Beyond the Goldilocks Zone: Reconsidering the Ontological Conditions for Interstellar Life

This paper critically re-examines the anthropocentric "Goldilocks Zone" paradigm that has dominated the search for extraterrestrial life.As of 2024, more than 5,500 exoplanets have been identified, yet only about 2% are located within the traditionally defined habitable zone (National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Exoplanet Archive, 2024;Kane et al., 2023).Moreover, the discovery of extremophiles-organisms thriving in high-radiation, extreme heat, or vacuum environments-demonstrates that the boundaries of life far exceed Earth-like conditions (Rothschild & Mancinelli, 2001).