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do you believe on life on other planets


mellonman

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Do I 'believe' in life on other planets as per thread title, no.

But I do accept the probability that there may be.

 

I think Tannhauser sums it up quite nicely.

 

The problem we have is that we base all our assumptions and basis of probabilities only from what we can observe from earth and the probes we have sent out in to the solar system.

Therefore we can only see a tiny fraction of the universe and we base our probabilities on that.

 

Is it possible life exists elsewhere, sure it is. Is it possible for intelligent life, yes again. We can assume that over the billions of years of planet and solar system developments across the universe that similar conditions for life do exist out there. How much can we assume, well that is based only on a probability as explained above with what we can observe and predict about the universe from our single point perspective from earth.

 

But also there is always a small probability that no life exists on other planets.

I guess it depends on how you interperate the concept of infinity and how it applies to the universe.

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Has anyone ever read up on the theory that our life was brought in by a meteor of which I believe was something like half the size of the earth. Since the meteor hit, the earth was shaped, oxygen became, water became, the moon became (as debris) and life forms started to grow.

 

If we were brought in by a meteor from out in the voids of space, then I am so definietely sure that there is life forms elsewhere. Either that, or it was some highly unexpected chemical reaction that happened.

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I think we need to define the term "life" in this question :)

 

When people don't understand the science, they tend to "believe" in things. There is no room for belief in science, until you get to a certain point, which is not the topic of this discussion.

 

in deed and there is another thread about beliefs thats what got me started on this one lol, once said by a famous man " its life jim but not as we know it".

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I think we need to define the term "life" in this question :)

 

When people don't understand the science, they tend to "believe" in things. There is no room for belief in science, until you get to a certain point, which is not the topic of this discussion.

 

I don't think that's the case where this question is concerned. I'm pretty sure 'life' has already been discovered on other planets so that's not really an issue. I think the main question is intelligent life.

 

Even where science is concerned on the subject they will conceed that it is very likely that intelligent life exists on other planets. That's not to say that it does or doesn't, just that the likelyhood of it being the case is overwhelming in the odds department.

 

If life on earth is a billion to 1, then the criteria for 2 billion to 2 exists. The same can be said for a trillion to 1. No matter what the chances are of there being life on earth given the complex nature of our being, there are enough "chances" in the universe for it to happen again.

 

I doubt very much we will prove intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, certainly not in our lifetime, but it would be nice if we got lucky :D

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I'm pretty sure 'life' has already been discovered on other planets so that's not really an issue.

 

To date, life has not been discovered anywhere apart from here on earth.

 

But as you point out in the rest of the post, the balance of probabilities considering the vast number of galaxies within the universe means that it would be wrong to say for sure that there is no other life than what is found on our planet. Whether it be intelligent or otherwise.

 

I would hazzard a guess that if intelligent life was discovered somewhere else then the world budget would be spent on creating weapons to defend....sorry....destroy it. ;)

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To date, life has not been discovered anywhere apart from here on earth.

 

But as you point out in the rest of the post, the balance of probabilities considering the vast number of galaxies within the universe means that it would be wrong to say for sure that there is no other life than what is found on our planet. Whether it be intelligent or otherwise.

 

I would hazzard a guess that if intelligent life was discovered somewhere else then the world budget would be spent on creating weapons to defend....sorry....destroy it. ;)

 

Was bacteria not discovered somewhere? My memory is sketchy at the best of times but I remember a massive breakthrough a few years back where it was said that bacteria had been found somewhere, or single cell organisms of some sort. I can't actually remember I just remember a big deal being made about something.

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They thought they had discovered fossilised bacterial life on Mars but it was debunked. There is, without doubt, intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. Proving that is the hard bit.

 

Ahh, that's what I was thinking of. Did it turn out to be leftover rice or something? :D

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