Evolutionary catastrophes and the Goldilocks problem. Ćirković, M. M. International Journal of Astrobiology, October, 2007. 00012
Evolutionary catastrophes and the Goldilocks problem [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
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.
@article{cirkovic_evolutionary_2007,
	title = {Evolutionary catastrophes and the {Goldilocks} problem},
	volume = {6},
	issn = {1473-5504, 1475-3006},
	url = {http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S1473550407003916},
	doi = {10.1017/S1473550407003916},
	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.},
	language = {en},
	number = {04},
	urldate = {2016-12-01},
	journal = {International Journal of Astrobiology},
	author = {Ćirković, Milan M.},
	month = oct,
	year = {2007},
	note = {00012},
	keywords = {collapse, existential-risks, philosophy},
	file = {Ćirković - 2007 - Evolutionary catastrophes and the Goldilocks probl.pdf:C\:\\Users\\rsrs\\Documents\\Zotero Database\\storage\\NGZ45TUD\\Ćirković - 2007 - Evolutionary catastrophes and the Goldilocks probl.pdf:application/pdf}
}

Downloads: 0