The solution can be divided into two categories.
The first is simply intellectual in nature. Astrobiologists and astronomers, for example, are particularly interested in this prospect because they believe that the more similar a planet is to Earth, the more likely it is that complex life could exist on it.
The second is for strategic and technical thinking. For example, advocates of space colonization and the belief that humanity should have another home have long sought a second or new Earth-like planet for people to dwell on.
In terms of the latter (long-term human survival), some say that humanity will need to leave Earth and spread out over the cosmos one day. This will broaden our horizons and reduce our “exposure” as a species to extinction in the long run.
Elon Musk is one of the most prominent proponents of this line of thought, arguing that our species must become multi-planetary or face extinction.
“I think there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary in order to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen, in which case being poor or having a disease would be irrelevant, because humanity would be extinct. It would be like, ‘Good news, the problems of poverty and disease have been solved, but the bad news is there aren’t any humans left’,” explained Musk in an interview with Aeon in 2014 (warning some strong language is used in the piece).
“Not everyone cares about humanity. Some people appear to believe, either expressly or implicitly, that humans are a blight on the Earth’s surface. They say things like, ‘Nature is so great; things are always better in the countryside where there are no people around.’ They indicate that the absence of mankind and civilization is worse than their presence. But I’m not a student at that school. “I believe we have a responsibility to keep the light of consciousness shining in the future,” he added.
Whether you agree or disagree, these two groups labor ceaselessly to search and filter out likely Earth-like planets in our universe’s range of vision. So, you might be wondering, what would be on such a planet’s “shopping list”?
