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What's your opinion on extraterrestrial life?

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What do you think of extraterrestrial life?
I think we are alone in the Universe and god made Humans the Pinnacle of Creation 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
I think we are alone in the Universe because life is extremely improbable and Earth is the only place with it 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
I think it is possible the Universe has other life, but it's never visited Earth 46%  46%  [ 29 ]
I think the Universe almost certainly has other life, and it's possible we've been visited 40%  40%  [ 25 ]
I feel certain we have been visited 11%  11%  [ 7 ]
Total votes : 63

Fnord
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08 Mar 2012, 3:54 pm

AspieRogue wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Fnord wrote:
  • I think it is possible the Universe has other life, but there is no valid material evidence to support the claim that it's ever visited Earth.
That is the likeliest answer. The Cosmos is big, the stars are far apart and the speed of light is nature's speed limit for material bodies (pace, the findings of OPERA. We are not made of neutrinos). ruveyn
And yet it's highly likely there are ways to get around the light barrier by exploiting general relativity(while still traveling at a subluminal speed).

Not with current technology, economics, and political interests.



AspieRogue

08 Mar 2012, 4:01 pm

Fnord wrote:
AspieRogue wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Fnord wrote:
  • I think it is possible the Universe has other life, but there is no valid material evidence to support the claim that it's ever visited Earth.
That is the likeliest answer. The Cosmos is big, the stars are far apart and the speed of light is nature's speed limit for material bodies (pace, the findings of OPERA. We are not made of neutrinos). ruveyn
And yet it's highly likely there are ways to get around the light barrier by exploiting general relativity(while still traveling at a subluminal speed).

Not with current technology, economics, and political interests.



Even so, what matters is that is is possible.



goodwitchy
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08 Mar 2012, 4:32 pm

I think the Universe almost certainly has other life, and it's POSSIBLE we've been visited.

Possible: adj.
4. Of uncertain likelihood.


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Fnord
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08 Mar 2012, 6:05 pm

AspieRogue wrote:
Fnord wrote:
AspieRogue wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Fnord wrote:
  • I think it is possible the Universe has other life, but there is no valid material evidence to support the claim that it's ever visited Earth.
That is the likeliest answer. The Cosmos is big, the stars are far apart and the speed of light is nature's speed limit for material bodies (pace, the findings of OPERA. We are not made of neutrinos). ruveyn
And yet it's highly likely there are ways to get around the light barrier by exploiting general relativity(while still traveling at a subluminal speed).
Not with current technology, economics, and political interests.
Even so, what matters is that is is possible.

No.

What matters is results.

If possibility were all that mattered, then every man with functional anatomy would be convicted of rape.



AspieRogue

08 Mar 2012, 6:23 pm

Fnord wrote:
AspieRogue wrote:
Fnord wrote:
AspieRogue wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Fnord wrote:
  • I think it is possible the Universe has other life, but there is no valid material evidence to support the claim that it's ever visited Earth.
That is the likeliest answer. The Cosmos is big, the stars are far apart and the speed of light is nature's speed limit for material bodies (pace, the findings of OPERA. We are not made of neutrinos). ruveyn
And yet it's highly likely there are ways to get around the light barrier by exploiting general relativity(while still traveling at a subluminal speed).
Not with current technology, economics, and political interests.
Even so, what matters is that is is possible.

No.

What matters is results.

If possibility were all that mattered, then every man with functional anatomy would be convicted of rape.



That's a ridiculous analogy. What exactly is your point? If you're saying that we cannot do this with current technology you'll get no argument from me there. But if something is allowable by physical law, it's highly likely that someone will figure out how to do it one of these days.



goodwitchy
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08 Mar 2012, 7:53 pm

What is the statistical rate of "possibility" ?



simon_says
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08 Mar 2012, 9:04 pm

I suppose it depends on how you use it. Possible contrasted with impossible could have any value. Possible contrasted with probable would imply less certainty. Either under 51% or at least not supported by much evidence, but still not impossible.



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08 Mar 2012, 10:01 pm

Okay 8) then I'll put my crazy opinion out here - I believe there's a 5% chance that other life forms have visited Earth, and there's a chance they will visit again in the future.


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Fnord
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08 Mar 2012, 10:54 pm

goodwitchy wrote:
Okay 8) then I'll put my crazy opinion out here - I believe there's a 5% chance that other life forms have visited Earth, and there's a chance they will visit again in the future.

For the sake of argument: How did you determine that percentage?



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08 Mar 2012, 11:22 pm

Fnord wrote:
goodwitchy wrote:
Okay 8) then I'll put my crazy opinion out here - I believe there's a 5% chance that other life forms have visited Earth, and there's a chance they will visit again in the future.

For the sake of argument: How did you determine that percentage?


This is rough, so you can laugh at it:

1. Lack of solid evidence (0)
2. Millions of people who claim to have seen "something" (+2) ..assuming most can be explained by other phenomenon
3. The probability that there is other life in the universe (+ 8 )
4. The current lack of human technology to travel the universe as this other life form would have needed to develop (-5)

I'm sure my thought process is not as scientific as yours.


I also think it may be possible (but not probable) that another life form may be beyond any means we would have to detect it with our human senses and technology.

ETA: Lack of evidence is not proof of nonexistence, so I give it a zero rather than a minus.... maybe that's not exactly correct....still I'm sticking with 5%


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AspieRogue

09 Mar 2012, 12:29 am

Fnord wrote:
goodwitchy wrote:
Okay 8) then I'll put my crazy opinion out here - I believe there's a 5% chance that other life forms have visited Earth, and there's a chance they will visit again in the future.

For the sake of argument: How did you determine that percentage?



Answer me: What was your point in your prior response to my posts ITT?



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09 Mar 2012, 12:34 am

Vigilans wrote:
Certainly. Using Apollo era tech we could get to Mars, albeit with a few additions such as more radiation shielding and maybe a VASIMIR engine to speed things along. There were a lot of plans for the Apollo tech following the moon landings that were shelved in favor of the space taxi. Including a manned Venus flyby


A VASIMIR drive cannot speed things up considerably and for a manned mission to Mars, you wouldn't want to anyway. The fastest transfer orbit to Mars that actually allows for a return trip takes 6 months to get there.



AspieRogue

09 Mar 2012, 12:48 am

Jono wrote:
Vigilans wrote:
Certainly. Using Apollo era tech we could get to Mars, albeit with a few additions such as more radiation shielding and maybe a VASIMIR engine to speed things along. There were a lot of plans for the Apollo tech following the moon landings that were shelved in favor of the space taxi. Including a manned Venus flyby


A VASIMIR drive cannot speed things up considerably and for a manned mission to Mars, you wouldn't want to anyway. The fastest transfer orbit to Mars that actually allows for a return trip takes 6 months to get there.



But a Nuclear Plasma Thruster most certainly could. :wink:



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09 Mar 2012, 1:20 am

goodwitchy wrote:
... I also think it may be possible (but not probable) that another life form may be beyond any means we would have to detect it with our human senses and technology... Lack of evidence is not proof of nonexistence, so I give it a zero rather than a minus.... maybe that's not exactly correct....still I'm sticking with 5%

a. Lack of evidence is sufficient cause for reasonable doubt.

b. There is no evidence for undetectable life forms.

: : It is reasonable to doubt the existence of undetectable life forms.

Conversely, it is not reasonable to believe in the existence of undetectable life forms.



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09 Mar 2012, 1:24 am

Carl Sagan - Cosmos - Drake Equation


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlikCebQSlY[/youtube]

Since we don't have any exact numbers to work with as far as I know, we can only speculate.


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09 Mar 2012, 1:28 am

goodwitchy wrote:
... we can only speculate.

Which is why the literary genre is called speculative fiction, especially when the author's ideas about extraterrestrial life are involved.