What's the probability of extraterrestrial life?

Probability?

100%.

You would be absolutely insane and ignorant to think otherwise.

Our concept of life is very local to boot.

Might I suggest "The Age of Spiritual Machines" by Ray Kurzweil?
I think you'd love it.

reply to post by Matrix Rising


Probability? Well, from the Mars Rover's point of view, there is a possibility, since it's from Earth and there is life on Earth...

There is more than likely life intelligent and able to devise craft and technology elsewhere in the Universe...

The distances are so vast though that you could just assume that each world with life is encapsulated from the other worlds with life, by distance...

In essense to reach other worlds with life would be the same as existing in another realm of time, or another Universe entirely... The distances are just so incredibly vast that we are isolated from other worlds completely...

To travel from 1 point in time to another, namely travel from one world with life, i.e. another Galaxy to another would mean a 1 way trip, and the sacrifice of your own world...

I don't know how many species would take to Nomadic space travel, unless they where forced to do so...

I could imagine a space craft full of sick and dying Aliens arriving in our Solar System, or for another stretch at Earth for us to deal with...

You just never know what could be out there...

We could be the luckiest Species in the Universe with our "Perfect World"...

Everything else could be existing in utter misery, and hell...

Originally posted by fleabit
Intelligent life in our galaxy alone may actually be quite diverse and indeed, abundant.

It's a typical human mindset to accept we were the "lucky" and unique little snowflake planet. Heck, you could be stoned, hung or imprisoned in our not so distant past, for suggesting our planet wasn't the center of everything.

Was our planet the "lottery winner" in our galaxy alone? I highly doubt that.

I think it's obvious life is elsewhere. Asking the probability of life in the universe is akin to asking the chances of popcorn being on the floor of a movie theater after a movie. I guess I don't get the point.

The Lottery Winner;
Well first you have to look at it like this. This is a very unique Solar System, and it seems that it formed with strong support for life. We have lots of planets with Surfaces, and perfect orbits.

Mercury; too close to the Sun,
Venus; looks like it almost turned out like Earth, being too close to the Sun probably put it just in the inhabitable range, Earth; perfect conditions for life, -over time- Mars; too far away? Life at one point in time? -we have to get there and start doing some extraterrestrial archealogy-
The Moon has water, so Water can exist beyond Earth.

So all you'd need is a planet that is in a habitable zone of a Solar System, with the right Star, and you have the building block for life as we know it.

Basically though you could imagine anything really.
I mean what type of life are we looking for?
Humanoid?
Other?

It's just so damn complex, personally i don't think we'd want to find life with an advanced Brain out there in the Universe... I think it would be a Death Match...

I can't imagine the outcome of such an encounter, unless we were distant cousins or something.

Otherwise I think contacting otherworldly life would have disasterous consequences...

reply to post by bloodline

Our concept of life is very local to boot.

the concept of life is confined to mans ego.

And the missunderstanding of it.

I AM MAN

is the problem

what MADE man?

simple answer? GOD DID IT

yep .. /me rolls eyes

POST1
I am currently in a meditative state, and normally would comment more, but look what i found...
This is a very good article that breaks down where we are disclosure wise and what needs to happen to get to the core of the issue

www.americanchronicle.com...

The State of the Onion – Where Are We in The UFO/ET Issue in 2009? Peeling Back the Layers
Victor Viggiani, B.A. M.Ed.October 19, 2009
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." Oscar Wilde

"Participation in North American democracy is largely based on the belief that citizens should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated."

Quote from an unknown Convocation Address

Since 1947 or perhaps much earlier the UFO/ET issue burst onto the scene. The matter has been investigated, scrutinized, ridiculed, stigmatized, written about and toss about like a piece of red-hot coal for over 60 years.

Generally, humanity, world governments, the military and their intelligence communities have managed to ignore, cover-up and avoid the issue publicly – like a third boxer in the ring that neither the opponents nor referee can see. These intelligence communities have deftly managed the issue internally, using their own clear understanding - the UFO/ET issue is real and a matter of fact and record. They have also managed several critical blows to the head that the UFO research community may not survive. But the piper and the men behind the curtain may not be able to stop us from peeling away the layers to the core of the onion and the truth. Hope tells us we must expect no less.

Mod Edit: No Quote/Plagiarism – Please Review This Link.
Mod Edit: External Source Tags Instructions – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 9/12/2009 by ArMaP]

I always thought Jeff Goldblum's character said it best in Jurassic Park...

"Life finds a way"....

On Earth, we've discovered life in some strange places we never expected to find out.
Now, there is mounting evidence that almost a half dozen suspects, just in our own solar system, may have life of some kind... We find what may be "earth-like" planets, and then add that to the variety just on our own little mudball.

My bet is that the Universe is teeming with life, and that it is the rule, rather than the exception, even if in ways we won't immediately recognize.

time will tell....

I m not just saying this but I do think that it is a 100% probability of extraterrestrial life , why cause there are 100-400 billion in the Milky Way alone so some ware along the line so Biologley there has to be life in the milky way BUT this does not go for extraterreatrial civilizations. now we know that there are 400 billion star in the miky way and that give a vrey good chages of life now seeing that we are only enable to think now are civilizations started and we had to go though alot to get where we are to day but we all so have to think about time. the Oldest known star is about 13.2 billion years old, so that is Increasing probability. so probability is about 13.2 billion * 400 = 5280 000 000000000000000 which that 5280 000 000000000000000 on the scales of 0 to 100 would be 5280 000 000000000000000/100 = 5280000.000000000000000. that my frist guse

i think science needs to use an exclusionary technique with the search for life.

after the discovery of extremeophiles or whatever they call them nowadays I need proof before I believe life cannot live there.

If bacteria can survive open space then life is EVERYWHERE.
if bacteria can do it multi cellular could too.

I'm not saying there are giant space worms out there,but I won't say that it is IMPOSSIBLE.

science is about the question,not the answer

Based on the evidence we currently have I think it is safe to say that it is impossible to know what the probability is as a ratio as the amount of evidence we have compared to how many galaxies and stars are out in the universe is pretty minute.

Given this however, I would say that the chance of other life being out there intelligent or not is almost guaranteed.

s4.hubimg.com...

Originally posted by Aiden Muir
s4.hubimg.com...

What is the link to? Just a bit funny about clicking unknown links

From what I understand, the actual probability of the existence extraterrestrial life is so close to 100 percent certainty that the number is essentially equal with certainty. In other words, for all practical purposes, it's about the same as the probability that life exists on Earth.

Here is a clip from "Out of the Blue" in which the idea is explained.

www.youtube.com...

[edit on 23-12-2009 by Orkojoker]

How impersonal?
My mother was abducted, so was Nick's mum and so was Russell's mum.
Ten month gestation, odd ears, telekinetic powers times three but I found at least three others not compared in such depth.
We are building and selling alien technology on Earth if you want to go to the AEG website, www.appliedelectrogravitics.com Russell and I often talk about John Wyndham his story "the Midwich Cuckoos" has redolences that touch all post abduction born people. We understand antigravity and I predict quakes Russell builds spaceships you can buy and try. Unfortunately where to drive your ship to avoid the collision with Nibaru?
I am going to prompt Russell to work on electrogravitational communication which we know works and has points of analogy to the electromagnetic spectrum it just happens to involve energy waves with gravitational components and electrical components not magnetic components and electrical components. These generate quakes and kill people, 600,000 so far with me getting red face and furious with the idiots who ignorantly or wickedly allow human death. See www.groups.yahoo.com/group/interstellarrescue I have posted quakes up to 2016 so far. The method is incomplete. Landlords love to force papers to be chucked out so what about a few hundred thousand deaths, one must not attract rats by having papers. We post abduction part alien people ought to be protected from human greed and selfishness and those who interfere in our work to preserve human life ought to receive capital punishment. Anyway I got the Maharestra Gujrat Kobé and more right and adding the death tolls I noted 600,000 over 20 years or so. Big ego. Leaving condoms off kills that many per year. We freaks ought to be the centre of a most necessary cult of supporters adding to the volunteer space technology builders at Applied Electrogravitics. Abductions are something I evidently cause when I train promising people in mental telepathy. Next year or so they tell me about it. I want to spend time on an alien spacecraft and learn how to fix the engines. I also want to learn appropriate hand massage for extraterrestrial races, also hygiene and nutrition, social and educational needs, basically a ship needs good running order and comfortable well maintained crew. I am straining to focus on space topics here, I could say much about recessive mental power groups I have detected in human society but that belongs in another stream.

reply to post by Orkojoker


I agree completely,it also works in reverse.
stealing this idea from douglas adams not sure which but you should really read them all anyhow.

If you take the total volume of the universe you will find that there is NO matter or LIFE at all.
most is apparently empty space.
Any other results fall WELL within any scientifically accepted margins of error.
therefore it is almost as identically improbable that either the UFO or the observer exists.

so don't worry,we don't exist anways
=)


[edit on 24-12-2009 by the_grand_pooh-bah]

Loved reading the posts on here

the answer to the question is the first word.

wtf do i mean?

equate WHAT and you get the jist.

the arrogance of people to think life is not outside of this planet is amazing

reply to post by 13579


It can be amazing what some time and further learing can do. Where we once wondered about the possibilities of life on other wrlds, we now "know", as certainly as we might without actually "touching" it; that there is in fact Life on other worlds, with out doubt.

As our UFO, abductions, and other "alien" activity continue, the question still needs answered; "What is the probability ET is/has visited Earth?"

I leave it to you ATS. What is the probability ET is or has visited Earth?

reply to post by engineer418


In purely mathematical terms, I would say zero. We really can't say for certain that life exists outside our planet. Regardless of the rationale that there just has to be life out there, it has not been found or observed or anything else. It's trying to determine the probability of something ocurring with the sample size of exactly 1.

For instance, we have 1 known occurrence of a 3 butt monkey out of millions and millions of monkeys. Now calculate the odds that one has hid in my closet at some point.

Originally posted by ZetaRediculian
reply to post by engineer418

 

In purely mathematical terms, I would say zero. We really can't say for certain that life exists outside our planet. Regardless of the rationale that there just has to be life out there, it has not been found or observed or anything else. It's trying to determine the probability of something ocurring with the sample size of exactly 1.

For instance, we have 1 known occurrence of a 3 butt monkey out of millions and millions of monkeys. Now calculate the odds that one has hid in my closet at some point.

Well, actually there are indicators of life outside of Earth. But, be that as it may, it is both ossible to compute theoretical probabilities, or arrive at a consensus.

reply to post by engineer418

Well, actually there are indicators of life outside of Earth. But, be that as it may, it is both ossible to compute theoretical probabilities, or arrive at a consensus.

it's something that we know intuitively some how but I don't know how it's possible to calculate probabilities unless assumptions are made.

100% and everyone with the slightest logic knows it, not to mention a history filled with artifacts and records of this and currently many sightings and even experiences.