Do you believe in other life in the Universe?

[jamil]

Why is it hard to believe? The only answer I ever hear is "probability". People's concept of probability is flawed - just go to Las Vegas to see that in action.



The thing is, there's not an infinite number of galaxies out there - the universe is finite. Therefore, the possibility of ET life is finite. We have this sense that life must be easy to generate from nothing, because, well, we're here right now, so... flawed concept of the probability of life.


Going off of T.Lex's numbers, 1 in 7x10^20 chance of any sort of life forming and 10^24 stars...

Let's assume that only 1 in 100 stars have a planet that's habitable...

that's 1x10^22 / 7x10^20 ...

so, there's a 15:1 chance that life forms anywhere in the universe... and it's already here, so... yeah, placed money on that bet any day of the week, but let's be honest, the numbers behind all this is conjectures and theories.

Anyone got another calculation? Admittedly, mine are quick and without a lot of basis.

The study didn't say there was 1 in 7x10^20 chance of any sort of life forming. That number is just an estimate of the number of terrestrial planets around M stars in the observable universe. The number is basically the denominator. Earth, so far, is the only known numerator. That doesn't imply anything about odds.

 

[jamil]

There is too much of a knowledge deficit to say one way or the other. Assuming a naturalistic inception, vastness is not enough to conclude that the conditions must have been right somewhere else....especially when what those conditions would had to have been is largely unknown.

The betting man shouldn't bet this one.

I generally agree with this. There isn't enough known to declare anything one way or another. We're all just speculating.

 

[hog slayer]

No one knows for sure, but just saying... it's more probable there is/was than not.

A betting man would err toward life outside earth.

betting.

What character trait does that fall under?

 

[JettaKnight]

Which is the whole point of the thimble analogy. The model is based upon the knowledge of the thimble we've sampled and limited to the extent we're capable of sampling it. It's obvious enough that an environment capable of supporting life is indeed rare. Rarity in itself does not imply uniqueness. Let's get a more representative sample, and then we can trust our models more.

It's not enough to just have a lot of thimbles. If each thimble is a habitable planet, then each thimble has to develop it's own life. What we can say with some certainty, is that in each thimble of ocean water, life didn't spontaneously develop. No, it need only start once here on earth and then evolve. This is where you analogy breaks down.

No. Just like in the oceans we've explored, whatever life there is, it exists, however it got there.

It swam there. It didn't spontaneously develop. Unless you're suggesting that life can migrate across galaxies, you analogy isn't valid.

In the universe, at this point we're only trying to find it. In the vastness of the universe, we've only sampled a thimble. At some point the thimble we've sampled will have grown into a coffee mug. And then an oil tanker. And then a pond. And so on. And as our knowledge grows, we can develop a better understanding about the universe and the life in it, if Earth is the only home for life, or if there is other life out there.

But with each new discovery, the only theory that's been supported is the one that life is exclusive to earth.

 

[jamil]

betting.

What character trait does that fall under?

What? Gambling? You gamble everytime you drive your car on public roads. That's more often than not a safe bet, thankfully.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

The betting man shouldn't bet this one.

betting.

What character trait does that fall under?

Meh. Given the two options, my money goes on life having existed, existing, or will exist outside of Earth. The universe is just too damn vast to think otherwise.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Sort of related.

Vatican hosts world's leading cosmologists to bring together faith and science - Technology & Science - CBC News

 

[eldirector]

It swam there. It didn't spontaneously develop. Unless you're suggesting that life can migrate across galaxies, you analogy isn't valid.

Unless, maybe it can....
https://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/dna-building-blocks-can-be-made-space/

The building blocks of what we call life are not only on Earth. They have been found in a few places around the solar system.

 

[JettaKnight]

Meh. Given the two options, my money goes on life having existed, existing, or will exist outside of Earth. The universe is just too damn vast to think otherwise.

But the odds of spontaneous life are just too damn small.

 

[NKBJ]

"Do you believe in other life in the universe?"

OK, now I'm wondering what the question addressed; what is other life?
Are we talking life in some local other than on planet Earth without qualifications upon its origin?

That brings me to a thought from long ago. Our entire whoopty-doo rise of man and marvy groovy technological civilization has happened almost instantaneously. Ever wonder about those technologically advanced reptoids that saw the planet killer coming 65 million years ago and relocated elsewhere?
Or to put it another way, lots of people say things like oh you have to be pretty egotistical (or insert some other derogatory term) to think we're the only life in the universe, but they never think in terms of right here. We know that lots of human forms and lots of civilizations have come and gone. More are being identified all the time. And if you read up on ooparts (out of place artifacts) there's plenty of reasons to suspect we have a lot more yet to find and figger out. There are artifacts that contradict the history we have been brain washed with and also that will not fit into any of our wildest attempts to make them fit into anything comfortable.
Sooo, maybe yeah there's life out there that started in our neighborhood too.
I'm starting to hear Battlestar Galatica music in the background...

 

[ATM]

But the odds of spontaneous life are just too damn small.

...and still may be zero.

 

[T.Lex]

OK, now I'm wondering what the question addressed; what is other life?

Indeed, a definitional issue that should be addressed early in any conversation like this.

Are we talking life in some local other than on planet Earth without qualifications upon its origin?

Ok, this is starting to confuse me.

That brings me to a thought from long ago. Our entire whoopty-doo rise of man and marvy groovy technological civilization has happened almost instantaneously.

Wait. What?

Ever wonder about those technologically advanced reptoids that saw the planet killer coming 65 million years ago and relocated elsewhere?

Uh... no.

Like... Gorn?

Or to put it another way, lots of people say things like oh you have to be pretty egotistical (or insert some other derogatory term) to think we're the only life in the universe, but they never think in terms of right here. We know that lots of human forms and lots of civilizations have come and gone. More are being identified all the time. And if you read up on ooparts (out of place artifacts) there's plenty of reasons to suspect we have a lot more yet to find and figger out. There are artifacts that contradict the history we have been brain washed with and also that will not fit into any of our wildest attempts to make them fit into anything comfortable.
Sooo, maybe yeah there's life out there that started in our neighborhood too.
I'm starting to hear Battlestar Galatica music in the background...

Yeah.... I believe it.

 

[NKBJ]

Indeed, a definitional issue that should be addressed early in any conversation like this.


Ok, this is starting to confuse me.



Wait. What?


Uh... no.

Like... Gorn?


Yeah.... I believe it.

Eh, I don't know about the Gorn. That promise to be merciful sounded a little hollow.

 

[indiucky]

But the odds of spontaneous life are just too damn small.

And the rent's just too damn high!!!! $1500 per month for a 2 Bedroom on Alpha Centauri??? Uh no thanks...

 

[singlesix]

Sooo, maybe yeah there's life out there that started in our neighborhood too.
I'm starting to hear Battlestar Galatica music in the background...

[video=youtube;8hrd767Xzfk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hrd767Xzfk[/video]

 

[JettaKnight]

And the rent's just too damn high!!!! $1500 per month for a 2 Bedroom on Alpha Centauri??? Uh no thanks...

See now, I thought you'd come in here explaining how ancient civilizations were really much smarter and more capable than we give them credit for and you go in a completely unexpected direction.

 

[actaeon277]

As an practitioner and then observer of Christianity, I've noticed that theologians (authorities of the religion) often infer things not said in the Bible, teach them, and then call dissenters blasphemous. Even as a Christian, I thought many people had more faith in what their preachers told them the Bible said, than they did in what the Bible itself actually said. It's easier to believe what your preacher says God's law is, or what faith is, or what grace is, or what salvation is, or what eternal punishment is, than it is to read it for yourself separated from the teachings of theologians. This is exactly why Galileo was imprisoned. This is why people were burned at the stake. It was to protect the people's faith in the theologians to maintain their power over people's belief.

The same can be said about the Constitution. There are people who've never read it, listen to other people who've never read it.

 

[Pistol boy]

Too many people have been abducted. Also many military guys have come out and said there are extraterrestrials out there. Most of these people never gained anything for telling the world what they experienced.

 

[femurphy77]

 

[halfmileharry]

No one knows for sure, but just saying... it's more probable there is/was than not.

A betting man would err toward life outside earth.

I'm thinking that bet would have to have a time frame to it.