Life on other Planets?

How many people here believe there is life on other planets?

I prefer a yes or no vote, with any additional opinions you have.

Thread copied here from the Life on other Planets? thread in the Proposed New Topics forum.

Probably

It seems unlikely that Earth would be the only planet where abiogenesis occurred, but there's no data to support the existence of life on any other planet.

So I don't know.

How many people here believe there is life on other planets?

Belief?

As Heinlein noted, "Belief gets in the way of learning."

Unlike religionists, scientists tend to follow the evidence where it leads, not rely on 3,000 year old texts written by goat-herders and other mystics.

Life on other planets is probable, but there is little evidence either way. I'll wait until there is. Unlike you; you appear to firmly "believe" such life can't exist. (Those goat-herders again?)

What will you do if such life is found? Will that be the end of your belief, or will you just deny it as religionists tend to do with inconvenient evidence?

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Religious belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge.

I think it likely that there are other planets with life. But they probably won't show up in SETI, so it won't be an easy question to investigate.

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Jesus was a liberal hippie

It seems likely, but as I am neither religious nor retarded I have no fixed and definite opinion on the subject. I would need more data.

No.
I'm kinda swayed by the books on consciousness that I've read such as Quantum Enigma to think that the rest of the universe only exists as long as there is conscious life on Earth to perceive it, or something like that.

But who knows?

Whether or not there is life elsewhere in the universe is something that may never be known for sure, but given the number of galaxies, it would, at least to me, seem likely that there is probably life somewhere else in the universe.

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There is no better love between 2 people than mutual respect for each other WT Young, 2002

Who gave anyone the authority to call me an authority on anything. WT Young, 1969

Since Evolution is only ~90% correct it should be thrown out and replaced by Creation which has even a lower % of correctness. W T Young, 2008

No. I'm kinda swayed by the books on consciousness that I've read such as Quantum Enigma to think that the rest of the universe only exists as long as there is conscious life on Earth to perceive it, or something like that.

But if you can believe that, then why couldn't it be the case that the rest of the universe only exists as long as there is life on Alpha Centuri Gamma to perceive it? Why should we be ontologically privileged?

Dr Adequate writes: But if you can believe that, then why couldn't it be the case that the rest of the universe only exists as long as there is life on Alpha Centuri Gamma to perceive it? Why should we be ontologically privileged?

Well, if I'm right, (and I am aware that is a very big if), then Alpha Centuri Gamma only exists because life here perceives it. It wouldn't necessarily mean that there isn't other life, but if there is, then presumably they would perceive a different universe.

I know this is more than a little off the deep end but it could very well be that I'm just reading the wrong books.

Well, if I'm right, (and I am aware that is a very big if), then Alpha Centuri Gamma only exists because life here perceives it.

I have yet to see the argument --- but it seems to me that any argument that implies an ontological uniqueness for my planet and my species could also with minor adjustments be turned into an argument for the ontological uniqueness of my race, my gender, my nationality or just for me personally. In fact, sight unseen, I am willing to wager a small sum that any such argument will make more sense if applied to me personally.

I belive there is a higher probabilitiy of lif on other celestial bodies in OUR solar syistem then the probability of a god. Tough witouth evidence actual life found there i cant give a clear yes. Tough from wath we see on erth life adapts to almost anything so there are few evidential barriers that could give a definitive NO on moste of the celestial bodies in our solarsyistem.

As for the question you really have in mind do i belive in little green men visiting the erth and having S#$% with the ones they abduct. Well no i seriusly doubt that an alien civilization that has masterd intergalactical travele would abduct humans and have s#$ with them.

As for inteligent life being out there well i give it a definitive possibility

I would suggest the chances are high that at some place and at some point in time there has or will be life on another planet.

No evidence to make that claim however, apart from the the obeservation that abiogenesis happened at least once on one planet so it would be logical to assume it could happen on another planet (given the vast number of paotential life bearing plantes out there).

Well no i seriusly doubt that an alien civilization that has masterd intergalactical travele would abduct humans and have s#$ with them.

After all, there is only so much information you can gather with an anal probe.