Are we alone?

[brainsmile]

Or do you believe that there is life on other worlds out there. If so, will we ever discover them or be discovered?

[Showtime]

I believe Hollywood believes. Reference: Roswell, Battlestar Gallatica, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Star Wars and E.T. the Extra......

-j

[gear02]

I think we're not alone. I can't believe that in the vastness of the universe, we're the only beings around.

[welfareloser]

it's pretty likely there's other life out there of some sort. doubt we'll find it in my lifetime, tho.

[ialsohaveadream]

Out of curiosity, why is it that we always assume life on other planets would be more advanced than we are? Why couldn't it be that they're barely past the single-cell organism phase?

I guess that wouldn't make a very interesting movie...

[cruelpupet]

i would find it impossible to believe that there is no other life out there. There are at least 200 billion stars (and newer estimates put the number at 400 billion) in the Milky Way galaxy alone. Add in all the other galaxies, and you have a really huge number...odds are there is some other life out there.

[brainsmile]

I never said that they were advanced...

[DaFunkyUnit]

I never said that they were advanced...

he never said that you said that they were advanced.

[welfareloser]

Out of curiosity, why is it that we always assume life on other planets would be more advanced than we are? Why couldn't it be that they're barely past the single-cell organism phase?

I guess that wouldn't make a very interesting movie...

we don't assume... well, maybe some people do. if you do the math, there are plenty of planets out there that could have reached the stage of cooling/size/composition, etc, necessary to support life, a long time before our planet managed it; hence, there is the possibility that they would be more advanced.

likely, they're more socially and ethically advanced, and spend their days having sex and reading poetry, and don't give a hoot about building a spaceship, tho.

[DaFunkyUnit]

we don't assume... well, maybe some people do. if you do the math, there are plenty of planets out there that could have reached the stage of cooling/size/composition, etc, necessary to support life, a long time before our planet managed it; hence, there is the possibility that they would be more advanced.

likely, they're more socially and ethically advanced, and spend their days having sex and reading poetry, and don't give a hoot about building a spaceship, tho.

one would think that on average, half of the worlds that do have life, the life would be more primative than ours, and the half of the worlds that have life would be more advanced than ours. However, that is assuming that our world is in the middle of advancement.

also there could be many, many worlds that did at one time support life, but then, like the Martians, elected some foolish monkey as president and ended up blowing themselves up.

:P :P :P

[DaFunkyUnit]

ok, i was thinking,

if we did find intelligent life some where far away off this planet, how would it change our personal lives? would schools of religion be radically changed? what if the the sentient beings made contact with us converted us?

hmmm...

i for one, would welcome our new insect overlords.

[Bires]

I hope there is.

The Bible is silent on life on other planets, so I tend to go the route of cosmic probability: with all the stars out there, at least a few have to have the right planets, spinning at the right speed, with the right amount of radiation to support life. And, hey, maybe there is another Bires out there writing about life on other planets. Somewhere....out there...

...or maybe not. Could just be us...in which case, the universe is ripe for the colonization! Galactic manifest destiny! Get out there and claim your 40x40 light years!

By the way, I learned this summer that the Genesis discs (crashed this summer) have been salvaged, and believe it or not, are actually viable, since each disc was made to a different thickness, so they could retrieve up to 80%(!) of the samples they would have if it didn't crash.

After a few years of evaluation, we should know what a star/solar system that supports life would emit. Very exciting stuff.

[Hypnotist]

The odds are incredibly high that other life-forms exist in this universe. My question is...when will we be able to travel fast enough & far enough to make the discovery? Can we survive long enough to gain the technology to get there? I believe we can!

In fact, some of us living today may be here to see it. With the advances in medical tech and increased longevity, the possibility exists that if one lives another 50 years, med tech may have advanced to the point where we'll be able to extend life for another 100 years, at which point med tech will have us up to 200 and so on towards immortality...it's very probable. It's then that extraterrestrial travel in pursuit of ET will take on a whole new dimension. This concept excites me like no other!!!

Live Long & Prosper!

[ialsohaveadream]

how would it change our personal lives? would schools of religion be radically changed?

Yikes. Can you imagine someone telling them about Christianity, then having the aliens laugh and say "Oh, that was just a joke we played on you guys a few thousand years ago. You still believe in that guy?"

[kei2]

Who cares? :shrug:

As for whether I think there is life elsewhere or not... Bires has my point of view covered pretty well. The Bible doesn't say one way or another on it, and I have no evidence for or against it.

[Bires]

Yikes. Can you imagine someone telling them about Christianity, then having the aliens laugh and say "Oh, that was just a joke we played on you guys a few thousand years ago. You still believe in that guy?"

I figure it would be more along the lines of, "God? Ya. We worship God too. Your God sounds a lot like our God. Here...let me tell you about Jesus..."
Since God created the whole universe and is constant and unchanging...

[brainsmile]

he never said that you said that they were advanced.
I never said that he said that I said... :P


ok, i was thinking,

if we did find intelligent life some where far away off this planet, how would it change our personal lives?


Two things are certain... if we can make contact with them,

1. they will start to get spam from us
2. aol will send them free online deals

[ialsohaveadream]

Oh no! If AOL sends them those stupid DVD mailer boxes, we'd deserve whatever vengeance they sought from us.

[Kevster]

It would be extremely arrogant of us to assume we are the only life in the universe. The odds that there is another planet out there in our galaxy (not to mention the universe) of literally millions of stars in the "life-zone" where water can exist in liquid form are good enough to say that we aren't alone, it is just a matter of time.

Now if we find something on Mars or Europa? Then there is proof in out own solar system that there is life possible on other worlds.

[brain]

I think we're alone now... Doesn't seem to be anyone around...

[molecularfire]

There probably is life in other worlds IMO... however a couple of thoughts...
1) If life was in the form of a gas cloud or something like that would we even recognize it as life?
2) I always thought that if we encountered life in other planets that they would have to be much much much more advanced than us because they have to be able to make the trip. If they were that advanced, what interest would they have with us... would they even recognize us as sentient life or even life for that matter?
3) If we are the most advanced lifeform out there... there won't be any speices bigots in my lifetime and that would be a pretty pathetic universe.

[WhiskeyPapa]

odds are there is some other life out there.Technically, if you want to talk about odds, it's a miracle that life even exists here on Earth. So it would be more correct to say "odds are there is NO other life out there." Yes, the universe is vast, but not vast enough for something as complex as life to just "happen" twice.

I believe life was created for a very specific purpose in one place only, by Almighty God.

However, I do believe that sometime in the near future, possibly within our lifetimes, we will witness what appears to be intelligent beings from other planets. In fact, I believe some have already seen them. These are not "aliens" as they will appear, but rather demons posing as a more advanced species in order to be welcomed, honored, and yes, even worshipped.

Anyway, we are not alone. No, there is not life on other planets, but there is a spiritual realm that exists, although that's probaby not the kind of "life" you were asking about.

<insert Twilight Zone theme music here>

[Airencracken]

"I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elseware is that none of it has visted earth" - Calvin and Hobbes

[couch potato2]

I believe we are not alone. With all the billions of galaxies and planets orbiting other stars it would be foolish to think we are alone.