Are We or Aren't We Alone the Universe?

[Monalistan]

I think it impossible that we are the only lifeforms in the universe. Furthermore, I also think it's impossible that we are the only intelligent lifeforms as well, because if we're the smartest the universe has to offer, then life is overrated.

[Internationalist Bastard]

I think it impossible that we are the only lifeforms in the universe. Furthermore, I also think it's impossible that we are the only intelligent lifeforms as well, because if we're the smartest the universe has to offer, then life is overrated.

"The only species to invent sex robots before free energy"

[Ifreann]

I think it impossible that we are the only lifeforms in the universe. Furthermore, I also think it's impossible that we are the only intelligent lifeforms as well, because if we're the smartest the universe has to offer, then life is overrated.

Maybe you're just spending time with the wrong people.

[San Lumen]

I think it impossible that we are the only lifeforms in the universe. Furthermore, I also think it's impossible that we are the only intelligent lifeforms as well, because if we're the smartest the universe has to offer, then life is overrated.

I agree completely

[Rusozak]

Anyone who denies that alien life exist is either misinformed or in denial. Just because there's no clear evidence doesn't mean something doesn't exist, or else the universe would be WAY WAY smaller. Whether or not aliens have been to Earth is debatable, but to say no other planet in the unfathomably vast universe has life on it is blatant ignorance.

[Renewed Dissonance]

Anyone who denies that alien life exist is either misinformed or in denial.

Or is simply drawing a conclusion based on the available evidence.

Just because there's no clear evidence doesn't mean something doesn't exist

In the absence of clear evidence, there is no reason to conclude that something does exist.

Please carefully note that our two statements are not mutually exclusive.

[Grenartia]

I'd go as far as saying that if we find no other forms of intelligent life in the observable universe, then its damn near as close as you can possibly get to proof of the existence of a creator.

Personally I've never given much credence to the notion that unlikely events prove divine interference.

To be entirely fair, I did say "damn near as close as you can possibly get", as opposed to "absolutely proves".

[The Romulan Republic]

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”


― Arthur C. Clarke

I don't find the possibility of alien life terrifying. My ego is not at all threatened by the idea that our form of life is not the only one, and as for any more physical threats, even if said life could reach us and had any inclination to do so (by no means givens), I do not assume, as some seem to, that it would be hostile.

[The Romulan Republic]

I think it impossible that we are the only lifeforms in the universe. Furthermore, I also think it's impossible that we are the only intelligent lifeforms as well, because if we're the smartest the universe has to offer, then life is overrated.

Sigh...

It would be nice to have a discussion about aliens without the misanthropy brigade trotting out their rubbish.

[Kilobugya]

First there are two things to consider to bind the perimeter of the question :

1. Of what kind of life are we speaking ? Single-cell micro-organisms ? Plants ? Small animals ? Monkey/octopus/dolphin level intelligence ? Human-level intelligence ?

2. The "universe" is pretty huge, what are we speaking about ? The entire (perhaps infinite) universe ? Our entire Hubble volume ? The galaxies that didn't yet drift away so far they are unreachable (if we emit a signal now, it'll never reach them) ? Our galaxy ?

And then there are two major elements to consider :

1. The universe is enormous - just our galaxy has like 100 billions stars. And there billions of galaxies in our Hubble volume. That there is no life at all (except us) anywhere in this enormous space would be really surprising.

2. The cosmic time-scale is enormous too : just Earth is ~5 billions years old. As it would be unlikely that we are alone, it would be equally unlikely that all life developed at the same pace. If we consider that another life developed just 1% slower, they are like squirrels, as we are 50 millions years ago. And if it developed 1% faster... just a couple of centuries after discovering the scientific method, we domesticated the power of stars, walked on the Moon, eradicated diseases, sent probes to interstellar space. What will we do in 50 millions years ? Send Von Neumann probes all around the galaxy, build Dyson spheres and ringworlds, harness the hydrogen from the stars, ... and that's beginning.

So considered all those two, there seems to be a paradox. Why don't we see any alien mega-structure and Von Neumann probes ? The answer must be in the speed of light : nothing can travel faster. So aliens that are millions of years ahead of use must be millions of light-years apart, and we don't see them. That points to intelligent life being rare, we are very likely alone in our local group, the most advanced life we can hope to find somewhere near is small animals. But far, far away, so far away that reaching them would take millions or even billions of years, there probably are some aliens, way more advanced than us.

[The Romulan Republic]

Or they just don't build megastructures that would be detectable.

It is foolish and dangerous to assume their is one path that all civilizations would inevitably take.

[New Leganes]

We are not alone, that's indisputable. Another thing is what kind of life is out of Earth. We cannot even imagine how can real aliens be like.

[Republic of Coldwater]

Although there is an incredibly high chance that there are other lifeforms out there, I honestly would prefer a universe where we were the only intelligent lifeforms. That way, we can just colonize and terraform other planets to our liking.

[The Alexanderians]

We can't be. It's so vast that it's impossible that we're the only life there is.

I've got money on there being other life. Maybe not how we imagine it but I doubt very highly we're totally alone. I just hope we can get along if and when we meet.

[Republic of Coldwater]

We can't be. It's so vast that it's impossible that we're the only life there is.

I've got money on there being other life. Maybe not how we imagine it but I doubt very highly we're totally alone. I just hope we can get along if and when we meet.

Probably not going to happen, I doubt we could so easily live amongst each other, especially when they could've evolved on such different paths that our civilizations would simply be incompatible.

[The Alexanderians]

I've got money on there being other life. Maybe not how we imagine it but I doubt very highly we're totally alone. I just hope we can get along if and when we meet.

Probably not going to happen, I doubt we could so easily live amongst each other, especially when they could've evolved on such different paths that our civilizations would simply be incompatible.

How do you know with an certainty though? Things change, societies evolve. I'm of the mind that perhaps species have something a kin to the concept of "soulmate" out of all the possible ones we come across there has to be at least one we can relate to or get along with.

[Luziyca]

We're not alone. We got each other on this godforsaken rock.

[Kilobugya]

Or they just don't build megastructures that would be detectable.

It is foolish and dangerous to assume their is one path that all civilizations would inevitably take.

There is not "one path", but there are constraints and universals. One universal is that life growths, or it wouldn't reach civilization. And one constraint is that the main limit to how much a civilization can grow is the amount of energy it can use. Perhaps the alien civilization will stay biological like it evolved, perhaps it'll heavily genetic engineer itself, perhaps it'll convert itself to robots, perhaps it'll upload itself to virtual world, perhaps it'll we don't know what - all different path open. But one constant remains : they'll need higher and higher amount of energy, or they'll disappear.

And it's not like there are ways to make energy out of nowhere, nor that energy can disappear undetected. Energy stays constant, but is converted from low entropy to high entropy - and that's something we can detect. An advanced civilization can use the energy released from stars, but then we would detect a shifting from visible/UV light towards infrared as they use the energy and increase its entropy. Or they can directly siphon the hydrogen from the stars and use it themselves - but that we would see too.

[Daffyflippingduck]

Have you never heard of grey men or reptilian people?

[Rusozak]

Anyone who denies that alien life exist is either misinformed or in denial.

Or is simply drawing a conclusion based on the available evidence.

Just because there's no clear evidence doesn't mean something doesn't exist

In the absence of clear evidence, there is no reason to conclude that something does exist.

Please carefully note that our two statements are not mutually exclusive.

So you're saying then that, unless new evidence is available, it is safe to assume we know everything there is know about the universe because of the available evidence we have?

[Liberonscien]

There may only be single cell organisms, but I like to think if there was alien life out there, they'd be on-par with our tech.

That's highly unlikely. Most alien life would either be primitive or incomprehensibly advanced.

That doesn't seem like it would be true. I think it could be at the same level as us.

[The Alexanderians]

We're not alone. We got each other on this godforsaken rock.

...*takes a shot* God help us

[The TransPecos]

Anyone who denies that alien life exist is either misinformed or in denial.

Or is simply drawing a conclusion based on the available evidence.

Just because there's no clear evidence doesn't mean something doesn't exist

In the absence of clear evidence, there is no reason to conclude that something does exist.

Please carefully note that our two statements are not mutually exclusive.

You can't prove a negative. There is always the possibility you just haven't found it yet. The conclusion must be that the possibility exists.

[Renewed Dissonance]

Or is simply drawing a conclusion based on the available evidence.



In the absence of clear evidence, there is no reason to conclude that something does exist.

Please carefully note that our two statements are not mutually exclusive.

You can't prove a negative. There is always the possibility you just haven't found it yet. The conclusion must be that the possibility exists.

True, although at no point did I say anything like "the absense of clear evidence proves that something does not exist." So...

*cookies for everyone*

[Jochistan]

We're not alone. We got each other on this godforsaken rock.

I'd rather die than have this be all there is. Seriously, that would suck so much.