Why do we still denie the existence of extraterrestrials

[Felya]

All I'm asking is that you define what "rare" is supposed to mean at the scale of the universe. If there was one instance of abiogenesis per a trillion planetary systems, life would still be pretty common at the right scale.

Rare is defined by our ability to find evidence of it's existance. We are the only ones as far as we can see and until we find more, it will remain that rare. If we would find more or how many, is not within our realm of observation, due to how rare or small our scope is. To claim it's not rare, is to go beyond our scope, into imagination land. It goes to a place where everything could be, but nothing is...

[Wikiy]

Logic tells me that we should explore a decent percentage of space and its objects before we say the laws of physics apply to everything in the Universe....

Logic tells me that if you get to a scale where things start looking the same, you can draw conclusions based on that. And the universe starts looking the same at a scale of a few billion light years (and we've "explored" 45 billion light years in any direction). That's called homogeneity in physics and it's a basic principle which allows physicists to assume things are the same everywhere. Notice the "assume" part? That's pretty important. I'm not saying anything's proven, I'm just saying they're confident enough (and rightly so) to lead their professional lives as if it's true.

Also, take a look at this planet:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...s-1777738.html

That doesn't mean very much. You know how they actually discover planets? Using math. They don't actually ever see one. They just calculate anomalies in the star's gravitational behavior or output of light and assume the existence of a planet to explain. It's happened a lot so far that they wrongly calculated something. It's a far likelier explanation than "the laws of physics are different x light years away".

[Saishi]

In my opinion alien life existing somewhere in the Universe is almost a certainty. Until it is 100% proven I won't say it's a for sure thing so I don't mind people being skeptical and disagreeing. Now do I believe they are visiting Earth? Nope. There is no real proof of this and I just find it hard to believe that after all these years of "sightings" we still have no real proof outside of conspiracy theories and very sketchy pictures, videos and witnesses. I could be wrong and I accept this, but until I see the proof I doubt they are visiting us only to observe us which makes little sense.

[Urti]

Using math. They don't actually ever see one. They just calculate anomalies in the star's gravitational behavior or output of light and assume the existence of a planet to explain. It's happened a lot so far that they wrongly calculated something. It's a far likelier explanation than "the laws of physics are different x light years away".

Also, the article goes on to say that the planet is doing exactly what the physics predicts should happen; crash headlong into the star. The "defies the laws of physics" part is demonstrably wrong, and is simply a sensational tagline for an article. It sounds better than "Look guys! Hard math!".

[shnuggle]

Throwing some links out that should be read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Earth_hypothesis

For the nay sayers.

http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/featur...dow-biosphere/

For the yay sayers.

My personal hope is that we are not alone! It would make it much more scary to die, as the sinner I am, if it was so.

[Osmeric]

Another Empty, Lifeless Planet Found

(humor from The Toast)

[tommyhil622]

I think evidence is needed to either confirm or deny. If there's no evidence to prove either or, we can't really have a position except to be neutral on the topic.

[tommyhil622]

Also i think there are way too many topics floating around here.

[Dch48]

Simply put, because there is no proof that they exist or have ever visited us. I personally am not convinced.

[Verbatim]

While not proven, I think that the odds of us being alone in the entirety of space are simply too small for it to be plausible. I'm not saying that they're bug-eyed little men with flat space ships, but the idea that we're the only life forms? That in an ever-growing universe, we're the only planet on which life took form?

I find that even harder to believe than the bug-eyed space men.

[Slant]

Nobody denies the existence of extraterrestials. Statistically, it's almost a certainty. What we're denying is a secret conspiracy to hide extraterrestrials on earth ruling us and the gouverment is in league with them. That is so last millenium... :P

[Osmeric]

Statistically, it's almost a certainty.

Yet again: we don't know enough to be able to say this.

[Sithalos]

We would be foolish to think earth is the only planet in the universe with life. That's like filling up a drinking glass full of sea water, and saying that whales don't exist because there's none in the glass.

[Deleted]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Tehran_UFO_incident

This is good one. Critics say its planets they saw?

[Osmeric]

We would be foolish to think earth is the only planet in the universe with life. That's like filling up a drinking glass full of sea water, and saying that whales don't exist because there's none in the glass.

This is known as "begging the question". Maybe it's like not assuming mermaids exist.

[Adam Jensen]

There is no reason to flat out DENY the existence of extraterrestrial life.

But there is also zero reason to confirm it before there is evidence for it.

One must accept the possibility of it existing and move on.

Also, hearing tall tales from your granddad is possibly the worst place to "confirm" it.

Yeah, pretty much. Because life formed and then evolved naturally out of organic material that formed on this planet, there's no reason to think it can't happen somewhere else in the galaxy. However, since we look to the stars and see nothing, no sign of anything, and because we have a poor understanding of abiogenesis or the statistical probability of life forming, we can't say that life is out there with any real certainty.

We can only truly speculate. I personally think that, given the countless stars and planets there are in our galaxy, that there is probably life out there, but I'm honest enough to admit that this is nothing more than speculation.

[tommyhil622]

We would be foolish to think earth is the only planet in the universe with life. That's like filling up a drinking glass full of sea water, and saying that whales don't exist because there's none in the glass.

Lol... pretty much

[Deleted]

The people saying that we can't prove it aren't ney-sayers. They're merely telling you that there might be a chance, (excluding personal opinion here) but we haven't found it yet. We can't just go on hunches and gut feelings. I personally believe (note; Believe) that there is a vast number of life out there. But we have to look at the facts, and the fact is that we haven't found anything YET, and we might not do so for a very long time. Just because they're saying there ain't proof, it doesn't mean they don't believe.

[Callous1970]

The people saying that we can't prove it aren't ney-sayers. They're merely telling you that there might be a chance, (excluding personal opinion here) but we haven't found it yet. We can't just go on hunches and gut feelings. I personally believe (note; Believe) that there is a vast number of life out there. But we have to look at the facts, and the fact is that we haven't found anything YET, and we might not do so for a very long time. Just because they're saying there ain't proof, it doesn't mean they don't believe.

Actually it won't be that long. We can already detect the atmospheres of planets around other stars. Therefore we "could" detect one that is indicative of a life-bearing world.

[Callace]

What this boils down to is people have a lot of difficulty imagining the size of the Universe.

While the nearest solar system is light-years away, the nearest inhabitable solar system is probably thousands of light years away.
The amount of energy required to propel a vessel to the speed of light across such a distance is closer to "Omnipotence" than "advanced-technology". You would have to be able to manipulate the Universe at a fundamental level on an absurd scale.

Such a power would not arrive wielding probes and other nonsense any more than one of our astronauts would brandish a stone-spear.
If something had the power to arrive on Earth from such distances it would be:

A. Not bothered with our resources

B. Nigh omnipotent

C. Utterly undetectable

But I'm sure there is life out there somewhere. It just won't bother investigating us outside of fiction.