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| Author: Posted: Sep. 8, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 7,125,220 |
Question of the Week: 88 - 12/8/2002 Are We Alone in The Universe? Is this Earth the only planet inhabited with intelligent life? (Yeah. I wonder about that "intelligent" part sometimes, too!) Is Life a fluke? Are we unique? If there are other life forms out there, do you think that we shall ever meet them? How far into the future might that happen? Will they find us or will we find them first? Do you think that the discovery of inhabitants on other planets would change our world view? How would the existence of aliens affect the religions of this world? Do you think such a concept as "religion" might also be found on other worlds? Have we already been visited by beings from other planets? If an alien did come calling, what might you show him/her/it about life on planet Earth? Would you like to travel to another planet? |
| Reponses: There are 67 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| Alone In The Universe - HA! | Dec 12th. at 11:54:29 pm EST |
| LadyofVirtue (Holyoke, Massachusetts) | Age: 23 - Email - Web |
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I seriously do not believe we are the only planet with 'intelligent' life. There are many systems that we have not visited nor I believe will ever get to visit. Since the universe IS so vast. As far as real contact has already been made, I like the ending of Men in Black both 1 and 2 we maybe a little molecule in a alien's marble or running around as dust in an alien's locker for all we know. Again, the universe IS vast. Heck, for all we know roaches are the aliens and they refuse to leave us alone. :) There are so many possibilities out there. And honestly, I don't believe we'll be intelligent enough to properly deal with the answer if it comes to us. Do I think that a space ship landed in Roswell, probably, and we probably killed our definite answer to knowing if life is out there. Honestly, how much information does the government gives us anyway? :) However, if alien life forms were to show up on earth, I do NOT doubt that people would form some weird religion worshipping this new creatures. I seriously, wouldn't doubt it. People are always searching for answers, and a new life from another planet would allow tons of questions that we would not be able to answer but this new being would. It sounds rather synical but that is how people are at times. Sometimes you want to believe so much you'll do or say anything to make it happen. |
| Research Project | Dec 13th. at 12:43:33 pm EST |
| Gren Brid (Alaska) | Age: 36 - Email |
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As a Witch, I have always known there are intelligent entities within and without our small blue planet. Several different members of my family, at different times, two of them very pragmatic people not given to "flights of fancy", have had UFO encounters, and I believe them. As a biologist, I can't help but wonder if the human race isn't just some universal graduate student's research project, and they come down to check on us from time to time and run studies. Wouldn't that be a kick in the pants? Blessed Be. |
| The Odds Are.... | Dec 13th. at 1:33:06 pm EST |
| Hazel (Regina SK, Canada) | Age: 27 - Email |
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I had a wonderful Physics teacher in high school and he once said, 'How can there be so many wonderful places to see in the universe without anyway to get there?' I agree. The odds are pretty good that there is intellegent life out there and that we (as a race) might live to meet it). It may not be what we expect to see or what we might consider intellegent, however. Hopefully, we will have stopped making stupid movies like Independance Day and Starship Troopers by then. I have a link to an interesting essay on this subject...Just select 'forums' and choose 'science' from the menu that appears. The essay is called alien evolution. |
| Not A Chance ... | Dec 13th. at 3:36:44 pm EST |
| Crispy (Somewhere ---) | Age: 17 - Email |
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I find it very unlikely that we are only in the universe! Simply because its so EXTRMELY huge!!! There must be some remote place that is exactly like earth (or close enoguht), so life can evolve ... And no! I don't think that alinens have visited earth! Its just the American goverment testing new stealth helocopters (or whatever) ... =Crispy |
| Alone? | Dec 13th. at 4:48:24 pm EST |
| O'Connolly (Oklahoma) | Age: 28 - Email |
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I think it is quite arrogant to believe that we are the only intelligent life, let life period. For all we know, there could be civilizations out there that look at us and say "there's life, but is it intelligent?" I do believe that we have been visited. The Wormhole Theory would make the travel very possible. As does the Theory of Relativity (or what's left of it), as an object speeds up it shrinks and time for that object slows down. |
| Carbon-based | Dec 13th. at 5:17:06 pm EST |
| Mica (FL) | Age: 32 - Email |
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I also think it is arrogant to think that we're the only intelligent life in the Universe and that Earth is the only planet capable of supporting life. And I also think many religions on our planet (particularly those that assume themselves to be the "right" ones) would be thrown for a loop if we discovered intelligent life on other planets. Have we encountered aliens already? I suppose it's possible, but they would have to be a fairly close neighbors to us. The universe is pretty vast and it would be a long way to find little Earth from the other side of the universe. One thing my college chemistry professor once said has stuck with me. Life on this planet is carbon-based, but he thought it entirely possible that life on other planets may not be carbon-based, but be based on some other element, like sulfur. Interesting.... I wonder what a sulfur-based life form would look (or smell?) like. Haha. |
| Ignorance Is Not Bliss! | Dec 13th. at 6:46:27 pm EST |
| Diane Dickinson (Peoria Illinois) | Age: 54 - Email |
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Merry Meet, It would be awful arrogant of us to think that we are the only living enities in the universe. As for the reaction of the world well. I think they would be glad to know about other beings. Maybe we... through them could learn to except each other as we are. No matter our race. As to religion it would be hard to say if aliens worship a higher being. It would seem to me that if they live, breathe and reproduce they would have to consider a higher power. Unless of course they have lesser intelligence than us. I think that we have been found and a lot of our medical treatments and technical knowlege comes from the aliens. If I could have an Alien for a day I would show him/her the rivers mountains,forests new born babies and old people. Diane Dickinson |
| We Are Not Alone... | Dec 13th. at 7:58:36 pm EST |
| gaby (mexico) | Age: 21 - Email |
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Of course we are not alone in the universe, it´s rude from us to think that way because it´s imposible that in the universe that is TOO big the only people in it were us. that´s my opinion. |
| Diversity Of Life | Dec 13th. at 11:19:33 pm EST |
| Catharine Delaittre (Sasketchewan Canada) | Age: 29 - Email |
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I think if you look around at the beautiful diverse landscape, flora and fauna, animals, insects, human beings we all have one thing in common - life. It is out there. Some we havent seen yet and some we have but i think it is part of our exsistance on this plane, to evolve thinking we are the only ones we cant conceptualize it fully yet as a whole i mean, individually we are evolving. That my opinion. |
| Maybe, Maybe Not | Dec 14th. at 1:37:32 am EST |
| Carter Castor (anderson, indiana) | Age: 17 - Email |
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I don't think it's arrogant to assume we are the only life. It's very probable that we are. But mabye it's out there. Maybe intellegent life is still in the lower evolutionary stages on another planet. Maybe an advanced civilatization wiped themselves out in a nuclear holocaust. Maybe we are late comers in a universe that evolved beyond physical form. There are tons of possiblities. |
| Astrobiology & Carl Sagan | Dec 14th. at 7:22:55 am EST |
| Dan Dexter (CS) | Age: 54 - Email |
|
Astrobiology is the study of (so far) microbial life of extraterrestrial origin. Life has been and is being found on meteorites from space. As to intelligent life, it stands to reason that if it developed here, it did elswhere in the cosmos as well. Some feel that since there are about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in the observable universe, there may be a tiny fraction of those, say a mere miniscule million or so -- with highly developed life forms. An interesting read is "Intelligent Life in the Universe" by I. S. Shklovskii and Carl Sagan. BB Ovato |
| Nearly Impossible | Dec 14th. at 3:56:42 pm EST |
| Jay (Alhambra, CA) | Age: 47 - Email |
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I would imagine it is nearly impossible for us to be the sole seat of knowledge and learning. As so many other have noted here [tho I did not read all posts -- time constraints], varities of life must abound elsewhere. One point, tho: we usually imagine only lifew we can perceive; speculate, if you will, on life outside thelimits of, say, our visible sight spectrum. Who can say what is there? Could such life exist here? Also... can all other life detect us? We are aware of a spectrum much wider than the fraction in which we see.... perhaps humanity is "odd man out", not other way around. [PS: found site somewhat accidentally...very well donwe, very open people. Bless you all] |
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