For Discussion: The video Are we alone? made a number of arguments that life would have evolved on other planets, that it would likely be similar to the creatures we know, and that, given life probably began evolving earlier on planets older than the earth, that creatures exist that are somehow greater than we are. What are your reactions about this? Does this make you more likely to believe that aliens are visiting our planet?
You might find reading about the Drake equation interesting. BTW, I looked this up first in Credo reference, but found that the wikipedia entry was better than any of the hits Credo offered...
You might find reading about the Drake equation interesting. BTW, I looked this up first in Credo reference, but found that the wikipedia entry was better than any of the hits Credo offered...
posted by Anthony at
11:09 AM
17 Comments:
After watching the video I think that there are a couple things that I agree with. One thing for sure is that we live in a huge Galaxy and an even bigger universe so I just find it so hard to beileve that no one else lives in this planet. I think that there could be people or animals or something that is most like us. Not what people think as aliens but people just like us. I think that there has to be something out there and I think it is something very similar to us
By
Alex George, at Wed Nov 10, 01:11:00 PM 2010
I definately agree that there is no way we are th only life forms present in the galaxy, and furthermore the whole universe. That is impossible, because then we are posed with the question, well why do we exist? I also think that instances such as those on Mars, with water sources being present and small bacterial life forms being found, it proves we aren't the only ones out there, and we cannot claim to be. I think with the advances in science, we will be exposed to finding other intelligent life forms within the next century, and we will be able to travel outside of our galaxy, which will open up an immense amount of explorable areas.
By
Amber Nicole Konopka, at Wed Nov 10, 04:20:00 PM 2010
When the video was saying that no one else could be living in this world/universe but humans because there isn't water on surrounding planets, I believe that in the sense that no other humans can be living there. However, I believe there is some extra terrestrial out there that does not need water to survive. I’d say they have been around for a lot longer and have adapted to the way they live now. There has been way too many UFO sitings and strange occurrences that the government refuses to tell us not to believe in another life form than humans.
By
tyler.young, at Wed Nov 10, 06:40:00 PM 2010
I agree that there must be other forms of life out there other than humans and animals that are on planet Earth. If you think about it, with the billions of other galaxies out there, why is ours the only one that supports life? How does it make sense that we would be the only form of life in space? Earth is just like a piece of dust floating in the Atlantic Ocean. We would be ignorant to assume that there is no possibility of life in other solar systems or galaxies other than planet Earth.
By
Nick Patricia, at Wed Nov 10, 07:34:00 PM 2010
The video made me realize how big the universe is. I guess I really never thought about it. When the video said that there were billions and billions of other solar systems it does seem only logical that some form of life exits some where else other than Earth. The type of life I picture though, are plants, single celled organisms, etc. It still seems a bit far fetched to me, at least, that intelligent life forms exist else where, but who knows.
By
egreen, at Wed Nov 10, 09:14:00 PM 2010
I agree that there's no chance that humans are the only living beings in the entire universe. The galaxy is way too bigfor us to be the only existing living organisms. I don't believe that aliens are what they are made out to be... bright green with big bug-like eyes. I think aliens could resemble a human-like figure or an animal we are familiar with. I also believe that this mystery will be solved someday since science is advancing more and more everyday.
By
mskevofilax, at Thu Nov 11, 02:15:00 PM 2010
I find the probability that life exists very high solely due to the sheer size of the universe. However, with regards to the argument that "Why haven't they found us yet," I feel that it makes sense they haven't found us yet. Everything originated from the same moment in time. For a civilization to have the technology for interstellar travel AND have the time to reach us, life on that planet would need to either have originated well before us or evolve much faster than us. If life on that planet originated before life on ours, they must be much closer to the place of the Big Bang than us. However, that also means they are very far away from us. Assuming this civilization can travel near the speed of light, they would need to travel for a number of years in the right direction (even if they could travel near the speed of light, what are the odds they arrive at Earth among the near infinite number of planets/stars in the universe?). Regarding the Drake equation, I find it rather useless considering the number of unknowns involved in it (how are we ever going to know the value of half of those factors?). All of the value estimates are based on a variety of guessing and prior knowledge or in some cases "...based on little or no evidence."
By
RyanHabib, at Thu Nov 11, 10:09:00 PM 2010
I definitely think that there are other life forms in our universe. Considering the size of our galaxy let alone the entire universe, it's hard to believe that we're the only form of life out there. The evolution argument that the movie focused on was really interesting and seemed to make a lot of sense to me. There probably are other life forms more developed than humans, especially if life on other planets began before life on earth. This seems very possible and I think the argument was pretty convincing.
Another interesting argument on aliens is a show called Ancient Aliens. I saw it on the history channel a while ago and it brought up some really interesting ideas relating to aliens and their impact on the ancient world.
By
Jenna Murphy, at Fri Nov 12, 12:00:00 AM 2010
I've wondered for awhile whether aliens could or could not exist and my beliefs strengthen more and more after watching documentaries on television. The video strenghtened my beliefs further. In a Galaxy so huge I think there can definitely be some kind of parallel universe in which people like us also live. These aliens are possibly more technologically advanced than we are and can visit us without us even knowing. I think this is a definite possibility but there is probably no actual way to find out.
By
ninasorbelli, at Fri Nov 12, 12:19:00 PM 2010
I agree with the video in that it is more than likely that there is life on other planets. Although the conditions for a planet to be able to sustain life are exact and difficult to maintain, the video's evidence shows that there are numerous amounts of planets, each with its own possibility of having life.
By
Michael.Bowersox, at Sat Nov 13, 09:21:00 PM 2010
After watching the video I agree with this idea that there are creatures that are greater than humans out there. The arguements presented by the video made these ideas clear. These ideas make me believe that there are aliens visiting our planet. I also believe that aliens out there may be different forms of life and survive on other elements than we think possible. Since there are aliens out there that may be more advanced, I believe they may have the power to visit planet Earth.
By
dudeck20, at Sun Nov 14, 02:09:00 PM 2010
I do think that there must be life forms that exist other than life here on earth. When you really think about it, it seems that there's a great probability that other life exists just based on the shear vastness of the universe. I mean there are so many areas of the universe that we probably haven't even discovered yet. As for the fact that they are more evolved and even greater than we are, I'm not quite sure where I stand. For all we know they could be people just like us pondering if they are in fact the only life forms as well.
By
Amanda Rossi, at Sun Nov 14, 02:17:00 PM 2010
I think that for us to believe that our planet is the only inhabited planet in the whole universe is a little arrogant. I mean of course in the infinite amount of space there is out there, there HAS to be something else right? The movie explained really well why there has to be something else. But I honestly don't believe they are visiting our planet. I don't know what kind of evidence I would use to support this, but in my mind, if they were visiting, they wouldn't go unnoticed. and it wouldnt be just a handful of people seeing them, whole towns or nations would see them.
By
Unknown, at Sun Nov 14, 06:38:00 PM 2010
I already believe that life exists on other planets and in other galaxies, but the video definitely confirmed my belief. We know so much about biology, and have a decent understanding of the universe, so we have the evidence to back up the idea of life on other places. I think that since it's proven that humans evolved from a single cell, it's bound to mean that it's happening/already happened elsewhere. I also think that there is more intelligent life in the universe. Yes humans are smart, but if we can make machines that are smarter than humans, then there has to mean that lifeforms like these machines exist. The intelligence is out there, and it's definitely being used in different ways than we use it here on earth.
By
Unknown, at Sun Nov 14, 09:51:00 PM 2010
I believe that there is some other life form similar to humans somewhere in the universe. These people have adapted a way to live without what we see as basic needs. As alex said, we live in a huge universe so it is hard to believe that nobody else lives in it
By
BrianZ, at Mon Nov 15, 09:07:00 AM 2010
The video brought up many interesting points about "alien" life. I think it is definitely plausible that Earth isn't the only planet containing life. I actually think it is very unlikely that we are the only living beings in the universe. The universe is infinitely large. Its highly unlikely that only one planet in one solar system in all of the universe contains life. There are probably other life forms on planets we haven't discovered yet, and may never discover. This life could be intelligent beings like humans, animals, plants, even single-celled organisms, or most likely some form we are oblivious to at this time.
By
theresaroman, at Mon Nov 15, 11:52:00 AM 2010
I definitely agree with the video that we are not the only form of life in the universe. Our Earth is just a small component of our solar system, which itself is just a miniscule part of the milky way galaxy. There are a plethora of galaxies in the universe, which is why I feel there has to be other life somewhere in the universe based on its unimaginable size. Based on the position of other planets out there according to their distance away from the sun, I think life there could have evolved in a different way compared to here on Earth. Perhaps they do not need water, oxygen, etc. as we do. Other life can exist as something as simple as bacteria (such as that found on Mars) or other types of creatures that evolved greater than humans. The possibilities are endless, and I just have trouble thinking that we are the only ones that exist in the entire universe.
By
philip.racciato, at Mon Nov 15, 12:07:00 PM 2010
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