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Comment by entropyneur | Hacker News Reader

The problem with panspermia, simulation hypothesis and the like, aside from Occam's razor violation, is that instead of proposing an answer they just declare it effectively unknowable. An interesting panspermia hypothesis would include a description of the place where life originated instead of Earth and the process by which it emerged.

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There is nothing in the idea of panspermia that would render knowing the origin of life on a given planet unknowable in principle. It simply concerns itself with investigating the possibility and as such is a scientific necessity even.

Actually, just ignoring that possibility is what would be unscientific, as it would comprise unfounded bias.

Besides, the video considers life from earth having spread to other planets first, with the reverse a less likely possibility.

Isn't enough that some of our rubbish at some far time land finally in some place where aminoacids form byself already et voila ? (they call themselves Eaerthians, too..)

Rethinking. Quite possibly the emergence of life as we know it, in the whole universe happened once only. That was extremally improbable, the forms was fragile, unimaginable but not ugly, and a lot, lot lot of lucky events must have happen for it.. but finaly it was conscious, had a look at itself, own limits and improbability of this happening even again.. even in all the infinity of space and time..

Once was enough.

It existed long enough only to - after exhausting study - re-engineer its own formula according to conditions and laws of ethernity and choosed the best - small fractal twist of a carbon based spiral was the minimal requirement supporting all the casess of: in minimal conditions being emergent, viral and unstoppable. Eternal.

Life.. may be common in space, uncommon in time.

(AI, as we know it, is dead not inert; as we don't know it, may be part ot that fractal twist..)

A toy hypothesis: if we find the planet where life originated, it might be dominated by ribosome-based life but with a few RNA-only species surviving.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_world

Too bad we're not aware of any RNA-based life that can reproduce without access to DNA.

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