We're getting down towards the end of the series, and the discussion is starting to get a bit more serious. Tonight, the show was about the persistence of life, and the pursuit of all life to attain immortality. Life would simply not work if it was not able to weather the harshest of conditions or do whatever it takes to survive.
Life on Earth has taken many routes to ensure its own survival. There are bacteria that can survive the vacuum of space and being frozen in ice for millions of years. If these organisms can handle these conditions, would it not be unreasonable that life could have migrated here from somewhere else, or that Earth itself has colonized another world with our own life? There are bacteria with extraordinary abilities that go unused on Earth, so why have them at all, if they evolved on Earth? It's an interesting thought, although I am still in favor of life on Earth being native to Earth. I'm just not sure if bacteria really could make the journey in between worlds like that.
I think there was a missed opportunity when Tyson discussed dandelions and the adaptation their seeds possess, floating on the wind for hundreds of miles to settle new and unknown areas. The dandelion was a very important symbol in the original Cosmos for that reason, the Ship of the Imagination was a dandelion seed. I guess since they already quoted the original show before, they didn't want too many references in one episode. It would have been nice though.
When it comes to achieving immortality, humanity has an advantage. We invented writing, we have a way to permanently preserve our thoughts, our feelings, our history for all time. We can learn from past mistakes, we are endlessly adaptable, and of course, we are intelligent. Humanity has so many things going for it, there is no good reason for our species not to endure indefinitely. Sometimes now, it does feel like we are permanently sabotaging ourselves, and the worst part is that we know we're doing it. Maybe this time will seem better when viewing it through the eyes of history, and many things have improved dramatically. It just feels like we could do better.
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