Do you believe in Aliens?

[DracoSuave]

)rStrangelove]

Fermi's paradox is like when a guy who lives alone wakes up and after going about his day decides it's odd he hasn't encountered anyone, and ponders that there's a paradox in that he hasn't met anyone lately but the world is so large there's got to be people out there. Meanwhile, he hasn't left his apartment yet.

If your appartement is within an area which should be totally overcrowded by other ppl BY NOW that they're literally would walk past your windows every 2 seconds then the question becomes quite important, dont you think?

Except that we don't have the ability to look out those windows, or leave our house to look for evidence. We just don't have a large enough sphere of observation to make ANY sort of claim that we 'should' be able to find something.

We just have too small a sample size to say we have any lack of evidence of anything... the margin of error is WAY too large, statistically speaking.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

I believe it's possible for life to exist in the galaxy, but I think the list of evolutionary factors for creating sentient life is so vast and unpredictable that we are not likely to encounter anything close to alien intelligence in our species existence. We're talking galaxies apart, way too far to even conceivably visit them even if we could somehow become aware of their existence.

There are more factors involved in what we call human sentience than we realize. It's not just a question of offing the dinosaurs or bringing on an ice age. Whether we can fathom it or not it took billions of years for our species to gain awarenes, and the math was so chaotic and yet so precise as to be beyond our own comprehension.

And in a way, that proves Creationism is both a sham, and the only reasonble answer. God coughed on the universe at just the right moment and ruined the souffle. *Laughs*

 

[3LANCER]

It's ridiculous to think that we're the only living beings in the whole universe, so yes, I believe in aliens

 

[Powereaver]

sure i believe in aliens its a massive universe we cant be the ONLY populated planet out there.

 

[Jodah]

Yes. What I don't believe is that we will ever meet them. The distances are so vast that it is impossible to reach them until we figure out how to break the speed of light, which isn't going to happen any time soon, if its even possible.

 

[bakan]

Yes I believe, simply through maths.

Please elaborate on that. You have peaked my level of curiosity...

I didn't have the time to scroll through all pages and I apologize if it was already mentioned, but I will give you this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I definitely believe in aliens, maybe not little green men. But I am very much aware that the odds are stacked in favor of there being other life on this world.

Most of you will recognize this picture, its the hubble deep field. This is only a tiny fraction of a section in space. Yet every blip is a entire galaxy. Our galaxy alone contains 200 billion stars and to top it all we are finding the planets are common place.

It is VERY unlikely that there isn't at least some ooze rolling off rocks somewhere it this universe.

As for them visiting us I'm doubtful, the distances are too great. Though, its not technology that makes this unlikely, go back 150 years and show someone the tech we have now. They would think we're magic. No I am convinced that there is a way to travel the stars. But thats just it, why would a race bother with this planet? Because thats most likely what we are to any race that could travel to our world. Our race is boring and probably fairly ordinary. Perhaps they like our music or TV, but I can't see much else. We love, we fight, we die. Would you climb mount Everest to observe some fungus on a rock?

 

[JoesshittyOs]

When you think about how big the universe is, it's almost impossible to say you don't.

Do I believe they are as intelligent and sophisticated at us? Maybe. A much lower chance though. For all we know, there intellectual goals might not even care about space.

 

[Caffiene]

Somewhere in the universe? Yes.

Have they visited? Im certainly not convinced by any of the flimsy modern "evidence", and Id say that the very reason it is likely there is alien life somewhere in the universe is the same reason its unlikely we've ever been visited: The universe is freaking huge.

The odds of aliens being out there go way up given the size of the universe, and the odds of them happening to run into us goes way down... If they could visit and explore a planet every second, it would still be statistically unlikely they would visit our planet. And thats even assuming they can master faster-than-light travel, which as far as we know is also extremely (extremely) unlikely.

 

[notascleverasithinkiam]

As with so many in the thread, I think that extraterrestrial life exists, I don't think aliens have come to Earth, but if they did I'd probably ask "can I come?".

And now onto generalities.

The sheer number of planets out there makes it quite possible that, despite the low odds of life coming into being, there is still a good chance of life existing. Once life does get started, it does take something pretty massive to entirely kill it off. And even on this planet, there are organisms that survive in some pretty harsh environments. I beleive that if you give life a start, it can find a way to survive almost anywhere. Wouldn't it be interesting if 'life as we know it' was actually the rarest type of life, since this exact environment was so rare and there was life existing in the more common, extremely hostile envoronments? Long shot, but fun to think about.

In terms of making contact, clearly distance is an issue, with any kind of electromagnetic transmissions (radio, laser, etc.) requiring hundreds to thousands of years to get anywhere. Also, there is also the point that any intelligent civilisations just wiped themselves out as we so very nearly have/are doing (nukes, pollution, dwindling resources, etc.).

I could elaborate much further, but this is already too long already. I sign off by saying more people should read the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

 

[Pat8u]

Yes. It's a big universe. Like, really big. Like earth is a marble in a massive lake. Jut cause aliens haven't bothered to say hello doesn't mean they don't exist. Though i'd probably ask it if I can ride in the mother ship. That'd be fun.

its more earth is a piece of dirt in a massive lake
OT: well if theres billions of planets there has to be another earth planet

 

[kahlzun]

Statistically, aliens must exist.

However, anything that's evolved past the stromatolite stage would be fairly rare.

And no, never visited earth.

 

[notascleverasithinkiam]

I know I get overly pedantic about the word 'believe,' but what can I say, I think it's important.

No, I don't quite believe that aliens exist, because there's no reasonable evidence that they do. At the same time, there's plenty of evidence to suggest that they could. For one: we do. We know that life can form on planets, and we have at least some semblance of an understanding of how it could have happened for this planet.

Going with just carbon-y stuff and early-mid planetary conditions, if all it takes to cause organic (big, important fact: 'organic' means 'carbon-based,' and not necessarily life) life to begin was heat and a lucky blend of organic materials, then it is far from unreasonable to suspect that it could and has happened for other planets. We certainly do know that there are other planets out there, in what we suspect to be the 'habitable' zones around stars. It's really not a far leap.

This is to say nothing of the fact that, just because carbon-based life is the only life we know, doesn't mean that it's the only life that could exist. As far as we're concerned, there's neither reason to believe or disbelieve that some other kind of compounds could form complex life. The big question is, would we recognize it if we saw it?

Extra super fun challenge: at what point does a computer cross what must be a blurry line by now, and count as silicon-based life? Well, assuming that computers continue to become more and more intelligent, eventually matching and surpassing us, I'd say that the only obstacle to being 'life' in the traditional sense, would be the ability to propagate cellularly. An advanced enough machine might well be able to do that. Imagine it: our revolutionary history, played out in reverse, as the computer race begins with intelligence, and works backward from there, until it creates its own form of a living cell.

I agree with your point of view, except I believe there is life out there, rather than just admitting the high likelyhood. I especially agree re. we don't know what other organisms might look like. I look at the range on just our small planet, and see endless possibilities. I beleive I read somewhere that large molecules such as those requried for life can be formed with nitrogen as the base instead of carbon, but is uncommon due to the lower number of possible bonds (3 for N vs 4 for C). But hey, massive universe, could be. I also believe this possibility of looking only for a very specific thing may hold true for any potential communication signals; just because we're sending radio signals, doesn't mean they are.

Also, I like that last thought of yours. However, as we desire immortal bodies, would the machines swap their effectively immortal bodies for frail living ones? The machines can design and create bodies to suit their needs, and gather what they need to exist, and manufacture more to reproduce, which is all life really does. One could argue that all the cells and such that are required to sustain life can be replicated by non-living components, eg blood vessels replaced by wires to carry energy around the body, processor vs brain to control everything. Mind, it's a fun thought to play around with.

 

[Agayek]

Do I believe there is intelligent life somewhere in the universe?
Yes, the universe is a very big place.

Do I believe they have visited earth if they exist?
No. The distances are just too large to be practical, there's all that jazz about time dilation and such, etc.

Reading up on the Fermi Paradox is quite interesting, for those who are into the subject of aliens.

This. It's almost a certainty that sentient life exists somewhere in the universe. The problem is that the universe is the next best thing to infinite, which means it's highly likely they have not and will not be aware of the Earth.

 

[Batou667]

I certainly support the idea that extraterrestrial life can, and probably does, exist somewhere out there. The universe is just too damn big for it to only happen once. If the question is, "Has Earth been visited by aliens", then I'd have to see some good-quality proof before I jump to any conclusions.

Back on-topic: the mummified "alien" is bloody fascinating. I hope that they can perform some DNA tests on it to see exactly what it is they're dealing with. My first guess would be either a) it's a well-constructed hoax or b) it's a bizarrely deformed human that died during childhood. I'm looking forward to the "official" verdict, though.

 

[Bucky01]

the proof that aliens exist, is that they havn't tried to contact us yet

seriously though
they are probably no more or even less advanced than us and have no magical way of finding us or the means of transportation to us.
also using a telescope we are still seeing light from object thousands of years after the suns collapsed so to see our planet would take way too long for them to see us as our civilization is currently now, hell our sun would have turned to a brown(?) dwarf by the time that piece of light hits their telescope lenses.

 

[phantasmalWordsmith]

I believe there are aliens but we'll never meet them. Just too far away

 

[Niko Stepz]

Yea, I believe in aliens. There has to be other intelligent life out there somewhere, whether or not they visited Earth I'm still unsure on. I've seen a lot of "ancient astronaut" videos and some of it makes sense. But it still all sounds a little far-fetched, ya know ?

If I could ask an alien any question .. I'm not sure what I would ask. I have too many questions to pick just one.

 

[spartan231490]

Yes and no. If they have, I imagine they would have exterminated the blight that is the human race, or at least close.

What if they're just as bad if not worse? HMM?

Humans are generally good, only a few bad kittens.

If the were as bad or worse they would have killed our men, raped our women, and pillaged our land, just like every human race ever has.

As for humans being generally good, that's crap. Humans aren't generally good or generally evil, they are generally selfish. which is not an unreasonable thing, if you think about it.

Well I can't say for you personally, but where I live it's a small town, in the Victorian Countryside, everyone helps each other our, however, I have noticed in the cities I go to that people are generally more selfish.

Sad isn't it?

I live in the country myself, and yes people help each-other out, but they help themselves first. When the choice has to be made between helping yourself and helping another, very few people would choose to help another. Most people will choose to help themselves even if it means hurting someone else, as long as they can get away with it.

And it's not sad, there's nothing wrong with putting yourself first, you just have to be careful that you don't take it too far and hurt others in order to get ahead.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

I'm certain that there is life on other planets for sure. Not necessarily "aliens" per se, at least not in the way we seem to depict them. I expect most life is probably simple organisms that have evolved to suit the atmosphere (or lack of?) of their planet. Then again, I wouldn't rule out humanoid alien life forms either.

I very much doubt any form of extraterestial life has ever visted our planet. Although aliens would explain some of the crazy myths that surround our various cultures. Oh and religion... aliens might be behind that too...