Cafe de naranja...

I guess Si comes closest next. But i think it needs more energy to create bonds with Si than C. So its more difficult when it comes to creating and sustaining a body containing triliions and trillions of molecules. But i guess it is as close as we have to an alternative for C. I'm not saying because of these reasons, life can only form with C, its just that, its most likely and easiest to form life with C than any other element. So the probability for life to be based on C is highest. So they go crazy searching for C. And as for water, i think its because its considered a universal solvent, esp to dissolve C based compounds, its like where water is there C based life must be there assumption.

So we cant form long complex polymer like bonds with just them, the folks down under get weirder as their weight increases. They just get more unstable and rarer so again stable bimd formation becomes a problem. The column of carbon is fortunate. Because they have 4 valence electrons. They can form various types of bonds with stabilty. Carbon is the best candidate in this regard, due to its small size its also ubiquitously available and stability problem is also avoided.

I dont think anyone has claimed water, carbon and oxygen is essential for life to exist. yeast doesnt require oxygen and they exist right here on earth ☺️. Then about carbon,...its very easy to form complex molecules with carbon. If we look at the periodic table, the guys at the left and right are hyper active folks,