Why aliens look like us

So yesterday the local CW affiliate was showing a Star Trek: TNG episode entitled “The Chase”. It’s a very pivotal episode in the Star Trek mythos, because it explains why almost all of the non-human races in the Star Trek universe have a humanoid shape (that is, a torso with a head, two arms, and two legs attached, with the head having two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and two ears). The explanation is that there was once one humanoid race, that evolved long before any of the others, and they seeded all of the major worlds (when evolution was just beginning) with their own genetic material. It’s kind-of an easy explanation, but it’s important that it was made.

It got me thinking, though, about all of the sketches we’ve all seen of real life aliens that may or may not exist and that may or may not have visited us. They’re typically depicted as having the same humanoid shape. There’s variations, like sometimes they’re shorter than us, sometimes their eyes are bigger, and sometimes their noses, ears, and mouths aren’t as well-defined.

My explanation is actually pretty simple, too.

If it follows that physics is the set of fundamental forces that govern everything, and that physics forces operate identically throughout the universe, then really, to produce another humanoid form on another planet, we’d merely need to replicate the circumstances of this one:

1. A similar sun, of similar size, that produces radiation in similar potency, of similar types, and with similar frequency
2. A similar planet, of similar size, of similar composition, with a similar atmosphere, that’s a similar distance from its sun
3. A single, similar moon, also of similar size, similar composition, with a similar atmosphere, that’s a similar distance from this planet
4. A similar solar system (i.e. number, size, composition, and distribution of planets) in which this planet exists

And we use those as inputs, then similar processing (physics) performed on similar inputs (the above list) will produce similar outputs (humanoids). Small variations in the above list would likely cause small variations in the output (such as poorly-defined ears), but the overall output would be similar.

So yeah… that’s about it, I suppose.

Various Star Trekings

Lots to talk about, surprisingly.

I’ll start with this Sunday’s episode of Family Guy in which the TNG cast “reunited” and guest starred. I’m skeptical of the term “reunited” as made obvious by my quote usage twice now, since the actual cast members did not meet when they recorded their dialog. Considering this is animation, I’m also hesitant to say “appeared together on screen” but hey — it’s Wikipedia.

The episode itself was okay. I haven’t been the biggest fan of Family Guy since it came back from cancellation. I loved the first three seasons, and the fourth showed promise, but since then I’ve been about as interested in keeping up with it as I have been with The Simpsons. As in not very interested at all.

The episode was mostly about Meg contracting the mumps, putting up with abuse from her family, and finding God. The actual Star Trek plot was less complex, dealing mostly with Stewie spending a day with the TNG cast and getting increasingly annoyed with them. It was all good fun, but I think I expected a bit more. Still, definitely one of the better Family Guy episodes I’ve seen in a while.

You can preview it here.

Also, I came across this new extended TV spot for the Star Trek movie coming out in theaters this May. Exciting times ahead!

I got the third season of TNG on DVD today. I currently have the first, second, and sixth seasons. So I’ll be enjoying that this week.