Question:
How likely do you think it is that there is intelligent life beyond earth?
Callie
2013-09-23 19:44:11 UTC
When I say intelligent, I mean intellegent enough for technological advancement, like ourselves. I'm going to say that there are probably less than a million of these. Despite there being billions of galaxies within our universe, I think life bearing planets like earth are a rarity, keeping in mind all the odd factors within our solar system that have contributed to the existence of life on Earth. Aside from Earth being placed within the habitable zone within the solar system, we have a planet like Jupiter, that has acted as a shield against cosmic collisions caused by asteroids and space junk with its mass and gravity protecting the inner planets from destruction; we have a moon that regulates Earth's climate, allowing weather patterns to be consistent enough to sustain plant life; we have enough water for life forms to exist, but not too much water to prevent technological advancement; water is in liquid form, not frozen or a gas. (I'm not including extremo-philes in this analysis). I think the amount of time on earth is limited, as the sun is changing. Life is delicate, there will come a time when the sun will become too hot and life on earth will no longer be sustained, and that's only within a million years or so. (At this point in time, I don't believe people are being abducted by aliens. I'm not calling abductees liars either, because people do experience such traumas with no explanation and I do feel for them, but that's not to say aliens are doing it. I don't believe things until I see them. I think it's just too far for any technologically advanced life form to travel from galaxies light years away to earth, even with the use of worm-holes in the fabric of space. I don't think there are many people who truly understand what 'trillions of light years' means). I feel it's kind of sad to think that we're the only intelligent life forms in the universe, and it disturbs me spiritually because of my atheist background. Is there really a creator who designed the universe just for us pathetic humans? And yet at the same time, I think it's a relief. We've seen conflict and rascism, exploitation of the weak by the powerful on Earth, imagine what conflict from other worlds will be like.
Seven answers:
Troasa
2013-09-23 20:42:35 UTC
This is a FAQ. So what are you looking for some kind of percentage or odds? There are none which are universally agreed upon. The only thing you can expect with this question are opinions and beliefs. Neither matters much in settling the topic.



The requirements for life are numerous. You have only touched upon a few. We could include galaxy types which would not be conducive for life, galactic habitable zones, types of stars, stellar variability and fluctuation, binaries, orbital eccentricity, gravity which holds a suitable atmosphere, a magnetosphere, volcanism, plate tectonics, even the balance between oceanic rocks which helped stabilize the atmosphere with an ever growing Sun helped to allow for life despite Milankovitch cycles which seem to have enclosed our planet in a snowball twice etc etc.



Believers have their own reasons: the Universe is big; I saw aliens on a movie once; I read that aliens exist in a supermarket tabloid or in a ufo book or on the internet; god must have made aliens; etc.



As for life on Earth, the estimation is between 800 million and 1 billion years left before water boils off of our planet.



Wormholes are a topic of science fiction. Sometimes mathematics allows for things to exist which cannot exist in our physical Universe. Wormholes fit this. Wormholes are void of matter. When they interact with matter, they disintegrate. To exist, wormholes must have been created in the beginning of the Universe and there are no indications that this ever occurred. They violate the second law of thermodynamics. Yet, as always, you will have the believers because they saw it on a Stargate episode on tv.



There is no reason to feel one way or another about the existence of alien life. Give one example of how it affects your life? Because you are lonely? If aliens exist 2,000 light years away and have no way of interacting with you or future humans ever due to the distance then how does that affect your life or philosophy? What is sad and disturbing is how the public is misled into believing that contact is occurring when there is not a shred of evidence to support such beliefs unless you subscribe to the paranormal and require no evidence other than 'someone said...'



There is a reason mammals arose to dominate the globe as they did. They didn't do it by being passive. They killed for food. They were aggressive. This ensured that they survived. It's in our blood and part of our instincts. That's just how life works on the food chain. You didn't see bunny rabbits take dominance of the mammal world. We would expect to find the same aggression in any creature which dominates planetary life. Perhaps genetic manipulation could remove these genes from the future population but the chances of that ever being allowed to happen by a society are zero.



Nature is what it is. You can look at yourself in a mirror and wonder if a god made you and made aliens too. Or you can understand the big picture of two generations of stars dying before the proper metals existed for life to be possible and realize that if a god did exist perhaps a simple snap of his god fingers would have been better. Perhaps a snap of the god fingers would have not made a star which dies. Perhaps a snap of the god fingers would have eliminated the ever-threatening asteroids from deciding the fate of life forms. Or perhaps an all powerful god would have made his special creation immune to snake venom and viruses and the tsetse fly. That's the pathetic part.
Klogg
2013-09-23 20:07:54 UTC
What happened once in nature will happen again given enough opportunity. With billions of galaxies and trillions of stars and countless worlds, I would say it is extremely unlikely that there ISN'T life out there. Intelligent life is significantly less common. The answer stays the same though. Even if the odds of intelligent life are 1 in 10 to the millionth power, it will happen again.
John
2013-09-23 19:48:25 UTC
Let look at the bible perspective, lets say God created everything. What are the chances that he also created other planets with different creatures? Very likely. I mean, why would God limited his work to only 1 creation (earth and humans)? So if you look at this from the religion perspective, it is possible that there are other intelligent life out there.



Let look at this from a non-religion perspective. If everything just happen out of nothingness and we're created from it. So what are the chances that during that process, it also created other intelligent life out there? Very likely. Because the universe is pretty big.
John W
2013-09-23 21:41:33 UTC
I would say there is but I wouldn't set a number. The Universe is so vast that even a very small probability could easily be in the billions.
2013-09-24 01:57:40 UTC
It's completely insane to suggest that there isn't life beyond Earth. In a universe so vast it's obvious, the fact that we are here is the proof.
2013-09-24 04:51:25 UTC
I think intelligent life else where is certain, I also believe it is likely that other intelligent civilizations may even be aware that we are here and simply dont bother with us because we have nothing to offer with our primitive technology and warring nature.
save us
2014-06-26 05:44:24 UTC
You would have to find some on Earth first.


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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