Someone told me that according to Judaism, human beings are the only conscious beings in the universe. Is there any basis to this?
Response:
Certainly not!
First of all, the Sages discuss that animals also feel pain, based on the Biblical prohibition against causing them undue suffering.
Secondly, there are plenty of accounts in the Torah of the higher angels, who are conscious of a realm of reality far beyond ours.
Thirdly, Maimonides and others write about the heavenly bodies as conscious beings -- and not simply in an allegorical sense. If anyone should ask, "How can a ball of helium and hydrogen contain consciousness?" simply ask in return, "And that a warm mass of gray meat has consciousness is reasonable?"
The uniqueness of humankind is not our consciousness, but the way that consciousness is able to enter the realms of good and evil, make decisions and distinguish between them.
Sources in Torah
The Lubavitcher Rebbe pointed out that there is support in Torah for the notion that life exists on other planets. Furthermore, we can know something about that life through deduction from what the Torah tells us. Here is his argument:
In the Book of Judges 5:23, Devorah the prophetess sings about the victory of Barak over Sisera. In her song, she says, "Cursed be Meroz! Cursed, cursed be its inhabitants, says the angel of G-d!"
Where is Meroz, and who are its inhabitants? The Talmud gives two explanations, one of them being that Meroz is a star or planet. The heavenly bodies had also come to help the Israelites, as Devorah stated just one verse earlier, "From the heavens they fought, the stars from their orbits..." This star, however, which was the dominant star of Sisera, apparently did not come to their aid. And so, General Barak penalized Meroz -- and its inhabitants.
Are these inhabitants intelligent? Intelligence is defined by Torah to mean the capacity to make decisions with free will. Free will is only possible where there is Torah, whereby the Creator offers His creatures more than one possibility and asks that they make the appropriate choice.
So, if there would be intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, those creatures would have to have Torah. Could they have a different Torah than us? This is not possible, since Torah is truth, and there cannot be two truths.
Could they then have the same Torah as us? This also seems impossible, since the Torah itself describes in detail how the Torah was revealed on this planet, and that account itself has a strong impact on how the Torah is to be fulfilled.
It therefore appears that, although it is quite possible there is life on other planets, that life would not be intelligent in a way similar to human life and culture.
But should we be looking?
Dr. Velvl Greene is a biologist who was enlisted by NASA in their project to determine if there was life on Mars. He asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe privately if this was something he should be doing.
The Rebbe replied, "Dr. Greene, look for life on Mars! And if you don't find it there, look somewhere else in the universe for it. Because for you to sit here and say there is no life outside of planet earth is to put limitations on the Creator, and that is not something any of His creatures can do!"
What does Judaism say about the Discovery of Aliens?
By Aron Moss
Question:
Would the discovery of ETs (extra-terrestrials) threaten organized religion?
Answer:
The discovery of ETs would pose no more of a threat to Judaism than would the discovery of a new species of rabbit.
It would be limiting G-d's power to say that He could not have placed life on other planets. In fact, there is a reference in the biblical Book of Judges (5:23) to an inhabited place called Maroz, which the Talmud identifies as a star.
But Jewish thought has always believed that the most weird and wonderful creatures are to be found right here on earth. We can explore the remotest extremities of space but still remain alien to our own humanity. The real secrets of the universe lie hidden in the depths of the human soul.
Article "Is There Life on Other Planets?" The Jewish perspectives
Posted : 22 Jul, 2011 09:14 AM
Though interesting, I have to take exception to part of the first one where it says that in order to be intelligent, aliens would have to have Torah since there cannot be two truths. This is simply wrong. Truth is almost always subjective depending upon the observer's frame of reference. As if you had two people on opposites sides of the planet (the day side, and night side) then asked them if it was light or dark out. They'd both give different, opposing answers yet both be right. As with God revealing Himself to an alien species He'd likely do it in whatever way they were best able to understand His message. Torah is unique to this planet only. It was the way He revealed His will to US and US alone. The places mentioned in it wouldn't be on an alien planet obviously, the people would be different, and on n on. To claim Torah (or the Bible) would have to be identical everywhere is the very height of arrogance.
