Diverionism and Convergionism: Two Paths for Extraterrestrial Life
To the point
Two big ideas, divergionism (opportunism) and convergionism (determinism), explore whether life beyond Earth would be wildly different due to chance or tend toward similar designs because of universal laws, a debate Harold Blum popularized that has influenced science and fiction from H. G. Wells and E. E. "Doc" Smith to Olaf Stapledon, J. H. Rosny, Hoyle, Drake, and Robert Forward.
