The Argument That Life Is Not Significant

The effects of life seem negligibly small. For all we know, the planet earth is the only place in the universe where life exists. We have seen no evidence of its existence elsewhere. So even if it is quite widespread, it's effects are too small to be perceptible to us. If the earth were enveloped in a large solar flare itself, an insignificant event astrophysically, our biosphere would be instantly sterilized. And that catastrophe would have as little effect on the sun as a raindrop has on an erupting volcano. Our biosphere is, in terms of its mass, energy, or any similar astrophysical measure of significance, a negligible fraction, even of the