Are there aliens out there?

[Aspiring Humanist]

Personally I find it pretty arrogant to think that there is only one intelligent species in the entire nearly infinite universe

What do you think?

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

Universe is too damn big to not have aliens:)

[GPDP]

There is indeed a high probability of alien life, and even intelligent life at that, existing somewhere out there in the universe.

That said, until we actually encounter it, I'm gonna go ahead and say it would be foolish to claim there are little green men in flying saucers visiting us.

[WeAreReborn]

I think there is no sense in saying definitely yes or no. So there is a decent chance of alien life, but honestly I have no idea.

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

Personally I find it pretty arrogant to think that there is only one intelligent species in the entire nearly infinite universe

What do you think?

Oh and there are two, you forgot about dolphins

[Astarte]

Yay or nay for the ufos? Like, as in, who believes in ufos? Have we been being visited by these beings for thousands of years? Are they behind the creation of the state and organized religions as the ancient texts claim? What are they really? Jung seemed to think it was possible they were extra-dimensional, or kind of "thought-forms" which sprang up from the collective unconsciousness and could somehow gain a kind of psychic autonomy from the host, or host minds which created it ... kind of like Faust I suppose.

[Princess Luna]

I think life exists out there, but i think it is so radically different that our definition of "intelligent" simply won't work. In fact if you think about how evolution works, the most bizzare micro-organism on Earth most likely has far more in common with humans than a something from another planet.

[Luisrah]

I think life exists out there, but i think it is so radically different that our definition of "intelligent" simply won't work. In fact if you think about how evolution works, the most bizzare micro-organism on Earth most likely has far more in common with humans than a something from another planet.

But if another planet has similar conditions to ours (if it has Carbon, Oxygen, Water, etc) then it's not so far fetched that life will be similar.
Of course it may have different evolutionary pressures (is that how you say it?) according to the special characteristics of the planet, but evolution works the same for all biology, the most fit survive and reproduce more.

So it's not far fetched that many of them will have similar things like claws, or wings, teeth, eyes, ears etc. That is logical, because a living being (specially if it is more complex) must have sensory (sp?) organs if it is to survive.

[Pilkington]

Of course there's alien life. There must be.

[Dr Mindbender]

Oh and there are two, you forgot about dolphins


If we are to go by the SETI definition, then dolphins certainly are not intelligent.


from the SETI perspective intelligence must include the ablity to transmit and receive signals over interstellar distances (that is, technological intelligence)
http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/question/?id=918

[Mr. Gorilla]

In all likelihood, there is probably alien life out there, but I won't "believe" in any particular alien life until there is a fair amount of evidence pointing to its existence.

Furthermore, alien life is probably going to be quite different from anything we understand as "life" (From outward appearance to behavior down to microscopic levels and elemental composition), and we may be unable to communicate/interact with such life in any meaningful way (At least at first; with a fair amount of study and with the required technology, we may, but it would probably take a while, depending on how fast our information processing is).

[t.shonku]

Intelligent aliens are surely out there and if we are to believe the ancient astronaut theory proposed by Danican then they might have visited us in past, moreover after I saw the show in History Channel "UFO hunters" there emerged a few good evidence that suggests that aliens are still visiting us

[miltonwasfried...man]

There is definitely life on other planets, from microrganisms to intelligent beings. But we will never come into contact with them due to the size of the universe and the technology needed is borderline impossibe. Plus, if any aliens came all the way here they would just steal our resources and then enslave/kill us.

[Black Sheep]

According to posadists, yeah.

[thesadmafioso]

I would say that in some shape or form that intelligent extraterrestrial life certainly does exist, though we have never come into contact with it and I highly doubt that the human species ever will. We have the capacity for space travel at sub light speeds, but we have established that it would simply be near the realm of impossibility to travel beyond our galaxy at such speeds.

It then follows that other intelligent species are faced with the same problem, or that they have technology which far outclasses anything which humanity will have access to for quite some time, if ever. If they are in fact faced with this issue then they simply would not be able to reach our galaxy, and if they have the technological means to overcome this challenge then why would they bother to trifle in the affairs of a civilization as underdeveloped as ours?

So yeah, it's sort of hard to say for certain, but just out of a mere question of probability it seems unthinkable to imagine that intelligent life does not exist outside of the confines of earth. Regardless of that, it doesn't really seem like this will have any effect on humanity in the foreseeable future.

[t.shonku]

We can't reach them doesn't mean that they can't reach us :D

Our physics has a long way to go , we still don't know what is gravity , and those arm chair physicist are killing physics

[thesadmafioso]

We can't reach them doesn't mean that they can't reach us :D

Our physics has a long way to go , we still don't know what is gravity , and those arm chair physicist are killing physics

Why would they want to? The technological advances required to achieve timely travel between galaxies are not imaginable as our current understanding of physics stand, meaning that we would likely be viewed as an incredibly backwards civilization by any potential visitors to our galaxy. I hate to use this tired metaphor, but we would really be seen as an ant hill. You have to imagine that such a technologically advanced species would likely of had contact with other forms of life as well, which would probably only serve to dwarf our significance further.

I don't really want to speak to anything related to physics in detail, as I don't claim to know much of the subject. I hope my initial post and this last bit didn't contain much armchair physics, as that was not my intent. I am really just aware of the fact that we do not have the capacity for travel beyond the speed of light, and that we would need to travel much faster than that to reach other galaxies in a time efficient fashion.

[Manic Impressive]

If we are to go by the SETI definition, then dolphins certainly are not intelligent.


Originally Posted by NASA
from the SETI perspective intelligence must include the ablity to transmit and receive signals over interstellar distances (that is, technological intelligence)

http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/question/?id=918

So from the SETI definition does that mean that there was no intelligent life on earth before 50 odd years ago?

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

So from the SETI definition does that mean that there was no intelligent life on earth before 50 odd years ago?

We think we are advanced because we have been to space, and we have cities and cars and stuff. Dolphins are the oppisite

[Astarte]

What of:

These are two of the most famous unexplained UFO sightinings:

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The US and Norwegian governments in 2009 called this a "Russian missile test" when it happened, thats how the mainstream media reported it. Russia denied any missile test:

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[thesadmafioso]

What of:

These are two of the most famous unexplained UFO sightinings:

S6Y5RjhOThM

sTZ7O9cfpPQ

The US and Norwegian governments in 2009 called this a "Russian missile test" when it happened, thats how the mainstream media reported it. Russia denied any missile test:

lanO72bd2u8

The burden of proof for such a tremendous claim of extraterrestrial visitation requires more than a few amateur videos which depict inconclusive and questionable evidence.

[southernmissfan]

Is it just me or is it really hard to tell who's serious and who's trolling on RevLeft these days?

[AnonymousOne]

Relevant:

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[Reznov]

I have thought about this, then I realized probably not. Our intellect is unique to us, and aliens would have a drastically different understanding and intellect compared to ours, so we would probably both be unable to understand each other, if that makes sense.

But I really hope so, I would love to meet them and exchange ideas.

[Astarte]

The burden of proof for such a tremendous claim of extraterrestrial visitation requires more than a few amateur videos which depict inconclusive and questionable evidence.

Ah, and now we get to the kernel. There will be no physical evidence because they are not physical beings. There is a huge quantity of video footage, and ancient and modern written or verbal testimony. I suppose it is logical to ignore the insane amount of ancient testimonies in texts and creation stories, in tablets and stone monuments, as well as the modern video footage and testimonies of countless people. Of course many are hoaxes, even the majority are hoaxes, but they are a variety of counterfeit hoaxes imitating a true phenomenon.

Maybe they are a kind of mass hallucination? Maybe they are from a dimension which we cannot yet detect with our sensual instruments.

[thesadmafioso]

Ah, and now we get to the kernel. There will be no physical evidence because they are not physical beings. There is a huge quantity of video footage, and ancient and modern written or verbal testimony. I suppose it is logical to ignore the insane amount of ancient testimonies in texts and creation stories, in tablets and stone monuments, as well as the modern video footage and testimonies of countless people. Of course many are hoaxes, even the majority are hoaxes, but they are a variety of counterfeit hoaxes imitating a true phenomenon.

Maybe they are a kind of mass hallucination? Maybe they are from a dimension which we cannot yet detect with our sensual instruments.

They are not physical beings? That is a claim which is even more demanding of evidence, but of course not can be provided due to their supposed metaphysical nature.

Our ability to empirically analyse the world as humans is imperfect at best, there are bound to be instances where misinterpretation emerges due to a lack of knowledge. We cannot write these instances off with such baseless claims though.

It may not be possible to refute each and every testimony or the entirety of this base of evidence, but that does not necessarily lend it credibility towards your hypothesis.

[CommieTroll]

http://youtu.be/bOcfCkUBsdc

[Mr. Gorilla]

I would say that in some shape or form that intelligent extraterrestrial life certainly does exist, though we have never come into contact with it and I highly doubt that the human species ever will. We have the capacity for space travel at sub light speeds, but we have established that it would simply be near the realm of impossibility to travel beyond our galaxy at such speeds.



You're assuming that extraterrestrial life does not exist within our own galaxy, which it very well could (We've yet to travel beyond our own solar system, and we've seen mere insignificant fraction of the celestial bodies within our galaxy).

Furthermore, the problem is that we're framing the possibility of contact with extraterrestrial species with our current level of technology and understanding of physics. The rate of technological growth is exponential, increasing quite a bit each year.

Assuming the human race continues to exist until the end of the universe--which is not unlikely if we don't blow ourselves up first, which would not happen if the Left's efforts succeed, as opposed to society reverting to a new age of fascism and ignorance--it is not outside the realm of possibility that we will have the technology to travel between galaxies (And easily, at that).

I look forward to witnessing our first contact with extraterrestrial life. I believe that I, in addition to the vast majority of people alive today, will live for trillions of years (Considering transhumanism and all).

[Nox]

It's funny how people assume that if we ever meet aliens they will be extremely advanced and very hostile towards us...

We could meet a civilisation that's less technologically advanced than us and very peaceful :)

[thesadmafioso]

It's funny how people assume that if we ever meet aliens they will be extremely advanced and very hostile towards us...

We could meet a civilisation that's less technologically advanced than us and very peaceful :)

Given the state of the various different space programs on earth, I do not expect us to be in a position to discover the existence of intelligent life beyond earth anytime soon.

[Astarte]

They are not physical beings? That is a claim which is even more demanding of evidence, but of course not can be provided due to their supposed metaphysical nature.

Our ability to empirically analyse the world as humans is imperfect at best, there are bound to be instances where misinterpretation emerges due to a lack of knowledge. We cannot write these instances off with such baseless claims though.

It may not be possible to refute each and every testimony or the entirety of this base of evidence, but that does not necessarily lend it credibility towards your hypothesis.

http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_04_1_vallee_2.pdf

Is a pretty interesting paper on the subject. Here is also a bit from the wikipedia article on the author:

" In mainstream science, Vallée is notable for co-developing the first computerized mapping of Mars for NASA and for his work at SRI International in creating ARPANET, a precursor to the modern Internet. Vallée is also an important figure in the study of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), first noted for a defense of the scientific legitimacy of the extraterrestrial hypothesis and later for promoting the Interdimensional hypothesis."

In any case, it is an interesting hypothesis.

[Bardo]

As for the UFO sightings and the like, I think if they have the technology to travel from one star to the next, they probably have astonishingly advanced stealth technology as well.

Star surveys have estimated that there are up to 70 sextillion stars in the known universe. Thats about 10 times as many stars as there are grains of sand on the surface of the Earth. I can't even imagine how many planets are out there. Out of these 70 sextillion stars and countless planets that orbit them, plus the 14 billion years that the universe has been active, it would probably be a safe bet that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. I'd even say that there has been intelligent life elsewhere in the universe for billions of years.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Ah, and now we get to the kernel. There will be no physical evidence because they are not physical beings. There is a huge quantity of video footage, and ancient and modern written or verbal testimony. I suppose it is logical to ignore the insane amount of ancient testimonies in texts and creation stories, in tablets and stone monuments, as well as the modern video footage and testimonies of countless people. Of course many are hoaxes, even the majority are hoaxes, but they are a variety of counterfeit hoaxes imitating a true phenomenon.

Maybe they are a kind of mass hallucination? Maybe they are from a dimension which we cannot yet detect with our sensual instruments.

Well done, you've just made your hypothesis unfalsifiable, good job rendering it utterly useless.

[Ingraham Effingham]

As for the UFO sightings and the like, I think if they have the technology to travel from one star to the next, they probably have astonishingly advanced stealth technology as well.

Star surveys have estimated that there are up to 70 sextillion stars in the known universe. Thats about 10 times as many stars as there are grains of sand on the surface of the Earth. I can't even imagine how many planets are out there. Out of these 70 sextillion stars and countless planets that orbit them, plus the 14 billion years that the universe has been active, it would probably be a safe bet that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. I'd even say that there has been intelligent life elsewhere in the universe for billions of years.

Then what are the chances of them stumbling across earth?

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Also, it's possible that the universe could be swarming with intelligent life... that either doesn't broadcast it's presence with radio emissions (perhaps some of them are like dolphins and never developed advanced technology, or they live underground and thus had no need or motivation to develop radio, or perhaps they do have telecommunications technology but use wires and/or lasers instead), or are far enough away that whatever signals do reach us have dissipated into uselessness.

Also, radio emissions are not the only potential means of discovering whether there is intelligent life out there. Freeman Dyson suggested looking for anomalous infra-red sources in the hope of discovering dyson spheres (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere), supra-stellar energy collection constructs which an interstellar civilisation might build. As far as I know there has not been a dedicated search for these kind of anomalous IR sources.

On a similar scale it may serve us well to carefully examine all that we find in space in case we discover something that could only be explained by intelligence. It might turn out that some phenomena that we previously thought to be natural may in fact turn out to be wholly or partly artficial. Perhaps the most obvious tip-off of this kind would be supernovae or other energy emissions inconsistent with similarly observed phenomena.

On the smaller scale, if we discover a planet that has non-intelligent life, say if we were to analyse the spectra of exoplanets and determine levels of oxygen and other reactive elements the presence of which could not be explained by any known abiotic process, then that opens the door to the possibility that the planet has intelligent life that we have yet to reveal.

[Bardo]

Then what are the chances of them stumbling across earth?

I'm sure a 5 billion year old intelligent civilization from just a few solar systems over would be more likely to discover Earth than an Earth-like civilization several galaxies away :)

[ColonelCossack]

If the universe is indeed infinite (which it probably is seeing as it is probably an open universe), the it is mathematically impossible for there not to be intelligent alien life out there. if it isn't infinite, it's still very probable.

[Dr Mindbender]

It's funny how people assume that if we ever meet aliens they will be extremely advanced and very hostile towards us...

We could meet a civilisation that's less technologically advanced than us and very peaceful :)

At this rate thats not going to happen anytime soon. No one has left the moons orbit let alone any depth of space that is likely to host life, intelligent or otherwise. With the brutal cutbacks to NASA recently that isnt doing any favours for the situation. The reason we are more likely to cross paths with technologically advanced aliens first is that chances are (assuming we arent the only technological intelligence) humans won't be the first species to work out interstellar travel.

Personally I am of the belief that aliens have already visited but are deliberately keeping us ignorant of the fact. I mean why would they want to associate with a species as backward and savage as man? Observing us is probably for them what it is for us to observe the primal predators of the african savannah.

First contact will come but only after we have dispensed with capitalism and all of the brutal trappings that come with it, our indifference to each other and our warlike propensity.