Comment

Most people here seem to acknowledge the abundance of carbon, but ignore the chemical property that makes it important for life (as we know it). Carbon is capable of tetravalent bonding. This means it can bond to other atoms in a tetrahedron shape. Furthermore, if it is bonded to other carbon atoms, it can form long carbon chains with other molecules/atoms attached to the sides. An example of this would be a saturated fat. It is essentially a long carbon chain with hydrogen atoms on the side.

However, it can also bond with other functional groups and give us stuff like various forms of sugar. An example of this would be ribose (the sugar present in deoxyribonucleic acid, i.e. DNA).

Because carbon can form infinitely long chains with other carbon molecules (conceptually), it can form very complex molecules. We believe life is complex enough to need complex molecules. Zubieta was hinting at this.

Furthermore, some people theorize that silicon could be the basis for other forms of life as well (as alphag was mentioning). This is because silicon is also tetravalent. However, silicon is not as reactive as carbon, so it is less likely to undergo reactions to form the complex molecules that we know carbon can make.

I hope this helps answer your question outside of “there’s a lot of carbon out there”.

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