Look Out for the Aliens

According to his bio in Space.com, “Charles Q. Choi is a contributing writer for Space.com and Live Science. He covers all things human origins and astronomy as well as physics, animals and general science topics. Charles has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida. Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica.” With credentials like that, I just had to find out his opinion on superhabitable planets.

This article in particular is called Superhabitable planets: Alien worlds that may be more habitable than Earth (https://www.space.com/superhabitable-planets). In his article, based on studies done by Dirk Schule-Makuch, an astrobiologist at the Technical University Berlin, Germany, Choi indicates that he believes there are other planets in our galaxy that are even more suited for life than earth.

It seems that Schule-Makuch has searched for these superhabitable planets, and, to date, has identified 4,500 planetary systems that potentially have them. From those systems, he has identified 24 potentially superhabitable planets. None of them meet all the criteria for superhabitable status, but one of them did meet at least two. Choi has obviously latched on to Schule-Makuch’s thinking.

So here is what Schule-Makuch looks for as he tries to find these planets:

• Orange Dwarf Stars - These have lifetimes of 20 - 70 billion years. And since complex life takes about 3.5 billion years to appear, the longer lifetimes could give planets within their habitable zones more time to develop life and accrue biodiversity.
• Rocky Planets - Rocky planets that are larger than Earth would have more habitable surface area, and potentially a thicker, more stable atmosphere. This kind of planet would also likely retain its interior heat longer which in turn would help keep its core molten and its protective magnetic field active for a greater time span in which life might have the chance to arise and evolve.
• Worlds That Are Slightly Warmer than Earth - These kinds of planets could have larger tropical zones which foster more biodiversity. However, they might also need more moisture to cut down on deserts.
• Planets Broken up into Smaller Continents - Planets with this characteristic might be more habitable because their centers are not so far from oceans. Moreover, Earth’s shallow waters have greater biodiversity than its deep oceans, so scientists speculate that planets with shallower waters could support more life.

To me, it is beyond amazing that these supposedly highly educated people have bought into this religion. I know, they don’t believe they are advocating religious beliefs, but they are. The crazy thing is, they honestly believe they are being scientists. That said, NO conclusion they present is based on actual science. They are able to do various kinds of measurements that compute distances and measure temperatures, but not a single conclusion they make is based on these measurements. The data they gather has to be interpreted through some system, and they have chosen Naturalism as their lens. They present a ton of coulds, woulds, potentiallys, mights, and other speculations, but every single one depends not on science, but on a “belief” that a naturalistic worldview is true. They assume from the get go that everything that exists came into existence through some kind of natural evolutionary process, and every bit of their speculation begins with that assumption.

Honestly, if they want to speculate that way, that is their business. But if they do, it should be published in a metaphysics journal, not a science magazine. Their speculations are pure religious conjecture. The article we are talking about here, though, is in a science magazine – as if there were some actual science to back up Choi’s conclusions.

One of the great problems we see in articles like these is that the writers don’t know how to distinguish between physics and metaphysics. They don’t know how because their most basic assumptions about the nature of reality are based on naturalistic beliefs. They are totally convinced that the natural universe operating by natural laws is all that exists. With that as a starting point, there is no other possibility. The only problem is, they can’t support their position that they can ultimately figure out everything using science. They believe it by pure faith.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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