Game Discussions The No Man's Sky Thread

rgb_astro

rgb_astro
baskila said:
There is an interesting theory that creatures on different planets would be no much different than already very variable creatures on Earth. Reason given was that rules of physics are same everywhere resulting in creatures developing similar design features.
Of course that would be true for all carbon-based creatures. For non-carbon creatures the story would most likely be different though.
Click to expand...

Hmm, so out of all possible permutations of DNA the results would be just as similar as on the Earth?
 

Iskariot

Iskariot
rgb_astro said:
Hmm, so out of all possible permutations of DNA the results would be just as similar as on the Earth?
Click to expand...

For carbon based lifeforms on a planet similar to our earth, yes.
But 'similar' is very relative. There are so many hugely different species on this planet alone and don't forget that 99% of all species on this planet are estimated to be extinct.
You will never see the exact same species on alien planets as on our planet. If evolution would reboot on this planet the chance that the human primate would re-emerge is nill.

We are used to flora and fauna and fungi for example, but on an alien planet these biota might never evolve like that at all. It might be a completely new form of carbon based life. One might encounter a form of fast moving, hunting plant life, or planets where billions of types of poisonous fungi conquered the entire planet eradicating everything else. Nearly anything can happen during an evolutionary process. There is no master plan.

And I am only talking about carbon based life forms. Imagine something completely different evolving for billions of years. We might not even recognize it as life. It might be the smartest and most benign thing in the universe, and we might kill it involuntary by squishing it with our landing gear.
 
Last edited:

psyron

Banned
psyron
Iskariot said:
For carbon based lifeforms on a planet similar to our earth, yes.
But 'similar' is very relative. There are so many hugely different species on this planet alone and don't forget that 99% of all species on this planet are estimated to be extinct.
You will never see the exact same species on alien planets as on our planet. If evolution would reboot on this planet the chance that the human primate would re-emerge is nill.

We are used to flora and fauna and fungi for example, but on an alien planet these biota might never evolve like that at all. It might be a completely new form of carbon based life. One might encounter a form of fast moving, hunting plant life, or planets where billions of types of poisonous fungi conquered the entire planet eradicating everything else. Nearly anything can happen during an evolutionary process. There is no master plan.

And I am only talking about carbon based life forms. Imagine something completely different evolving for billions of years. We might not even recognize it as life. It might be the smartest and most benign thing in the universe, and we might kill it involuntary by squishing it with our landing gear.
Click to expand...

But in science there is also that idea that maybe life always finds the best way to do things. And maybe the human body, having two legs and two arms and one head with two eyes and two ears and one mouth is exactly THAT best way. Therefore some scientists think that it's possible that life forms on other planets might also have resulted in a very human like species.
 

Iskariot

Iskariot
psyron said:
But in science there is also that idea that maybe life always finds the best way to do things. And maybe the human body, having two legs and two arms and one head with two eyes and two ears and one mouth is exactly THAT best way. Therefore some scientists think that it's possible that life forms on other planets might also have resulted in a very human like species.
Click to expand...

No that is not how evolution works and there is no such idea in science.
Evolution does not find the best way to do things, because there is nobody searching :).
An evolutionary process results in stuff that can survive and procreate. That is all there is to it. Very often evolution's 'solutions' are very mediocre and it produces stuff no intelligent engineer would ever design that way, because it is just not very good from a designer point of view. The human body is riddled with examples of that kind of mediocrity, but so are other lifeforms on this planet.
There is no such thing as progress in evolution, there is also no purpose, and no direction. These are fundamental tenets of evolution. Evolution is not about progress, but about change. And change just happens in biological lifeforms. It is unstoppable. It might even cause extinction because what works, or is survivable in one situation is a killer in another.

Evolution does not strive to produce human-like beings, because that is not the best way to survive at all. That is why in hard numbers and adaptional prowess for example bacteria are much more successful than humans, so are insects. In evolution the best way... is just mere survival to reproduce. That is all it is.

Evolution does not care about intelligence for example. Intelligence is no requirement at all. In current evolutionary biology it is considered a byproduct. Other primates do just fine without writing books, driving cars and building genocidal weapons. Intelligence is just one of the countless many traits than can perhaps assist in a minor way the survival of some species, especially when they are super weak like those human squishy water bags we are. But it is no coincidence that on a planet with many millions of species only one developed the intelligence we have. And just look at the mess we make of the planet we depend upon. One could easily make the point that human intelligence is just a terrible self-defeating evolutionary accident, because we are the filthiest most destructive and abusive species that ever walked the planet. Dinosaurs 'ruled' the earth for more than 120 million years! I sincerely doubt we will beat that record.
 
Last edited:

laz001

L
NMS looks amazing, but my only concern is that it'll be just a really beautiful tech demo. There's some shooting, some amazing, but non-interactive worlds, and what else? I hope that's not the case, but it is my fear.
 

FatWeasel

F
Very excited for this game.

I love the "practical infinity" of the whole scope. 18 quintillion planets (plus a few more billion) is just.. incredible to say the least.

I love the art style aswell - it doesn't push down on my shoulders with its realism and string my eyelids open incase something is going to kill me - its just.. fun and aesthetically pleasing. A bit cartoony, yeah, but do we want hyper-realism in every f**king game we play? No. This will be a good wind-down, less-intensive game for me to play during my Elite D breaks ;)

Plus the fact that the main drive of the game is to "discover" really pushes some very personal buttons of mine..

To quote Sean Murray - "I hope that will be really interesting and entertaining, even if we just have like 10 planets. Like just one solar system is something I can quite happily play around in for days right now"

One solar system taking a few days to explore is just.. fantastic!

Cant wait!
 
Last edited:

mid_gen

M
Iskariot said:
No that is not how evolution works and there is no such idea in science.
Evolution does not find the best way to do things, because there is nobody searching :).
An evolutionary process results in stuff that can survive and procreate. That is all there is to it. Very often evolution's 'solutions' are very mediocre and it produces stuff no intelligent engineer would ever design that way, because it is just not very good from a designer point of view. The human body is riddled with examples of that kind of mediocrity, but so are other lifeforms on this planet.
There is no such thing as progress in evolution, there is also no purpose, and no direction. These are fundamental tenets of evolution. Evolution is not about progress, but about change. And change just happens in biological lifeforms. It is unstoppable. It might even cause extinction because what works, or is survivable in one situation is a killer in another.

Evolution does not strive to produce human-like beings, because that is not the best way to survive at all. That is why in hard numbers and adaptional prowess for example bacteria are much more successful than humans, so are insects. In evolution the best way... is just mere survival to reproduce. That is all it is.

Evolution does not care about intelligence for example. Intelligence is no requirement at all. In current evolutionary biology it is considered a byproduct. Other primates do just fine without writing books, driving cars and building genocidal weapons. Intelligence is just one of the countless many traits than can perhaps assist in a minor way the survival of some species, especially when they are super weak like those human squishy water bags we are. But it is no coincidence that on a planet with many millions of species only one developed the intelligence we have. And just look at the mess we make of the planet we depend upon. One could easily make the point that human intelligence is just a terrible self-defeating evolutionary accident, because we are the filthiest most destructive and abusive species that ever walked the planet. Dinosaurs 'ruled' the earth for more than 120 million years! I sincerely doubt we will beat that record.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Humans are not even close to the most successful lifeform on Earth! Bacteria, viruses, insects, crustaceans, fish, have all been around for far longer and are proven survivors. The entire history of the human race is an inconsequential blip in the history of life here.

It's extremely unlikely that advanced life elsewhere would have coincidentally gone down the same evolutionary path and ended up with our body shape. Any different in gravity/atmospheric density for instance, would result in very different designs.

Thinking humans and their design are special, is like thinking there is something 'special' about the particular blade of grass your ball lands on when you tee off at the golf course.
 

Jack Booted Thug

J
mid_gen said:
Thinking humans and their design are special, is like thinking there is something 'special' about the particular blade of grass your ball lands on when you tee off at the golf course.
Click to expand...


Well speaking for myself, I take great pleasure in that blade of grass when I meditate upon it, it is the same with leaves and flowers. I often stop and examine them and I find it quite joyful, I always have. Last night I was looking at the cat who lives with me and I was just impressed with the form of it.

I look around at the complexity and harmony of the natural world and there is simply no way I can buy into the notion that it evolved. I know it is the minority and unpopular view but I am not really the kind of person who is easily bumped along with the flow, my own reflections on things tend to get in the way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom