Do you believe in Aliens?

[ScotRotum]

The statistical arguments such as drakes equation make some pretty large assumptions that cannot be guaranteed. I know, I read it in a magazine albeit a since one.
Most grievously they assume that the wider universe looks like our solar system which if life is atypical would be untrue, also astronomy has not held to be true. Since we have a backtracking and guesswork based idea of how solar systems formed, even our own let alone others that we haven't seen, we simply don't know enough to say our models can be trusted.
Also if you say statistics make things certain you are misinformed.
Anyway, assuming the wider universe looks like our solar system which it probably doesn't, then simple life probably does abound, just very very far away and we have no clue about complex life, or even if our labels would fit whatever could be out there.

 

[Zarkov]

Yes I believe, simply through maths.

Mathematically, the population of the universe is 0. Therefore, any aliens you meet are likely the result of a deranged imagination.

Uh, what?

I think you're thinking in the wrong direction about this one.

And, mathematically, the population of the universe is unknown, not zero.
However the probability that there are other lifeforms out there is quantifiable considering that we know what conditions need to be met and how large the space around us that we can see.

Even in the small amount of space of the universe that we know is there, the chances of other lifeforms highly likely.

Beyond that, we then consider an approximation of how big the universe is? It's nearly impossible for us to be the only one, even if our calculations are wrong. I we're even in the ballpark, then they must exist.

However we really won't truly know until we find out how something non-living becomes living.

 

[thequixoticman]

Yes I believe, simply through maths.

Mathematically, the population of the universe is 0. Therefore, any aliens you meet are likely the result of a deranged imagination.

That Douglas Adams quote always kind of bugged me, just because he's wrong on the concept of infinity. I mean, what's the full quote... it's something like "It is well known that there are an infinite number of planets but not all of them are inhabited. Any finite number divided by infinity is as next to nothing as can possibly be." But that's like saying "there are an infinite number of numbers but not all of them are even." Infinity is not a number and half of it is still infinite.

Sorry. I think I've looked at every single form that the Hitchhiker's Guide has taken over the years multiple times and that quote ALWAYS bugged me.

As to the OT:
As (I believe) Carl Sagan put it, if there is other life out there, that is extremely interesting. If we are the only life in the universe, that is extremely interesting.

I would like it if there were other life out there in any form. What we'd discover of biological science would literally change the world. Intelligent life out there would be even better, I can imagine little more fascinating than having a conversation with a creature who had evolved on a different planet and had an entire different set of what it thought was important and how it experienced the universe. That said, I think it is fairly improbable that we will find any extra-terrestrial life, even bacterial, in my lifetime. As to whether or not aliens have been here, I fall onto the "not" side and would remind believers that the onus is on them to prove that they are right and not on me to show that they are wrong.

 

[DragonChi]

to put it simply,

it doesn't make any sense, given how big the universe is, for us to be the only ones.

I will now quote that famous line from the movie Contact.

"If it's just us...it seems like an awful waste of space"

 

[MaxwellEdison]

None have visited us, let's say that first.

Just because of facts about what you need to make life, I am certain there is life somewhere in the unfathomable depths of the universe.
I wish that they would come here in our lifetime, but I know that without some radical life elongation I'm never going to see them.
I hope that when we do find them, we don't make dicks of ourselves.

 

[brighteye]

Aliens existing, well i believe in math so sure i guess.
..on earth ? I find the whole ancient aliens intriguing, but again the math say its unlikely.

 

[Henkie36]

Yes. You cannot reasonably tell me that in a universe that is so big that we can't even see the end of it, that we are the only living things in it. But I don't think that any aliens species would care to visit earth. Why? Because we are not as interesting as we think, and all we seem to do is blow shit up.

 

[Mau95]

Another theory about why there are so many races is aliens mingling with humans, and not simply different living conditions. Kinda' like that South Park episode, now that I think about it.

 

[Findlebob]

Pray their's intelligent life somewhere out in space coz their's bugger all down here on earth.

 

[Andothul]

Yes i believe there is probably an uncountable number of life forms in the galaxy as well as millions of semi sentient or sentient beings.

I don't believe however that any of them have visited earth because i believe we would know about it.

People don't like to think that we are the most advanced race in the galaxy but we may just be. Relatively speaking our galaxy is still pretty young and we may be the first species to achieve meaningful interstellar travel.

We may end up being the ones that make first contact.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

)rStrangelove]Considering the sheer amount of starsystems out there, i'd say they exist. Since no direct contact has been made yet, i'd also say that...

a.) they have missed us (not unlikely since we're in a remote sidearm of the galaxy)
b.) they are hiding themselves (maybe there's 1 very advanced species out there exterminating everything else, like galactic grasshoppers)
c.) they have seen us but chose to not show up in public yet (very likely)


Hmmm. I'd say C tbh.

Who looks at that and decides C is the best option.... we are billions and billions and billions of lgihtyears away from any planets that likely hold life. And likely they do. Intelligent life? Not very likely. What % of species on this planet are intelligent enough to communicate with us? Apply that to the VERY VERY VERY far spaced planets out there. There is like, but i reckon its 99.9999999% trillobites we will never ever notice. Intelligent life finding us is like firing a rock out of a cannon into the eye of a needle a light year away. Because picked a random direction in space to explore is a pretty similar idea. Also the distance involved is staggering, just staggering. Even if aliens could surpass lightspeed they would need to go A THOUSAND TIMES faster than the speed of light to make it any distance at all around the universe really. The atom found to be faster than light apparently is the TINIEST fragment over 1 times the speed of light.

3: If the universe is infinite in size but finite in age then there would be an infinite amount of stars shining towards us and again the night sky would be lit up like the day.

Although you are right over all thats false. There are more than enough stars to cover every tiny nanometre of the sky. Dust and other planets that are between us and them block their light. Our nearest stars are small and dim enough.

I don't buy into all these people saying that math or statistics proves alien life. Math and statistics would tell you that we have one and only one data point and that you can't extrapolate anything from that.

The Miller-Urey experiments showed that amino acids can, and probably will, be formed naturally if given the right chemicals and some sort of energy source. So that means that there could easily be other proteins out in the universe. That said, what we've seen of the universe so far, most everywhere we've looked would kill just about any sort of life we can imagine. What's more, we know that life wouldn't exist on OUR planet if we weren't a certain distance from the sun and if we didn't have Jupiter out there redirecting asteroids, meteors, and comets away from us.

Someone mentioned this experiment! First person ive met other than me to hear about it, its an awesome arguement for abiogenesis too isnt it?

 

[thequixoticman]

I don't buy into all these people saying that math or statistics proves alien life. Math and statistics would tell you that we have one and only one data point and that you can't extrapolate anything from that.

The Miller-Urey experiments showed that amino acids can, and probably will, be formed naturally if given the right chemicals and some sort of energy source. So that means that there could easily be other proteins out in the universe. That said, what we've seen of the universe so far, most everywhere we've looked would kill just about any sort of life we can imagine. What's more, we know that life wouldn't exist on OUR planet if we weren't a certain distance from the sun and if we didn't have Jupiter out there redirecting asteroids, meteors, and comets away from us.

I'm not trying to say that life definitely doesn't exist, but just assuming that it does and then saying that those who don't agree with you are dumb... you're not using math when you say that and you're certainly not using statistics. Anyone honest would have to be agnostic on the existence of alien life in any form. You are, of course, free to have belief in whatever you want, but criticizing others for not sharing those beliefs is frankly religious bullshit.

 

[thespyisdead]

Yes I believe, simply through maths.

Mathematically, the population of the universe is 0. Therefore, any aliens you meet are likely the result of a deranged imagination.

then you are implying that you are non-existent, and are imagining everything you are doing

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Well mathematically they have to exist somewhere... so yes.

I don't believe we have made contact yet though and(in all probability) never will.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Now I ask this question because of the recent little discovery of some bones, if you want to read it then le here you go:http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114324-Peruvian-Scientists-Discover-Alien-Corpse

The questions fairly simple: do you believe in Aliens and do you believe that they have visited earth?

As for me, yes and yes. Aliens are something I love and I would die if we were actually visited in our life time. Do I think that will happen? Nope. Who would want to visit earth? A planet that surprisingly hasn't blown its self up yet and will attack anyone of minor difference. If there was a Advanced race out there I wonder what they would say about us.

Also, if there was one question you could ask a Alien what would that question be?

For me, it would be: Are we the only other advanced life forms you have discovered?

Yes, I do believe aliens visited Earth... we never left.

 

[Master_of_Oldskool]

Yes. In a universe which is, for all practical purposes, infinite, the chances that life has evolved somewhere else is as close to a certainty as makes no odds. That said, I doubt that any life out there has achieved interstellar travel, unless their society is developing at some completely and totally other rate.

 

[Ranorak]

It would be something very simple. Like "what's your opinion on Ayreon's music" or something...

It's awesome.

OT:
Do I believe there is live somewhere in the universe. It's hard to believe there is nothing except in 0.0000000000[..]001% of the universe

Do I believe they have once, or currently visited the earth.
Due to the major distances, I don't find this likely.
Even with FTL travel.

 

[Yak Johnson]

Yes, they exist. There could even be aliens on one of the moons of Jupiter, because it has a center made of water. Have they visited earth? Of course not. That would mean a government cover up, and we don't have any government competent enough to do that.