Why do people NEED to believe?

It's entirely logical to think extraterrestrials are coming to this planet. Especially if you've seen a UFO. The governments of the world certainly aren't speaking up on the subject. If one wants to draw a conclusion there are only so many answers to what it is that people are seeing.

I know very little about the MJ-12 documents, or the Who's Who in Ufology today...so I probably shouldn't even be posting on this thread. I also don't spend much time watching the skies for anomalous objects, or looking under my bed for ET. On top of this, I have only been to one UFO conference back in the 80's. I thought the people were mostly phony, and yes, some even appeared to have a need to believe...unfortunately, by it's very nature, this field seems to attract some fringy folks.

So who has the ultimate authority to "pass judgement" on purported UFO documents and such? What good has the passing of this judgement done to substantiate validity across decades of UFO research, and bickering? At best, aren't people actually offering their opinions? Opinions equate to nothing more than philosophy...educated or otherwise.

For some of us it isn't a matter of 'need to believe'...but more a matter of a desire to understand.

Sorry, I just re-read my post, and realized that I never addressed the OP question. I can only speculate. I believe that some people have trouble integrating themselves into life around them, it simply doesn't make sense. For these people, the promise of ET may hold answers.

I think others are just bored

To th OP

Choloroton or what ever,

Alot of people believe because of the mathamatics of the problem.

Biliions and billions of stars.

The drake equation.

Etc, etc.

Every one on earth has a better chance at winning the lottery, opposed to their bieng other life forms.

Originally posted by RiotComing
If there are aliens... fine. If there aren't... then that's also fine.

Coming across interesting pics, videos, anecdotes, declassified material.. thought-provoking discussion of the said material - also fine. Why do the hardcore skeptics / debunkers have such a big problem with this? If they have a problem with this, then why are they here? This is a conspiracy site after all. If you see no conspiracy / coverup.. then what on earth drew you to this website?

I think RiotComing here hit the nail right on the head. The real problem here is that most people have a need to "convert" everyone to conform to their own belief system. Both sides of the UFO/alien debate are guilty of this at times, so I'm not picking on anyone here.

This is the way I see it: I have a set of beliefs, and those beliefs may change depending on new information I learn over the course of my life. If anyone has a different set of beliefs, that's great for them... We can sit down and discuss our various beliefs and why we believe them, and hopefully we'll both walk away from the discussion having learned something from each other, even though we may still disagree respectfully.

We didn't always know that the Earth was round for example. We began with the belief that the Earth was flat, and after examining and discussing the evidence we eventually came to the conclusion that the Earth was in fact round which we can now verify scientifically to be fact.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the truth doesn't necessarily come to us instantly, it begins as a simple theory and matures as we gather data and analyze it. Many of the steps along the way to the truth may seem absurd looking back upon them, but such is the nature of progress. This is the spirit in which ATS was created, the pursuit of the truth, even if some of the steps along the way seem outlandish in hindsight.

Thanks for all the replies, even those calling this thread a troll.
I can assure you it isnt. I think though, that one or two took the original question wrongly.
As I stated, I believe that UFO's exist, I dont know who are piloting them, if indeed they are even piloted. I dont know where they come from. There is far to much anecdotal and existant evidence for UFO's for them to be dismissed. However, actual aliens, or beings from another planet is something that I just cannot find sufficient evidence to find credible.
I dont say they dont exist, just that there is no evidence to support a decent assumption of their existance.

The question was, 'why do peeple NEED to believe'. There seem to be people out there who will accept any explanation for Aliens that borders on the ridiculous. Take the recent thread on the Reptilian woman, someone there has a belief in reptilians that borders on manic.
Then we have the 'Moon Pictures' threads. There are the most incredible statements being made about simple geological formations that beggar belief. It simply seems to me that theses people, for some reason or another feel a need to believe in something, anything that will suggest that we are not alone in the Universe.

I believe we are not alone in the Universe I just dont think that we have been contacted yet or even that other beings even know we exist.

Anyway, thanks for all your replies, it has given me something to think about.

Originally posted by Chorlton
I dont say they dont exist, just that there is no evidence to support a decent assumption of their existance.

There is no evidence that satisfies YOU that aliens exist. However, there is enough evidence for other people to know that aliens exist.

What you consider sufficient evidence is based on your experience and qualitative standards. Naturally, the subjective nature of evidence will differ for other people.

I believe we are not alone in the Universe I just dont think that we have been contacted yet or even that other beings even know we exist.

Fair enough. That's your opinion. However, other people have a different opinion, based on their own first-hand evidence that has proven to them that aliens not only exist, but they also visit Earth.

I think people need to believe, because it is easy to do it. It is human nature. Sometimes people just want some hope to cling on to, when they think the world around them is so messed up. The problem is people believing their world is so messed up. That is what leads to blind belief, and hence ET phenomenon are very easy to latch onto, as is religion. The fear-hope dichotomy is very human nature.

I, on the other hand, think that there is definitely to the UFO/ET phenomenon. I personally know very trustworthy, scientifically-minded, skeptical people who have seen seemingly extraterrestrial UFO. I also think that there is too much to ET phenomenon to be just OPS or hoaxes or coincidences. I also think that there is so much disinformation on the subject, it is hard to know any real truth on the matter from pure research. Maybe, that is the point of disinformation.

I find the whole subject fascinating, but have trouble with all of the BS related to it muddying already murky waters. It is easy to be skeptical, and is probably not the worst thing when dealing when this subject.

I don't believe, but I have a good idea. I think the most important thing is being open to the idea that there may more to life and the cosmos than just us on a rock.