The "rare Earth hypothesis" holds that Earth-like planets will prove to be quite rare. Which of the following statements best sums up the current status of the debate over this hypothesis?
A. The debate raged for a while, but is now settled. We are now quite certain that Earth-like planets are common.
B. The debate raged for a while, but is now settled. We are now quite certain that Earth-like planets are rare.
C. We do not have enough data to settle the debate, because counterarguments can be made for each argument suggesting Earth-like planets may be rare.
D. It is no longer discussed, because as part of its broad cover-up of UFOs, the United States government has classified all the material relating to this debate as Top Secret.
Answer:C
The "rare Earth hypothesis" holds that Earth-like planets will prove to be quite rare. Which of the following statements best sums up the current status of the debate over this hypothesis?
A. The debate raged for a while, but is now settled. We are now quite certain that Earth-like planets are common. B. The debate raged for a while, but is now settled. We are now quite certain that Earth-like planets are rare. C. We do not have enough data to settle the debate, because counterarguments can be made for each argument suggesting Earth-like planets may be rare. D. It is no longer discussed, because as part of its broad cover-up of UFOs, the United States government has classified all the material relating to this debate as Top Secret.