Poll of the Day > Do you believe we are alone in the universe?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This isnt a discussion if aliens have been to earth, its for one do you think there is at least one planet out there, right now, that has life.
---

Yes

Just any kind of life? Definitely. The odds are in our favor there

OhhhJa posted...

Just any kind of life? Definitely. The odds are in our favor there

I believe the same. I even think civilization about as advanced as us exist. But i have a hard time believing there is type 1 or higher civilizations.
---

I believe there are spirits who can traverse the universe. As for are there other physical beings out there? I doubt it right now, though there probably were or will be.
---

It could all be fake, in fact, everything past our moon could be an illusion generated by light to fool us and make up believe there is anything else out there. We are all just ants under a microscope for some entities enjoyment.

Otherwise, if all those planets and solar systems are real, then yes, there is no way life has not developed millions of times on other planets and on many of them, evolved u sing the same laws of physics we have here. In fact, due to the age of the universe, if our perceptions are correct or even close, many life forms must have evolved and advanced past our current technological state millions and millions of years ago.

It is, in fact, the main reason I believe travel beyond the speed of light may actually be impossible. If it was possible, the universe would have pretty much been explored and populated by some other life forms by now.
---

YANA.

But seriously, I'm not sure that there is anything out there and it's entirely possible that intergalatic life won't exist at the same time.

wolfy42 posted...

Otherwise, if all those planets and solar systems are real, then yes, there is no way life has not developed millions of times on other planets and on many of them, evolved u sing the same laws of physics we have here. In fact, due to the age of the universe, if our perceptions are correct or even close, many life forms must have evolved and advanced past our current technological state millions and millions of years ago.

There are actually many ways.

wolfy42 posted...

It is, in fact, the main reason I believe travel beyond the speed of light may actually be impossible. If it was possible, the universe would have pretty much been explored and populated by some other life forms by now.

Few problems:

1) That presupposes that life got to a technological state more advanced than ours somewhere else, which is completely unsupported

2) That presupposes that life would be populated throughout existence, which is also unlikely given how vast it is.

3) That presupposes that we'd know about said life, which is a false assumption. For instance, they might go to great pains to conceal themselves or possibly even exist outside the visible spectrum.
---

wolfy42 posted...

It could all be fake, in fact, everything past our moon could be an illusion generated by light to fool us and make up believe there is anything else out there. We are all just ants under a microscope for some entities enjoyment.

Doesn't that then require that there be other intelligent life out there?

It's possible Earth isn't the only body in this solar system with life on it. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't life anywhere else in the universe.
---

I believe there is life out there, even intelligent life. I don't think we'll ever make contact because I doubt FTL travel is possible, and the expansion rate of the universe pretty much guarantees biological life would rarely encounter another EBE. Maybe machines travelling for millions of years, but I doubt generation ships are practical.
---

Doesnt really matter since we will almost certainly never make contact. Its possible, sure, maybe even likely, but it does not matter.

There are so many galaxies with so many stars that some of them almost had to develop in a way that life could start out there somewhere.
---

If we are truly alone in the cosmos that is legitimately hilarious. Like trillions upon trillions of planets and stars that are so far away and the only planet that happened to be the perfect distance from a single star that was able to make life on planets to this extent ended up with us? Ended up with Donald trump as president? Ended up with what we are now? Ended up with me typing this shit on my phone on a gaming forum?

Yeah, thats hilarious.

The odds of us being the only life in the universe, let's even go as far as saying intelligent life, is remote. It would be shocking if we're the only intelligent life. By that same token though? I'd be equally shocked if we've ever had "visitors". The universe is vast, there's definitely more intelligent life out there even if we never find it.
---

Zeus posted...

YANA.

But seriously, I'm not sure that there is anything out there and it's entirely possible that intergalatic life won't exist at the same time.

wolfy42 posted...

Otherwise, if all those planets and solar systems are real, then yes, there is no way life has not developed millions of times on other planets and on many of them, evolved u sing the same laws of physics we have here. In fact, due to the age of the universe, if our perceptions are correct or even close, many life forms must have evolved and advanced past our current technological state millions and millions of years ago.

There are actually many ways.

wolfy42 posted...

It is, in fact, the main reason I believe travel beyond the speed of light may actually be impossible. If it was possible, the universe would have pretty much been explored and populated by some other life forms by now.

Few problems:

1) That presupposes that life got to a technological state more advanced than ours somewhere else, which is completely unsupported

2) That presupposes that life would be populated throughout existence, which is also unlikely given how vast it is.

3) That presupposes that we'd know about said life, which is a false assumption. For instance, they might go to great pains to conceal themselves or possibly even exist outside the visible spectrum.

Also even if they where far beyond our technology they may not have the resources/fuel for such a long voyage.

Then even if they did have that you'd have to consider perhaps they too have governments and perhaps they can't fathom why they should waste said resources and fuel on something that may end up being fruitless.

Or even just the idea perhaps they don't share our desire to explore. Maybe even a crazy religion that forbids it.

Many variables and possibilities
---

MICHALECOLE posted...

If we are truly alone in the cosmos that is legitimately hilarious. Like trillions upon trillions of planets and stars that are so far away and the only planet that happened to be the perfect distance from a single star that was able to make life on planets to this extent ended up with us? Ended up with Donald trump as president? Ended up with what we are now? Ended up with me typing this shit on my phone on a gaming forum?

Yeah, thats hilarious.

It is rather hilarious that you're so fixated on Donald Trump.

mooreandrew58 posted...

Or even just the idea perhaps they don't share our desire to explore. Maybe even a crazy religion that forbids it.

It kinda seems like any technologically advanced species would require an innate curiosity.
---

Zeus posted...

mooreandrew58 posted...

Or even just the idea perhaps they don't share our desire to explore. Maybe even a crazy religion that forbids it.

It kinda seems like any technologically advanced species would require an innate curiosity.

You'd think that because we are like that.

I admit it would be more likely the case but we would have no idea how their society is and what they consider good and bad and that before even considering things that are just hardwired into their brains such as humans having a tendency to fear/hate things different than us.

Also again they could have a religion that speaks against it. Or the government just refuses to fund it.
---

The point is that if such technology is possible, some other race that got to our point and further technologically before we learned to use fire (waaay before), would have started exploring the universe. Even if 999,999 races all got to that point and said, meh, screw it..we don't feel like exploring, it just takes 1 race 100 million years ago, that discovered a way to travel faster then light and started expanding throughout the universe to eventually end up almost everywhere (mainly because the expansion would continue to speed up as more and more planets were created as bases etc.

Look, from the information we have, there are countless planets out there that could sustain life, even trying to identify the number is pointless. When dealing with such numbers almost every possibility is going to happen.

One thing we know though, or at least we assume, and that is that all life throughout the universe is restrained by the same laws of physics. Those laws also make it almost impossible for creatures to have existed eons ago, somewhere else, with the ability to advance technologically. Something had to stop them from expanding, and in fact, more then one race doing so.

So yes, one race, or two races etc could in fact decide to hide themselves for some reason, in fact that has been a theory for awhile, that aliens not only exist they have a universal code, which includes not showing themselves to races below a certain point technologically. That is quite possible (though I personally think it's unlikely).

A whole universe full of races that all agree not to show themselves or interfere with creatures who are below a certain technological threshold seems.....crazy. I just don't see it happening.

What is more.......it doesn't explain why this planet was not inhabited by such aliens WAY before humans developed any technology at all.

This leaves me with only one logical reason why advanced races have not spread throughout the entire universe at this point. Traveling even at or near the speed of light is not possible in this universe. Any method to circumvent that (such as using black holes etc) causes such pressure etc to anything passing through, that it is not survivable (not even for data etc).

If all travel within the universe was restricted to less then the speed of light, it would prevent large scale exploration, and limit even far advanced races to a snails pace, even if they could eventually travel from one galaxy to another.

Such travel, even with the technology we currently have...would still be possible, but it would take extreme periods of time. You would need to have a self sustaining ship that was capable of traveling for thousands and thousands of years, while keeping some form of life, or cells or something alive/frozen etc.....to eventually be used at the destination AND even then, your dealing with information (the light you received that was initially 25+ thousand years old (probably much older)...so you would actually arrive at the location you aimed for, at least 2x the amount of light years after what you observed.

In such a case, even if aliens saw our planet was actually viable to sustain life, they could have set out to come here and inhabit it....before humanity even started building things or showing any signs of sentience/advanced thought. Such life/aliens might even be on the way still...and by the time they got here...we could be more advanced then them already.
---

wolfy42 posted...

It is, in fact, the main reason I believe travel beyond the speed of light may actually be impossible. If it was possible, the universe would have pretty much been explored and populated by some other life forms by now.

I remember seeing a video that said one of the reasons we may never see any other life forms is because the universe is still expanding. And it's starts expanding faster as it gets bigger. Meaning that we're always getting further away or something.

captpackrat posted...

Doesn't that then require that there be other intelligent life out there?

Not if that made this for us, then died, I guess...

Anyway, yeah, I'm sure something's out there. I do like that one quote, though:

---

LinkPizza posted...

wolfy42 posted...

It is, in fact, the main reason I believe travel beyond the speed of light may actually be impossible. If it was possible, the universe would have pretty much been explored and populated by some other life forms by now.

I remember seeing a video that said one of the reasons we may never see any other life forms is because the universe is still expanding. And it's starts expanding faster as it gets bigger. Meaning that we're always getting further away or something.

captpackrat posted...

Doesn't that then require that there be other intelligent life out there?

Not if that made this for us, then died, I guess...

Anyway, yeah, I'm sure something's out there. I do like that one quote, though:

Neither is terriffiying in that quote for me. As either there is or there isn't and either damn way it hasn't affected my life so far.

But I'm a dont sweat the stuff you can't control type a guy.
---

As far as it all being fake meaning that there is other intelligent life, it only means that a "god" might exist that created us all, and is fooling us into thinking existence is much larger then it really is.

Or aliens could be playing with us.

Or we could be a computer simulation.

Or a zillion other possibilities.

We only have our own perceptions to base everything on, and for the most part only light to base theories of the universe on....it's quite likely in fact that what we perceive is incorrect or at least not totally correct.
---

In an infinite universe how can the be only one planet with life?
---

Fermi's Paradox.

Who knows?
---

Probably, but the odds of us ever meeting any are infinitesimally small.
---

"[P]ray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space
'Cause there's bugger-all down here on Earth!" -- E. Idle
---