Carbon chauvinism/Talk

This is even better than radical anti-speciesism! Now i can call people 'Carbonists'! --MichaelTinkler

This article gives the impression that 'carbon chauvinists' believe that carbon is the only possible basis for life solely because that is what life is based on on Earth. I would think most 'carbon chauvinists' would hold that only carbon-based life is possible, not just because that is how life is on Earth, but also because carbon based compounds are more common in the universe in general, and they form more easily and are more versatile than silicon-based compounds. -- SJK

On the other hand, is it really chauvenism if the person has a good, solid reason for his or her bias? :)

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I would say it is too narrow-minded to say only carbon based life form is possible because we could only find carbon based life form on earth. The condition on earth probably could only support carbon based life because of the atmospheric temperature, pressure and oxygen in the air. It is not impossible that there are organisms in other worlds that breath chlorine or hydrogen sulphide or swim in a ocean of molten lava or liquid hydrogen.

Imagine this. When a carbon based life form jumps into a pool of magma in a volcano, it just burns to ash and dies. When a silicon based life form (assuming there were one) leaves the confine of the magma, it just solidifies and dies too. No scientist can enter the magma and survive, then how can anyone disprove the possiblity that non-carbon based life exists in the center of the earth? Likewise for hostile world such as venus, or even the core of a star, there may be life forms that we don't and will never recognize.