- #1
rootone
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What do you think?
rootone said:What do you think?
By not near Earth, I meant outside of a distance we could reasonably hope to communicate with it, say 50ly.DennisN said:"not near Earth" is, is a little ambiguous.
"Intelligent" is also a bit ambiguous.
Ivan Samsonov said:I voted certainly, because I thought of the extremely high chances of the chemical and biological processes that happened on Earth happening somewhere else as well.
Noisy Rhysling said:There has to be intelligent life SOMEWHERE.
Missed the sarcasm I see.phyzguy said:You have no idea what those chances are, and neither does anyone else.
No, there doesn't. This is just wishful thinking on your part. We simply don't know.
Noisy Rhysling said:Missed the sarcasm I see.
As Calvin said, "The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven't visited Earth."phyzguy said:Guess so. Sorry.
phyzguy said:I think no amount of voting will convert the absence of information into information. We simply don't know, and nobody's opinion really matters. We need hard data. Yes the universe is huge, but we have no idea what the probability of intelligent life occurring really is. Maybe it is so small that we are the only example.
I see where you are coming from here, but I think you might be underestimating what we can learn from a sample size of one. Henry Reich has a nice video that shows the use of statistical inference to make predictions about alien life.phyzguy said:I think no amount of voting will convert the absence of information into information. We simply don't know, and nobody's opinion really matters. We need hard data. Yes the universe is huge, but we have no idea what the probability of intelligent life occurring really is. Maybe it is so small that we are the only example.
Noisy Rhysling said:As Calvin said, "The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven't visited Earth."
This non-zero probability is what concerns those who think life may be an illusion, or Boltzmann brain (which I favor over naturalism). I think ultimately we choose to accept being a product of choice or entropy, but they can't both be true.BillTre said:If life has occurred once (on Earth), than it has a non-zero probability.
Seriously?Ivan Samsonov said:Why?
I read a story back in the '60s about radon on Venus being intelligent.Suyash Singh said:the intelligent life maybe in a form that is not detectable by our 5 senses.maybe gas clouds on some planet are livng creatures but we don't think that they are living .
Also maybe the probability of forming life might be so less that it only happened once and won't happen again.
Noisy Rhysling said:I read a story back in the '60s about radon on Venus being intelligent.
@Noisy Rhysling was referencing the Calvin and Hobbes strip of 11/08/1989.Ivan Samsonov said:Why?
2. sounds most likely to me. Give us a few thousand years to get a civilization and some maturity...Suyash Singh said:ok what i am saying now i read somewhere but are not my ideas,
1.earth might be unique thus the only planet with intelligent life
2.earth is not unique and there are multiple "Earth's" so aliens have no reason to visit Earth particularly
3.aliens are not curious like us
4.we are just undeveloped bacteria for aliens.
5.all types of aliens are also undeveloped like us so no one has an spaceship.
I don't think I understand what you mean here, but the wording reminds me of an article I read that applied the Zero-One-Infinity rule to astrobiology. I think it was in Time, but all I could find was this blog post that talks about the article.Fervent Freyja said:Certain that intelligent life has existed in at least 2 locations during the entire history of the universe... If the Earth is the only host for intelligent life in all of history and it turns out it's cyclic, even then we can be certain that it also occurs at least twice with an infinite number of cycles.
Sciency Words said:Zero-One-Infinity in Astrobiology
Applying the zero-one-infinity rule to the search for alien life is, in my opinion, brilliant. How many locations in the universe can support life? There are really only three answers:
We already know the zero proposition is false.
- Life cannot exist anywhere in the universe (zero).
- Life can exist only on Earth; Earth is a very special exception in a universe where life is otherwise not allowed (one).
- Life can exist in an unlimited number of locations in the universe (infinity).
There was a time (I remember it well) when many a scientist argued that Earth must be an exception: the one and only place in the universe where life could exist. Occasionally, I still hear people try to argue this.
All it would take is to find a second life-bearing world to prove the one proposition wrong (I’m looking at you, Europa). Because once we know about two living worlds, how could anyone argue that there can’t be three? Or four? Or thirty-eight? Or however many the universe feels like having?
"...at least 2 locations during the entire history of the universe..."Fervent Freyja said:Certain that intelligent life has existed in at least 2 locations during the entire history of the universe... If the Earth is the only host for intelligent life in all of history and it turns out it's cyclic, even then we can be certain that it also occurs at least twice with an infinite number of cycles.
Noisy Rhysling said:"...at least 2 locations during the entire history of the universe..."
Los Angeles and New York?
I'd say ideas like flat Earth and Earth as the center of the solar system or universe are old school logic, but choosing between naturalism and creationism is more of a philosphical preference.Fervent Freyja said:The Earth cannot be the most special place in the universe- that's old school logic!
Currently, there is no definitive evidence of intelligent life on other planets. However, there have been numerous sightings and reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unexplained phenomena that suggest the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth.
The chances of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe are difficult to determine. Some scientists believe that the universe is so vast that it is highly likely that there is intelligent life on other planets. Others argue that the conditions necessary for intelligent life to evolve are so specific that it may be rare.
Communicating with intelligent life on other planets would require advanced technology and a common language or method of communication. Scientists have developed methods such as the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program to listen for radio signals from other civilizations, but it is still uncertain if we would be able to understand and interpret any potential messages.
The impact of discovering intelligent life on other planets would be significant. It could potentially change our understanding of the universe and our place in it. It could also have major societal, cultural, and technological implications. Additionally, it could lead to new collaborations and advancements in science and technology.
Scientists use a variety of methods to search for intelligent life on other planets. These include listening for radio signals, searching for biosignatures (evidence of life) on other planets, and analyzing data from space telescopes. Scientists also study the conditions and environments of other planets to determine if they could support life as we know it.