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I wonder what kind of scale Hawking is thinking of when he talks alien life. Just our solar system? Our nearest stars, our entire galaxy? Certainly not the entire cosmos? Just by sheer scale of the number of stars and galaxies out there, billions of galaxies each with millions of stars, you’d have to think the odds would be good there are others looking at their night sky wondering if we’re out there. But yet, there is the question

If there is life elsewhere in the universe, Hawking asks why haven’t we stumbled onto some alien broadcasts in space, maybe something like “alien quiz shows?

What is the effective range of such radio/tv communications?  Would it be indefinite?  Since the universe is 13 billion years old, but our sun only 4, the range of stars/galaxies from which we could hear signals seems to depend more on signal strength than time.  Should we be hearing these signals?  Could it really be that we’re alone out there, the only life sentient enough to yet learn about the wonders of space and the cosmos we live in? What does that say about the miracle of our own life and existence?

I’ve been thinking about the Big Bang and the cosmos a lot lately, and really I think the only conclusion that makes any sense is that there is guiding hand to the universe’s creation.   The sheer wonder and scale of our universe, from the massive size and distance between galaxies to live that can fit on the head of a pin. The wonder of our existence,  boggles the imagination. Without a god guiding creation it seems the basic argument is that we’re an explosion that became self-aware, and a random one at that.  Neither one is provable I suppose, but one explanation makes a lot more sense to me than another.