We Should Leave this Galaxy

By Dr. Yamok - Published 2018-10-04

We should leave the Milky Way galaxy because it is nicer elsewhere, we are more likely to find intelligent species, and because we ruined our only habitable planet.

First, it is nicer elsewhere. Humanity can pick and choose where everybody spends the rest of their days. Would it not be nice to live in a nebula, or a pinwheel galaxy? Secondly, those who leave can pick their planet. There could be so many options, some that are desert, oceanic, etc. Furthermore, humanity can pick a safer planet. Earth has many dangers, from massive jellyfish (Mercer, et al., 2007) to the dangerous schistosomiasis (Simpson & Cioll, 1987). Why not pick a planet with only flora and no fauna? To sum it up, it is nicer in other galaxies because humanity can choose what galaxy to live in, we could even pick our planet, and we don’t have to get one with biological dangers.

Secondly, we are more likely to find intelligent species. The article “Fermi’s Paradox – The Last Challenge for Copernicanism?” (Cirkovic, 2009) does a good job at explaining the paradox of extraterrestrial life. However, it would be easier for humanity to travel to another galaxy, perhaps one with more planets (and thus a higher likelihood for life) to find our cosmic neighbors, than play with the chance they may live here. Adding on, the more planets, the more likely we will find life. The Drake Equation (1) is a mathematical formula that predicts the probability of life in a host galaxy. One can clearly see that the probability jumps the more planets there are in a galaxy, showing we are more likely to find life in larger galaxies. On the other hand, humanity might be more likely to find life in smaller galaxies. Keen explorers might be able to find a space faring civilization easily if there are not more systems to rule out. Overall, humanity as a whole is much more likely to find life because of the predictions of the Fermi Paradox, the mathematical formula Drake’s Equation, and the size of a galaxy is something humanity gets to choose.

           Thirdly, we ruined our only habitable planet. Global Warming is a prime example of the state of our planet. The average temperature has risen several degrees, and that is no small change, it could make earth quite the opposite of an ice age. Another argument is demonstrated no better than pop culture movie WALL-E. The movie is based off a heavily polluted and trashed earth, so much so humans blasted off into space. Furthermore, humans have broken so many species and ecosystems since the dawn of time, to the point it is irreplaceable and unfixable. It would be significantly easier to find another planet in another galaxy.

           All in all, humans should find another host galaxy as a home because it is extremely likely to be better there, intelligent species are more likely to be in other galaxies, and this planet is ruined already. The Milky Way galaxy is not as nice as some may like it, and it would be nice to pick not only a galaxy, but also a planet, and the dangers we would face. Species are more likely to appear in other galaxies due to the Fermi paradox, Drake’s equation, and the sizing of a galaxy.

Links

(1)   www.as.utexas.edu/cgi-bin/drake.pl Drake Equation

Works Cited

Cirkovic, M. M. (2009). Fermi's Paradox - The Last Challenge for Copernicanism? Serbian Astronomical Journal, 178(178), 1-20. Retrieved 11 14, 2017, from https://arxiv.org/abs/0907.3432

Mercer, E. P., Clemens, D. P., Rathborne, J., Meade, M. R., Babler, B. L., Indebetouw, R., . . . Churchwell, E. B. (2007). A GLIMPSE OF THE SOUTHERN JELLYFISH NEBULA AND ITS MASSIVE YSO. The Astrophysical Journal, 656(1), 242-247. Retrieved 11 14, 2017, from http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/510302/pdf

Pokorný, J., & Rejšková, A. (2015). Water Cycle Management. Retrieved 11 14, 2017, from http://sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/b9780080454054000811

Simpson, A., & Cioll, D. (1987). Progress towards a defined vaccine for schistosomiasis. Parasitology Today, 3(1), 26-28. Retrieved 11 14, 2017, from https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15462866