2007/09/14 by Milan M. Ćirković, Milan M. Cirkovic · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Planetary Science and Exploration #Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life #Spaceflight effects on biology #astro-ph #physics.geo-ph #physics.soc-ph #q-bio.PE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s1473550407003916
published as International Journal of Astrobiology, vol. 6, pp. 325-329 (2007) · 9 pages, 3 figures, International Journal of Astrobiology, accepted for publication
arxiv created 2007/09/14 · openalex publication_date 2007/09/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract One of the mainstays of the controversial ‘rare Earth’ hypothesis is the ‘Goldilocks problem’ regarding various parameters describing a habitable planet, partially involving the role of mass extinctions and other catastrophic processes in biological evolution. Usually, this is construed as support for the uniqueness of the Earth's biosphere and intelligent human life. Here it is argued that this is a misconstrual and that, on the contrary, observation-selection effects when applied to catastrophic processes make it very difficult for us to discern whether the terrestrial biosphere and evolutionary processes which created it are exceptional in the Milky Way or not. This agnosticism, in turn, supports the validity and significance of practical astrobiological and SETI research.