Do you believe in Aliens?

[Mr.Teatime]

The most clear and convincing evidence that aliens exist is that none of them have tried to contact us.

 

[DRTJR]

Do aliens exist?
I hope so, Although wether or not they are as or more advanced than us? I donno maybe

 

[spartan231490]

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

You know, even saying that you think the aliens would care enough to destroy us speaks of a supreme kind of arrogance.

I'm reluctant to either ascent to or deny the possibility of aliens because we still don't have a good idea of how often biogenesis occurs in nature. Still, the universe is disgustingly huge, so I'm inclined to answer in the affirmative.

As for aliens visiting earth, I highly doubt it. The same thing which makes me say that aliens probably exist, the utter hugeness of space, is the same thing which makes the chance of contact utterly miniscule.

Edit: So apparently this is my 666th post. Um...Hail Satan?

not really. When we manage to travel the stars we will sow destruction and death across the galaxy. It's a smart move to kill us now.

 

[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.

 

[Some_weirdGuy]

yes, aliens, time travelers and espers.










((to avoid a warning for low content: realistically, no I don't believe aliens have come to earth, but yeah I'm sure there's bound to be some out there somewhere))

 

[xPixelatedx]

That's like asking if someone believes in gravity. Statistically speaking, it is infeasible to say earth is the only planet in the universe that can support life. You would basically have to use religious beliefs/reasoning to say otherwise.

Thats not to say I believe very-human-looking-little-gray-men are visiting us, I think that's as much BS as it makes itself out to be. But there are probably weird looking things living on a planet so far away, our race will have already gone exciting long before we could reach them.

 

[Varitel]

I definitely believe that they exist. There is no doubt in my mind and there should not be a doubt in the mind of any logical human that there is such a thing as extraterrestrial life. I do believe that aliens visiting earth is doubtful. The shear size of the universe that makes the existence of extraterrestrial life almost undeniable also makes it highly unlikely that any could easily travel here, and even less likely that they would stumble upon our inconspicuous little solar system.

 

[oZode]

Aliens, oh aliens how they so inevitably exist because we do. The universe constantly repeats itself and all the laws are consistent, so it would only make sense aliens exist.

However, good luck finding them.

 

[Tax_Document]

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?

 

[VoidWanderer]

Not so much a believe, but please refer to the end song in Monty Python and the Meaning of Life for my bluntest opinion.

Well, at least I'm sure it's the "Meaning of Life" song.

 

[lacktheknack]

No. Mostly because I don't think people understand just how mind-crushingly impossible it is to stitch living cells out of their building blocks, and there's no amount of evolution that can make it happen (which is a reason why I believe in guided evolution). And THEN they have to not all be killed off immediately, survive any and all planetary disasters, and develop into sentient multicellular life forms. Again, that's improbable to the point of absurdity.

At any rate, they haven't found Earth yet, and never will. That would take impossible amounts of time along with impossible accidental accuracy, breaking physics and impossible accidental accuracy, or wormhole travelling with a "No, it didn't fecking happen" type of coincidence.

 

[Burningsok]

Yep, and it doesn't have to be highly intelligent to be called an alien, it could be little bugs or something. Even aliens that are highly intelligent like us is still a possibility/

of all the billions of solar systems in the universe, there has to be one with a similar set up as ours. Heck maybe life on other planets has been able to survive just enough to form ridiculous mutations that can protect them from temperatures of like 10,000 degrees.

 

[DracoSuave]

)rStrangelove]Dunno if this has been mentioned yet, but this whole thread is actually about the

FERMI PARADOX - WHERE IS EVERYONE?

"The Fermi paradox (Fermi's paradox or Fermi-paradox) is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for, or contact with, such civilizations."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

Very interesting indeed. To say that "its impossible to meet aliens in space, the universe is far too big" is too simple, its a little more complicated.

Fermi's Paradox is... ugh.

Let's take the attempt we've made to communicate to outerspace that's travelled the farthest, the Arecibo message. We broadcasted that in 1974. Now assuming that an alien culture could detect it AND decode it AND send us back a message, that would leave almost 38 years for the back and forth travel. That means that their world would have to be a maximum of 19 light years away. There's less than 100 stars in the universe close enough for such a message to be relayed back to us. Of those 100, few of them are the right type to support life--this ignoring the possibility of actually having said planet.

It's not impossible to communicate with other systems, by no means. But so long as we're relying on methods that involve the speed of light, it's not in the slightest bit rational to make any conclusion involving the lack of results over the very SHORT amount of time we've been searching and broadcasting.

The paradox involves an irrational premise, and thus... ugh.

 

[Joccaren]

Yes, I believe they exist, it is that statistically improbable for them not to that it would cause me to break the rule of 'we do not live in a special time or place', as we would be the one in 9.99X10^10000 or something planets out there that supports life.
Are they intelligent (Going by the standard that the question is usually referring to of 'are they space travellers' as opposed to whether they hold some form of intelligence)? Possibly. It is entirely possible that other life forms have developed out there to a technological level where they have been able to travel the stars. Have they died off, or are they still around is another question.
I personally believe that we are more likely to find microbial life, or another basic form of life out there, and maybe one other advanced civilization if we go out and search, but we are unlikely to find many more scattered around the areas of the cosmos we are able to reach.

Have they visited Earth? No, plain and simple. I do not believe they have, and I will not believe they have until I see something that can be explained in no other way with my own eyes, or they send a message to us.

 

[])rStrangelove]

Fermi's Paradox is... ugh.

Let's take the attempt we've made to communicate to outerspace that's travelled the farthest, the Arecibo message. We broadcasted that in 1974. Now assuming that an alien culture could detect it AND decode it AND send us back a message, that would leave almost 38 years for the back and forth travel. That means that their world would have to be a maximum of 19 light years away. There's less than 100 stars in the universe close enough for such a message to be relayed back to us. Of those 100, few of them are the right type to support life--this ignoring the possibility of actually having said planet.

It's not impossible to communicate with other systems, by no means. But so long as we're relying on methods that involve the speed of light, it's not in the slightest bit rational to make any conclusion involving the lack of results over the very SHORT amount of time we've been searching and broadcasting.

The paradox involves an irrational premise, and thus... ugh.

You're still only make a guess because of the scale of the universe and the nearest number of inhabitable systems. Isnt that shortsighted a bit? If one has the tech to travel far distances dont you think one could also construct large generation-ships or carriers or whatever you call it, and therefore they might not be dependant on any habitable systems at all? Travelling space stations like the Deathstar dont need Earthlike planets to survive.

All in all, i just wanted to say, the matter is far more complicated than just taking the sheer scale into account.
The paradox lists these reasons/points:

    5.1 Few, if any, other civilizations currently exist
        5.1.1 No other civilizations have arisen
        5.1.2 It is the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself
        5.1.3 It is the nature of intelligent life to destroy others
        5.1.4 Life is periodically destroyed by naturally occurring events
        5.1.5 Human beings were created alone
        5.1.6 Inflation theory and the Youngness Argument
    5.2 They do exist, but we see no evidence
        [b]5.2.1 Communication is impossible due to problems of scale
            5.2.1.1 Intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time
            5.2.1.2 It is too expensive to spread physically throughout the galaxy
            5.2.1.3 Human beings have not been searching long enough[/b]
        5.2.2 Communication is impossible for technical reasons
            5.2.2.1 Humans are not listening properly
            5.2.2.2 Civilizations only broadcast detectable radio signals for a brief period of time
            5.2.2.3 They tend to experience a technological singularity
            5.2.2.4 They are too alien
            5.2.2.5 They are non-technological
            5.2.2.6 The evidence is being suppressed
        5.2.3 They choose not to interact with us
            5.2.3.1 They don't agree among themselves
            5.2.3.2 Earth is purposely isolated (The zoo hypothesis)
            5.2.3.3 It is dangerous to communicate
            5.2.3.4 The Fermi paradox itself is what prevents communication
        5.2.4 They are here unobserved

As one can see arguments related to SCALE are only a fraction of the whole problem/paradox.

 

[DracoSuave]

)rStrangelove]

Fermi's Paradox is... ugh.

Let's take the attempt we've made to communicate to outerspace that's travelled the farthest, the Arecibo message. We broadcasted that in 1974. Now assuming that an alien culture could detect it AND decode it AND send us back a message, that would leave almost 38 years for the back and forth travel. That means that their world would have to be a maximum of 19 light years away. There's less than 100 stars in the universe close enough for such a message to be relayed back to us. Of those 100, few of them are the right type to support life--this ignoring the possibility of actually having said planet.

It's not impossible to communicate with other systems, by no means. But so long as we're relying on methods that involve the speed of light, it's not in the slightest bit rational to make any conclusion involving the lack of results over the very SHORT amount of time we've been searching and broadcasting.

The paradox involves an irrational premise, and thus... ugh.

You're still only make a guess because of the scale of the universe and the nearest number of inhabitable systems. Isnt that shortsighted a bit?

What? No. Electromagnetic waves can only travel at a certain speed, no more, no less. There's no shortsightedness, a beam travelling at one light-year per year can only have reached 38 light-years away! That's a direct calculation!

If one has the tech to travel far distances dont you think one could also construct large generation-ships or carriers or whatever you call it, and therefore they might not be dependant on any habitable systems at all? Travelling space stations like the Deathstar dont need Earthlike planets to survive.

That doesn't change the fact that said platform still has to be, at maximum, 19 light-years away for them to even have a chance of receiving the message and returning it by now. A 19 light-year radius sphere around the earth is a very small sphere taken in astronomical terms.

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.

Is it a paradox that the universe is large enough to have multiple alien civilizations and yet we haven't encountered them in our own back yard? No. That's not... that's actually what you should actually expect.

All in all, i just wanted to say, the matter is far more complicated than just taking the sheer scale into account.
The paradox lists these reasons/points:

    5.1 Few, if any, other civilizations currently exist
        5.1.1 No other civilizations have arisen
        5.1.2 It is the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself
        5.1.3 It is the nature of intelligent life to destroy others
        5.1.4 Life is periodically destroyed by naturally occurring events
        5.1.5 Human beings were created alone
        5.1.6 Inflation theory and the Youngness Argument
    5.2 They do exist, but we see no evidence
        [b]5.2.1 Communication is impossible due to problems of scale
            5.2.1.1 Intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time
            5.2.1.2 It is too expensive to spread physically throughout the galaxy
            5.2.1.3 Human beings have not been searching long enough[/b]
        5.2.2 Communication is impossible for technical reasons
            5.2.2.1 Humans are not listening properly
            5.2.2.2 Civilizations only broadcast detectable radio signals for a brief period of time
            5.2.2.3 They tend to experience a technological singularity
            5.2.2.4 They are too alien
            5.2.2.5 They are non-technological
            5.2.2.6 The evidence is being suppressed
        5.2.3 They choose not to interact with us
            5.2.3.1 They don't agree among themselves
            5.2.3.2 Earth is purposely isolated (The zoo hypothesis)
            5.2.3.3 It is dangerous to communicate
            5.2.3.4 The Fermi paradox itself is what prevents communication
        5.2.4 They are here unobserved

As one can see arguments related to SCALE are only a fraction of the whole problem/paradox.

But the paradox itself is fundamentally flawed, based on ill conceived premises. If a paradox is itself ill conceived, that means it's not a paradox, but simply a misunderstanding.

Also, listing 20 reasons why the paradox doesn't actually make sense as a paradox means it's a bad paradox, not a complicated paradox.

 

[])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?

 

[Aprilgold]

In this Univers: Very low chance.
In all of Space: OH HELL YEAH!
Find them in my life time: Hell no.
Find them in 900 lifetimes: Still no.
Visit Earth: No because why visit dumb apes, or they're not advanced enough to come here.
Find them in the very distant future: Now your talking.

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

I believe in life beyond this world and anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly deluding themselves. However, I am going to go a step further and say, in my opinion, people who refuse to believe aliens could visit us simply because Humanity's current (and limited) understanding of physics and technology apparently says they can't (I don't see it, myself) have seriously got to open their eyes and minds more.

But hey, people like to believe what they want, and they like to disbelief even more. I mean, if someone is willing to believe in God and not ghosts or aliens, they're barking mad, but conversely if someone thinks that science has all the answers it can have right now, they're delusional at best. What we know today would have been pure science fantasy 100 years ago, and I still find it hard to believe that people don't realize this or even remember it.

Seriously people, open your eyes. You don't have to look to the heavens or the math or anything for answers unless you want to, but for crying out loud, keep a gods-damned open mind. :/

 

[Jack_Uzi]

Only if aliens are not to pomous not to believe in us, I will.