Do you believe in aliens?

[bitjacker]

I saw a light in the sky. It moved slow for a bit, moving upwards about 30 degrees (over a period of 5 seconds) then took off like a bat out of hell. it only took a split second until it was gone from sight. This happened near guam. nothing was ever seen on radar, but another watchman saw the same thing.

 

[T-hug]

I watch Ancient Aliens and believe we are not alone in the universe but that is the extent of my opinion

 

[Lucifer666]

The question itself requires deconstructing and analysis because if extraterrestrial life were to exist, what would it look like? What criteria could we use to distinguish between alien life and other non-Earthly objects?

Going by basic biology a life form is defined as an organic consisting of cells and exhibiting all of the traits of movement, reproduction, sensitivity, nutrition, excretion, respiration, and growth. Which is, of course, a very Earth-centric definition, as it is based on labelling properties that local life forms share. What if we were to come across an entity that our social minds perceive as another living party, but that does not fulfil the above assessment?

On another note, speculations on alien life often incorporate a number of presumptions that have come about as a product of both imagination and science fiction (though these are one and the same. Arguably.) Letting all the green-bodied, black-eyed stuff aside, there is a general expectation that alien life takes on a biped form and/or has a relatable level of intelligence, a concept defined by the extents and constraints of our own cognition.

With that idea then it is fair to say that amongst some 8.7 million species on Earth, only one of them fulfil both, whereas a larger but still relatively tiny number from the primate order fulfil the first.

Do I think that life is evident only as far as our spaceships can take us? No, that is too self-centred a perspective and also shows a lack of understanding of the infinitesimal significance of Earth in the colossus that is the Universe. Probability dictates that, astronomical distances considered, as well as modern understandings of science (natural selection, evolution, etc.), the chances of Earth being the only bearer of life is so improbable it hardly warrants consideration.

That said, whatever is out there could very well be space bacteria, or algae, or something equally unexciting. It could also be a moving rock-like structure. Hell if I know. It is a useless exercise to try and project preconceived notions onto what other-wordly creatures look like, since this is not only unfruitful, but probably a bit disappointing too.

 

[Lacius]

Going by basic biology a life form is defined as an organic consisting of cells and exhibiting traits of movement, reproduction, sensitivity, nutrition, excretion, respiration, and growth.

As per your point, this is a very Earth-centric definition of life.

1. Your use of the word organic traditionally refers to carbon-based molecules, but we know that life could possibly exist using elements other than carbon.
2. The requirement for cells is very Earth-centric and not necessarily true of alien life; in addition, if you count viruses as life, they are not made up of cells.
3. The old definition of life that includes growth, reproduction, consumption, etc. is hit or miss and could potentially include things such as fire that are not alive. The widely accepted definition of life among biologists these days is that which is capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution.
4. Finally, none of what we're talking about includes what we conventionally refer to as inorganic life. It could be that the first alien life we discover is so advanced that it's a technological artificial intelligence. Does that mean it's not alive?

 

[VinsCool]

I voted no because there's no actual proof of alien existance.


I'll believe if there's solid proof.

 

[Lucifer666]

As per your point, this is a very Earth-centric definition of life.

1. Your use of the word organic traditionally refers to carbon-based molecules, but we know that life could possibly exist using elements other than carbon.
2. The requirement for cells is very Earth-centric and not necessarily true of alien life; in addition, if you count viruses as life, they are not made up of cells.
3. The old definition of life that includes growth, reproduction, consumption, etc. is hit or miss and could potentially include things such as fire that are not alive. The widely accepted definition of life among biologists these days is that which is capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution.
4. Finally, none of what we're talking about includes what we conventionally refer to as inorganic life. It could be that the first alien life we discover is so advanced that it's a technological artificial intelligence. Does that mean it's not alive?

1. I was indeed referring to carbon-based molecules there, and did not know that non carbon-based biochemicals exist. Thanks for sharing. If I'm understanding this correctly then we are yet to see a species composed entirely in this way but it's useful to know the possibility exists.
2. I'm glad you brought up viruses; I have always considered them to be in the 'grey area' between the categories of living and dead. There's also the fact that they are not independently self-replicating/reproducing (brings into question the strength of that definition if they are 'alive'. More under #3.) Definitely challenges the approach we should take to identifying life.
3. Your example of fire seems more metaphorical when you apply ideas like 'consumption' or 'reproduction', but I'm certain 'nutrition' doesn't work in any sense of the word. That's the extent of my knowledge of biology though (sat my GCSE in 2014), which is practically nil, and I like your modern definition better.
4. That's absolutely true, and that's the very question I was trying to beg with my post. The first 2 sentences were me reflecting upon that concept.

 

[Lacius]

1. I was indeed referring to carbon-based molecules there, and did not know that non carbon-based biochemicals exist. Thanks for sharing. If I'm understanding this correctly then we are yet to see a species composed entirely in this way but it's useful to know the possibility exists.
2. I'm glad you brought up viruses; I have always considered them to be in the 'grey area' between the categories of living and dead. There's also the fact that they are not independently self-replicating/reproducing (brings into question the strength of that definition if they are 'alive'. More under #3.) Definitely challenges the approach we should take to identifying life.
3. Your example of fire seems more metaphorical when you apply ideas like 'consumption' or 'reproduction', but I'm certain 'nutrition' doesn't work in any sense of the word. That's the extent of my knowledge of biology though (sat my GCSE in 2014), which is practically nil, and I like your modern definition better.
4. That's absolutely true, and that's the very question I was trying to beg with my post. The first 2 sentences were me reflecting upon that concept.

If one looks at a periodic table of elements, anything in the same column as carbon has enough free electrons to maximally enjoy bonding with other elements. Anything in this column could conceivably be the backbone of organic molecules on an alien world, with silicon and germanium as likely candidates. Carbon is probably the most likely because it's the most abundant element in this column, however.

Not entirely off topic, but it's a little Earth-centric to think life requires water as a solvent, as well. Alternative solvents for alien life include ammonia and methane, among others. Given this fact, places we thought might be too cold for life as we know it might actually allow for methane-based life, for example, to thrive. Saturn's moon Titan is far too cold on the surface for life as we know it, but it has seas of liquid methane not too dissimilar from seas of water.

The point is that we can't make too many assumptions about what alien life would be like.

 

[The Catboy]

I find it harder to believe there isn't life out there. We exist, therefore I find it completely impossible for more life to be out there.

 

[mudassirul]

I believe that life may exist outside earth but they would be too far and wide to ever reach or for them to reach us. There's no such thing as wormholes or teleporting so any living thing travelling on a spaceship would be long dead and frozen in the depths of space before coming into contact with us!

 

[Lacius]

There's no such thing as wormholes or teleporting so any living thing travelling on a spaceship would be long dead and frozen in the depths of space before coming into contact with us!

Well, wormholes and other hypothetical faster-than-light travel methods could be possible for humans someday. Modern understandings of physics allow for these things if certain assumptions are made about the universe. We don't know what the future holds.

As for slower-than-light travel methods, things like stasis and time dilation could potentially allow living beings to arrive safely in another star system.

 

[mudassirul]

Well, wormholes and other hypothetical faster-than-light travel methods could be possible for humans someday. Modern understandings of physics allow for these things if certain assumptions are made about the universe. We don't know what the future holds.

As for slower-than-light travel methods, things like stasis and time dilation could potentially allow living beings to arrive safely in another star system.

I'm not sure if I believe that wormholes would work given that they haven't been proved and that they don't last long enough. And for travelling near light speed, there are debris flying around in space and I can't imagine anything but being utterly obliterated by them flying at such speeds!

 

[Thesolcity]

I believe in people from other countries, yes.

 

[LittleFlame]

I voted no because there's no actual proof of alien existance.


I'll believe if there's solid proof.

i think it's very arrogant to think that we are the only other life forms out there who are thinking about this stuff

 

[Youkai]

Ever heard of a Man called Erich von Däniken ?
He might have said a lot of bullshit bit still some of the things he says sounds really plausible and he hardly ever says "there are Aliens" but usually says "It is hard to believe humans could have done this without any help" even though this is participially the same there is still a difference ^^V

Even though I was never really interested in this stuff I loved to watch his movies showing interesting things around the world.

You guys should watch some of his Videos that are in English language, if I remember correct there are some.

/// found some

 

[dimmidice]

i'm sure there has been, is or will be alien life out there somewhere. but i don't believe they've visited earth.

 

[ned]

My grandad flew b52s during the war, one on one engine whilst dragging the pilot out of his seat because he'd just been shot to shit, he said it'd neigh-on impossible to leave our own atmosphere and re-enter without burning up and that we didn't have technological knowledge to do it, he also said goverments are developing stuff that we won't see in the piblic eye for another 50 years.

 

[Youkai]

My grandad flew b52s during the war, one on one engine whilst dragging the pilot out of his seat because he'd just been shot to shit, he said it'd neigh-on impossible to leave our own atmosphere and re-enter without burning up and that we didn't have technological knowledge to do it, he also said goverments are developing stuff that we won't see in the piblic eye for another 50 years.

Not only the Government

I have been at Microsoft yesterday and they showed us some stuff that is in development (they only showed as a video) and the guy showing us this was telling us how amazing the prototypes already are as he have seen them in real life but than again he said it might take another 10 years or more for some of these things to get released to the public and lots of those things will never be available to normal consumers like us but only for big companies.

 

[Xenon Hacks]

I voted no because there's no actual proof of alien existance.


I'll believe if there's solid proof.

It's not a question of if there will be proof but when there will be proof.

 

[gnmmarechal]

I believe it to be highly unlikely that only this planet has life.

 

[Temarile]

I'm sure we are not alone in the universe. Yes, we've not made contact. But that doesn't mean it's not possible for there to be life out there. For all we know, we're being studied right now. We're just not technologically advanced enough. Yet.