<p>The question is strange, but I think, answerable to a point.</p>

<p>The biggest question in astronomy today, hands down, is whether there is life out there.    Answering that question alone would be answering the single biggest question.    This is something that maybe the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to answer.   It's a huge question.   Answering it, IMHO, would be the top scientific discovery in my lifetime.  Bigger than Higgs.</p>

<p>Answering a key question tends to raise other questions.  That's the nature of discovery.   You should probably ask what questions it would raise not what questions it would answer, and even that might get closed for being too general and too dependent on what exactly is discovered.   What we'll be able to answer after would depend on how good a look we have at what we discovered and if we have a sample.   This is too generalized to give a real answer.</p>

<p>Finding life on other planets would raise questions such as "what kind of life?", "How advanced?", "How did it form?" "How long has it been there?"  "How similar to live on Earth?"  "Warm or cold blooded?"   "How common is life on other planets", "How abundant on that planet?" "Can we talk to them?/Do they have language?"   "Should we talk to them?"   "Will they try to eat us if we get too close?"  "How can we study them further?".   "Do they have technology and if so, how advanced?"  "Are they friendly?"  and probably several more.   Discoveries lead to more questions as a general rule of science.   Answers to the new questions can be answered in their own time.  Depending on how easy the study is.</p>

<p>To your specific questions:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Will that be able to answer questions such as our origins</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Probably not without a sample.  That would require a close look at the chemistry to see if it's a similar enough pattern to have a shared origin.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>or why we exist?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This "Why" question is a whole different ballgame.  Orders of magnitude harder. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Will it unlock some sort of new perception towards anything?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It could.  It would depend what was discovered about the life.   This would depend on a lot of things, but discovering life on other planets certainly could change our perception in a number scientific fields and perhaps more generally than that, could change people's perception overall.   This is a very vague question though and not good for this board.    I've heard it said that the moon landings and pictures of the Earth from space changed our overall perception of the Earth as one planet, not divided nations.   I was to young during the moon landings to have that impression personally, so I don't know if that's a valid interpretation or not.   Might depend on the individual.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-10T05:47:46.377Z
Although this question has been put on hold, (I apologize too for the extremely vague question, I'm new around the community) I really want to thank you for the answer. I am currently doing a High School Project about life on celestial bodies and your answer gave me a new insight to how I should approach this topic better. Now I know that there is definitely no simple answer to this question. Maybe it's for the best that more questions be raised so that we have more of a reason to discover more. Again, Thank you for the response! I appreciate it!
Timothy Yeung
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-09T17:56:31.397Z
2017-05-09T17:56:31.397Z
userLTK
<p>Will that be able to answer questions such as our origins or why we exist? Will it unlock some sort of new perception towards anything?  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-09T12:31:38.533Z
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is a metaphysical question (and a well-worn one at that).
Carl Witthoft
<universe><life>
What questions will we be able to answer if we find life on other celestial bodies?
Timothy Yeung
# What questions will we be able to answer if we find life on other celestial bodies?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-09)

Will that be able to answer questions such as our origins or why we exist? Will it unlock some sort of new perception towards anything?

**Tags:** universe, life
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is a metaphysical question (and a well-worn one at that).  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-05-09. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

The question is strange, but I think, answerable to a point.

The biggest question in astronomy today, hands down, is whether there is life out there. Answering that question alone would be answering the single biggest question. This is something that maybe the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to answer. It's a huge question. Answering it, IMHO, would be the top scientific discovery in my lifetime. Bigger than Higgs.

Answering a key question tends to raise other questions. That's the nature of discovery. You should probably ask what questions it would raise not what questions it would answer, and even that might get closed for being too general and too dependent on what exactly is discovered. What we'll be able to answer after would depend on how good a look we have at what we discovered and if we have a sample. This is too generalized to give a real answer.

Finding life on other planets would raise questions such as "what kind of life?", "How advanced?", "How did it form?" "How long has it been there?" "How similar to live on Earth?" "Warm or cold blooded?" "How common is life on other planets", "How abundant on that planet?" "Can we talk to them?/Do they have language?" "Should we talk to them?" "Will they try to eat us if we get too close?" "How can we study them further?". "Do they have technology and if so, how advanced?" "Are they friendly?" and probably several more. Discoveries lead to more questions as a general rule of science. Answers to the new questions can be answered in their own time. Depending on how easy the study is.

To your specific questions:

> Will that be able to answer questions such as our origins

Probably not without a sample. That would require a close look at the chemistry to see if it's a similar enough pattern to have a shared origin.

> or why we exist?

This "Why" question is a whole different ballgame. Orders of magnitude harder.

> Will it unlock some sort of new perception towards anything?

It could. It would depend what was discovered about the life. This would depend on a lot of things, but discovering life on other planets certainly could change our perception in a number scientific fields and perhaps more generally than that, could change people's perception overall. This is a very vague question though and not good for this board. I've heard it said that the moon landings and pictures of the Earth from space changed our overall perception of the Earth as one planet, not divided nations. I was to young during the moon landings to have that impression personally, so I don't know if that's a valid interpretation or not. Might depend on the individual.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Although this question has been put on hold, (I apologize too for the extremely vague question, I'm new around the community) I really want to thank you for the answer. I am currently doing a High School Project about life on celestial bodies and your answer gave me a new insight to how I should approach this topic better. Now I know that there is definitely no simple answer to this question. Maybe it's for the best that more questions be raised so that we have more of a reason to discover more. Again, Thank you for the response! I appreciate it!  

---

