Pen's Nest

Hmm. I haven't read that particular book. It's an interesting argument... but when we look at the history of life on Earth, some of what has evolved is due to particular chance events happening at particular times. I'm thinking of the mass extinctions which have been attributed to meteorites (the dinosaurs, and possibly the Cambrian variations). If the dinosaurs hadn't gone, would mammals have become what they are? We might be living in a world of birds and extremely sophisticated lizards! And indeed, we still have no idea whether it's easy for Not-life to become Life; could be Life emerges with almost routine regularity, could be we're on the only planet where it has. And the biomass on this planet could be non-bio, or in an incredible number of different varieties. Perhaps it depends on what the author means by 'near-duplicates'.

I get too boggled by the possible variations between shades of this universe—which is itself far too big for me to get my head around. Alternatives are too much for me to handle!