There very well may be but our very first radio communications still have only reached 100 light years and we haven't heard any others.
We are not alone?
- Thread starter Brigadier
- Start date
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Indeed we are the aliens.
Didn't you see Quatermass and the Pit?
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EFL , so you have never heard of the 1977 WOW signal we received , also thats presuming we went along the same evolutionary path who says the would have invented radio waves they might have some completely different form of cummunication
Was it genuine?
We didn't invent radio waves; they seem to be rather universal.
What else is there? A different spectrum?
we are definitely not alone.
I'm not going to say that there isn't or hasn't been other intelligent life out there , I very much want to believe even if actual evidence is lacking. The Drake equation gives us numbers in the region of 100 million worlds where life has ( possibly /probably ) arisen and even if a fraction of 1% has developed to intelligence then the numbers are still high even if they are so far away we may never meet ot know of them .To go back to your comment about the grains of sand , just because the numbers are so high it means there must be other life is deeply flawed. You could just as easily say that because so many people believe ( and many millions more have believed) in a deity it proves that God exists .
There are other ways, such as encrypted signals, which we would not detect. In fact if they are like us, they would have only sent regular radio signals for a few decades before changing. This means that the chances of finding a signal are even more remote.
Given that an alien civilisation would likely develop at a very different time to us (for example a few million years earlier or later than us), the chances of detecting actual radio signals are remote.
We need to find a way of detecting other signals other than just radio signals.
Also of course, now we are finding exo-planets, we can start to look for signs of physical alien civilisation, such as excess heat or light from a planet. A sufficiently advanced civilisation would likely emit these in greater excess than we currently do.
Assuming an alien civilisation progresses along similar technological lines as ours it would seem logical that they too have asked the same questions as we have and have searched the heavens for signs of life. Presumably they too will have found planets and examined them and possibly looked at ours and seen those signs. Now if we found such a planet it would warrant a more detailed investigation. Sending probes or anything physical is clearly beyond us even for the closest of exo planets but the temptation must be to try to send a signal. Again if an alien thought similarly it's possible they would do the same and target us with a signal or messages.
The biggest problem I can see is the timing. if our development had been delayed by only a century or so we wouldn't be looking for aliens or exo planets and the same would apply to those same aliens.
The biggest problem I can see is the timing. if our development had been delayed by only a century or so we wouldn't be looking for aliens or exo planets and the same would apply to those same aliens.
No, that doesn't follow at all.
We are looking at two things:
the possibility that "intelligent life exists".
We consider that the answer to this question is yes, and we consider ourselves an example
(opinions may differ)
the probability that "intelligent life exists"
We deduce that the probability is not less than 1 in (an unknown but very large number)
We have not yet decided if the probability is one in a billion, one in trillion, or one in a brazillian.
We do not yet know, but are starting to estimate, how many planets might exist where the conditions might be suitable for life to occur and develop.
As we already accept that intelligent life exists on at least one planet, there is no particular reason to assume that it will not exist on any other planets.
Your alternative proposition "that a god exists" has not yet been proven to exist in even one occurrence, therefore the "possibility" and "probability" numbers are not the same.
I suspect we are alone, after I read an eye-opening fact:
There are an estimated 5^19 'habitable' planets in the universe. Sounds like plenty of opportunity for life, right?
But the probability of abiogenesis (creating life from inert chemicals) is thought to be even less than 1 in 5^19.
Therefore, even with 50 quintillion planets available, it was still a remarkable stroke of luck that life happened on even one of them (ours). The chances of it happening twice are astronomical! And that's just the chance of creating any life at all, let alone intelligent life.
Of course, maybe we just haven't thought of an easier way that abiogenesis can occur...
There are an estimated 5^19 'habitable' planets in the universe. Sounds like plenty of opportunity for life, right?
But the probability of abiogenesis (creating life from inert chemicals) is thought to be even less than 1 in 5^19.
Therefore, even with 50 quintillion planets available, it was still a remarkable stroke of luck that life happened on even one of them (ours). The chances of it happening twice are astronomical! And that's just the chance of creating any life at all, let alone intelligent life.
Of course, maybe we just haven't thought of an easier way that abiogenesis can occur...
L
longdogs
Yes. It was saying 'B-u-y--e-x--d-I-s-p-l-a-y--k-I-t-c-h-e-n-s--f-r-o-m--k-e-p-l-e-r'
Think you've missed the point, I'm talking about proof. Just because we have discovered planets in positions that may support life and just because there are billions of suns with potential planets that could support life and just because millions of people believe aliens exist doesn't prove there is life anywhere else in the universe any more than millions of people believing in god or thousands of people witnessing miracles prove that god exists . Either way we are lacking any real concrete evidence.
Personally I would be surprised if there isn't life out there but there does still exist the possibility that we are nothing more than an abnomally , a glich if you like in the running of the universe.
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