Do you think there is extraterrestrial life, and why?

[Hedge90]

Addressing this mostly to fellow idealists, because we've heard the potential answers a million times from materialist scientists. Do you think that if idealism is right this also has consequences regarding this question? To clarify, I mean only life in this universe, not other "spiritual dimensions" or "parallel realities" or anything like that.

[Jim Cross]

Addressing this mostly to fellow idealists, because we've heard the potential answers a million times from materialist scientists. Do you think that if idealism is right this also has consequences regarding this question? To clarify, I mean only life in this universe, not other "spiritual dimensions" or "parallel realities" or anything like that.

What did Steiner think? There's the key. Go straight to the Source. Don't waste time on secondary source.

I think he was in telepathic communication with the Grays and blonde-haired Aryans but I could be wrong.

[Hedge90]

Addressing this mostly to fellow idealists, because we've heard the potential answers a million times from materialist scientists. Do you think that if idealism is right this also has consequences regarding this question? To clarify, I mean only life in this universe, not other "spiritual dimensions" or "parallel realities" or anything like that.

What did Steiner think? There's the key. Go straight to the Source. Don't waste time on secondary source.

I think he was in telepathic communication with the Grays and blonde-haired Aryans but I could be wrong.

Very constructive.

[AshvinP]

Addressing this mostly to fellow idealists, because we've heard the potential answers a million times from materialist scientists. Do you think that if idealism is right this also has consequences regarding this question? To clarify, I mean only life in this universe, not other "spiritual dimensions" or "parallel realities" or anything like that.

If we perceive the unified spiritual (ideal) evolution which unfolded to where we are today, without inserting discontinuities, then the question is whether evolution has branched into streams currently apart from the Earth's evolution. I think there is good reason to say such streams exist and certain living organisms on Earth now may be part of those other streams. The usual question is, what difference does it make to our experience of the world if we simple say "there are ETs" or "there are no ETs" and speculate various opinions for why? Especially if we confine the potential answer to those which only make sense with a discontinuity between ideal and material? No doubt this is what Jim prefers, because it boosts the individual ego rather than sacrificing intellectual convenience for shared understanding.

If idealism is right, then what we perceive as Earth's evolution and human evolution, with exoteric science and history, can only be half the story. It is a lawful reflection of meaningful activity which is still supersensible to normal waking cognition. It is that underlying meaningful activity, i.e. TFW, which is evolving through us. Whatever activity which is not currently contingent on Earth's consciousness, bound up with human consciousness, can be called extraterrestrial. But this conclusion won't deepen our understanding of the Cosmos if we don't also seek out the inner reasoning which necessitates it. On a broader note, everything humanity has or can imagine will point towards super sensible realities, if we seek out their inner meaning which over arches their fragmented forms.

[lorenzop]

Well-if there is no extension of time and space, there can’t be such a thing as extraterrestrial.

[AshvinP]

Well-if there is no extension of time and space, there can’t be such a thing as extraterrestrial.

Lorenzo,

Let's say someone comes and asks me, "how do I get to the bus stop from where we are now?". I answer, "there is no extension in space or time, so we are already at the bus stop, already on the bus, already at the destination you are trying to reach." I am sure you see the issue here, and I am not singling you out. This is practically how all analytical philosophy has become. There is severe discontinuity between Life as experienced and philosophical thinking about life. Analytic (or mystical) idealism has become the worst offender in many ways. Most won't even make it to the end of longer posts, because right around the beginning it is assumed, by the intellect who is thinking, that there is no logical thinking higher than its own, so why try to follow this logic? It is assumed a waste of time from the outset. This is one of the greatest challenges for humanity now. Not metaphysical materialism, which still allows some tiny room for careful reasoning to potentially challenge its own dogmas, but supreme intellectual abstraction and refusal of the intellect to allow itself to be open to higher forces than itself which structure our living experience of space and time in discernable ways. When the rational intellect reaches its own max capacity, it seeks better understanding by moving in reverse gear towards "Consciousness", "Energy", "Emptiness", "Nothingness", etc. and holding up these concepts as genuine explanations for living experience of the world. It calls this "wisdom". It turns all genuine attempts to ask questions and find answers to ridicule. The person looking for the bus stop is simply left stranded. There is no need for this cynicism, if we simply stay connected to the thinking activity which has allowed us to navigate the world for so long now.

[Jim Cross]

Well-if there is no extension of time and space, there can’t be such a thing as extraterrestrial.

Nor anything else.

[Martin_]

Personally , I don't think idealism yes/no does much of a difference for this one. It's just another geographic location. right?

Then again, there are some things:


Some archetypes would change their meaning slightly. "The Sun", would become "A Sun" but who's to say that that's not just another step in our spiritual development?

If you see this existence as a place where challenges are thrown your way, having some aliens appear at some time makes a lot of sense. It's yet another level of "The Other" that we'd have to learn to understand / incorporate .

[Martin_]

I just hope that when/if they arrive we've gotten Wetiko under control, because if not, we'll project everything that's wrong onto the Arrivals instead of working with ourselves, and we'd be none the wiser for it.

[lorenzop]

Well-if there is no extension of time and space, there can’t be such a thing as extraterrestrial.

Nor anything else.

HeHe you got 'it'