How can there not be life on other planets (system, problem, light)

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by JTraik

Its a very funny thing this believing in other life outside our own. Usually these same people look at the belief in a superior being as an absurdity simply because there is no tangible evidence for such a belief. At the same time they expect other people to follow in their own, completely faith based belief.

Absurd!

There is a huge difference between the two.

No one is going around claiming that life on other planets is an absolute fact. Yes, some people have faith in the possibility that life may exist elsewhere; primarily because such a 'belief' seems plausible considering the fact that our own star (the Sun) is orbited by one planet known to have life on it and that there is a countless number of other stars in the Universe. So why not at least one other planet orbiting a star that has a developed ecosystem?

Another thing to consider is that life outside of our planet may not be what we expect. For example, there are bacteria that live in rocks. What are they doing in there? Who knows, but that is where they have adapted to survive. Actually, bacteria are found in every environment on Earth regardless of just how extreme cold, hot, saline, toxic, high,or deep that environment may be. Could it also be possible that life may exist on bodies that do not orbit a star?

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Don't think this has been brought up yet, but check out the Fermi Paradox as to why we have not made contact with aliens yet:

Fermi paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[bluepacific]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

Don't think this has been brought up yet, but check out the Fermi Paradox as to why we have not made contact with aliens yet:

Fermi paradox - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's interesting, but I still liked Stephen Hawkings explanation that I have always used with regard UFO sightings and abduction claims. That is, Why if these beings are so intelligent and far superior to us (which would be obvious since they had the technolgy to get here in the first place), why do they always contact some dufuss or buffoon named Billy-Bob by landed their craft in his swamp ??? Why not contact and communicate with the more brilliant of the population ???

[JTraik]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Absurd!

There is a huge difference between the two.

No one is going around claiming that life on other planets is an absolute fact. Yes, some people have faith in the possibility that life may exist elsewhere; primarily because such a 'belief' seems plausible considering the fact that our own star (the Sun) is orbited by one planet known to have life on it and that there is a countless number of other stars in the Universe. So why not at least one other planet orbiting a star that has a developed ecosystem?

Another thing to consider is that life outside of our planet may not be what we expect. For example, there are bacteria that live in rocks. What are they doing in there? Who knows, but that is where they have adapted to survive. Actually, bacteria are found in every environment on Earth regardless of just how extreme cold, hot, saline, toxic, high,or deep that environment may be. Could it also be possible that life may exist on bodies that do not orbit a star?

No.

They are both the same at their core as they are both acknowledgments of something that may be, without any proof. I also have to disagree with you in that there certainly are people who believe absolutely in extra terrestrial life, just you are obviously not one of them.

Another thing to dispel your claim is my own personal belief. I share the same magnitude of belief in their being a supreme being as the OP believes that their may be aliens. Thus our belief in the unproven is essentially the same, only in opposite directions.

There are absolute believers at either end of the spectrum. However I would think that the believers in a supreme being are at an advantage since there is yet to be any understood, possible benefit to absolute belief in aliens as opposed to a belief in God.

[JTraik]

Originally Posted by bluepacific

It's interesting, but I still liked Stephen Hawkings explanation that I have always used with regard UFO sightings and abduction claims. That is, Why if these beings are so intelligent and far superior to us (which would be obvious since they had the technolgy to get here in the first place), why do they always contact some dufuss or buffoon named Billy-Bob by landed their craft in his swamp ??? Why not contact and communicate with the more brilliant of the population ???

Easy, covertness.

[glass_of_merlot]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Absurd!

There is a huge difference between the two.

No one is going around claiming that life on other planets is an absolute fact. Yes, some people have faith in the possibility that life may exist elsewhere; primarily because such a 'belief' seems plausible considering the fact that our own star (the Sun) is orbited by one planet known to have life on it and that there is a countless number of other stars in the Universe. So why not at least one other planet orbiting a star that has a developed ecosystem?

Another thing to consider is that life outside of our planet may not be what we expect. For example, there are bacteria that live in rocks. What are they doing in there? Who knows, but that is where they have adapted to survive. Actually, bacteria are found in every environment on Earth regardless of just how extreme cold, hot, saline, toxic, high,or deep that environment may be. Could it also be possible that life may exist on bodies that do not orbit a star?

You are saying the same thing.

[Asheville Native]

Originally Posted by K-Luv

Absurd!

There is a huge difference between the two.?

Absolutely!

On one side we have huge amounts of science fact used to develop very probably theory, combined with mathematical probability would is almost a certainty that life on other planets exists. The universe is old, really old, and from evidence on our own planet, time is all that is needed for intelligent life to evolve. That mathematical probability? A very conservative estimate of the number of planets is Ten million, billion (10,000,000,000,000,000). And assume that this is very rare among planets to be able to support life, and rate it at only one in a million, meaning there is a very high probability that there are Ten Billion (10,000,000,000) planets in the universe capable of producing life. (the facts)

vs.

An urban legend based on a book, written by man, that has been re-written and translated hundreds of time says otherwise.

[Lamplight]

The unfathomable size of the universe leads me to believe that there most certainly could be life outside our own planet. As others have said, the living organisms may not be anything like "life" as we know it, but seems reasonable to think it's possible. Unfortunately, the vastness of the universe may also prevent us from ever knowing for certain.

I've also heard speculation that "alien" encounters could simply be more advanced humans from the future travelling backward in time to study primative man. It sounds a little ridiculous, but who knows?

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by JTraik

No.

They are both the same at their core as they are both acknowledgments of something that may be, without any proof. I also have to disagree with you in that there certainly are people who believe absolutely in extra terrestrial life, just you are obviously not one of them.

Another thing to dispel your claim is my own personal belief. I share the same magnitude of belief in their being a supreme being as the OP believes that their may be aliens. Thus our belief in the unproven is essentially the same, only in opposite directions.

There are absolute believers at either end of the spectrum. However I would think that the believers in a supreme being are at an advantage since there is yet to be any understood, possible benefit to absolute belief in aliens as opposed to a belief in God.

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

You are saying the same thing.

There is a portion of the population with whom the jury is still out in regards to the existence of a god, or God. They do not fully dismiss the idea, they are just waiting for some manner of proof that would satisfy what-ever criteria they require. The idea that exterterstial life exists falls into this same realm so in that sense, it is the same.

However, for those who believe in God, or god, gods, goddesses, etc. the belief is absolute. There is either enough proof to satisfy these beliefs or no proof is required, hence why it is known as faith. To put it simply, there are some people who will say that God may or may not exist, but you rarely, if ever, here people say that God probably does exist because a mathematical probability favors that God does exist.

With that, there are absolute believers on either end, but something like 75 to 80% of the American population believes in God absolute. How many rational, sane, people believe that ET's exist as an absolute? My guess would be around 1% of the population, and 1% of 300 million is a significantly small number. You can say that a millionaire and a person living in poverty both have money. In the general sense of the term you would be correct, but by comparison of scale the person-in-poverty's monetary amount is so significantly closer to $0.00 that it would be pointless to even count.

And JTraik, your own personal belief does not dispel anything that I may believe or post.

glass of merlot, while I think that it is probable that life to some extent does exist elsewhere in the Universe, I do not hold it to be an absolute fact. While the possibility of life around the the Universe is likely, I also understand that there is the possibility that we are the only life in the Universe. It is an interesting topic to ponder but if there ever comes the day when we make contact I will not go around pointing fingers saying, I told you so!

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by bluepacific

Why not contact and communicate with the more brilliant of the population ???

Well, first of all this would require that the aliens were able to differentiate between the two. It also brings into question of just what is considered to be intelligence, let alone how to fully determine its level on a scale. As far as the aliens are concerned Billy Bob may very well be the brightest person on the planet.

I think that a more likely reason is that if a UFO landed in the backyard of a well educated, 'bright', human being that person would dismiss it as something else. A weather balloon, some sort of military craft, etc. Many years ago a friend of mine once said that even if a UFO landed right in front of him and ET's came out he would not be convinced that what he was looking at was indeed extraterrestrial. That may seem absurd, but if you follow the rules of the Scientific Process than you would first and foremost attempt to prove that it is not alien.