobsters are Sentient creatures, just that they are more evolved, which they are. "Better" is not an appropriate term to use in this. If a creature has successful adaptations for survival, it is unlikely to evolve as long as it's environment remains relatively stable and that other (new) life forms do not invade (expand) into it's environs. The primary force for our own evolution from the other Great Apes, is mostly due to environmental shifts caused by Glacial Ages. If these Glacial Ages did not occur, we would most likely still be in small numbers, and living in the rainforest in Central Africa much like Bonobos do today.
As far as advanced (Ethical) Sentient life in the Universe goes, we are all at age 1 (on a scale of 1-100) with the exception of those who have not yet developed or have lost their ability to be Ethical, and myself who just turned 2.
It's pretty obvious that OCDC was referring to cognitive sophistication - he was clearly not trying to count the number of discrete genetic mutations. Your point on glacial periods is irrelevant because they did occur, and your scale of ethical sentience is nonsensical. So there's no need to keep flailing; you just misinterpreted his original post. Nothing wrong with that.
Is it normal that I don't want to live on earth anymore?
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The main part I don't understand is: 'I feel like this planet doesn't really have anything to offer and compared to other planets we are severely behind.'
What doesn't it have to offer? Earth has enough oxygen/carbon dioxide/ carbon/water etc etc to sustain life, and is the only known planet to contain 'intelligent life'. I'm sure there are other planets out there which have equally, if not more sophisticated life forms, but, for now, we are the peak of evolution.
Most other known planets are dry, barren, frozen wastelands, so how the Earth is behind them all... ?!
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flutterhigh
11 years ago
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suckonthis9
11 years ago
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Not to mention, OP says "imagine if we became more open to the universe" as if the advanced alien neighbors live down the street, and we're such big assholes that we haven't said hello yet.
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iEatZombies_
11 years ago
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Has anyone here noticed that you're awesome yet?
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flutterhigh
11 years ago
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I have. Does that count?
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iEatZombies_
11 years ago
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Why, yes. Yes it does. =)
We must get the idea that we are the "peak of evolution" out of our heads.
The most highly evolved creature on Earth is actually a Crustacean, a Lobster.
Think about that next time you might want to have one for dinner.
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OCDC
11 years ago
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Really?
I find that hard to believe.
(Also, I don't like lobster anyway! :P)
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suckonthis9
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Believe it or not. Lobsters have 100 chromosomes, whereas humans have only 46. Furthermore, lobsters have far more genetic adaptations within those chromosomes in their DNA.
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flutterhigh
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That's like saying "well, my alarm clock is made up of 50,000 pieces, and I've modified it way more times than you have." That doesn't make it a better alarm clock. There's no quantifiable measure for progression, or rather, to quantify it is to miss the point.
I think it's most plausible to think that of all possible life in the universe, we're probably somewhere in the middle in terms of advancement (it's called the Mediocrity Principle). That said, if you find nothing impressive about the complex web of language and culture we've created (not to mention our exponential technological/scientific/medical trajectory) then sure, lobsters are way further than us.
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suckonthis9
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I did not say that Lobsters are Sentient creatures, just that they are more evolved, which they are. "Better" is not an appropriate term to use in this. If a creature has successful adaptations for survival, it is unlikely to evolve as long as it's environment remains relatively stable and that other (new) life forms do not invade (expand) into it's environs. The primary force for our own evolution from the other Great Apes, is mostly due to environmental shifts caused by Glacial Ages. If these Glacial Ages did not occur, we would most likely still be in small numbers, and living in the rainforest in Central Africa much like Bonobos do today.
As far as advanced (Ethical) Sentient life in the Universe goes, we are all at age 1 (on a scale of 1-100) with the exception of those who have not yet developed or have lost their ability to be Ethical, and myself who just turned 2.
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It's pretty obvious that OCDC was referring to cognitive sophistication - he was clearly not trying to count the number of discrete genetic mutations. Your point on glacial periods is irrelevant because they did occur, and your scale of ethical sentience is nonsensical. So there's no need to keep flailing; you just misinterpreted his original post. Nothing wrong with that.