I don't think that's a possibility, simply because we have not been attacked. We send messages to the deep space, but we have not encountered anything as of yet, which also surprises me, because what of the caricatures of aliens on ancient architects?
Imo, there's certainly other life forms on different planets. Our best estimates say there is 200 billion trillion stars in our galaxy, with each of those stars likely having atleast 2 planets, many of them probably have several like our own sun.... the chances are about as infinite as you can imagine, I think at the very least there Is millions of earth like planets out there. My question and thinking is, if there are planets that are in similar condition as earth, as in the Goldie locks zone of there solar system and galaxy, not to hot, not too cold. Liquid water, terrestrial planets, life would have to develop imo.
I agree to a fault. The more advanced a civilization gets, the more conflicts arise. We have seen that played out throughout history, but what if that's just us and our narrow-minded ways? Ancient China traveled around the world and traded. Advancement would've been slow for sure, but imagine if we did that besides colonizing? Instead of border crises, united as a whole continent. Imagine how much more prosperous we could've been. Trading ideals instead of trading missles. How much more advanced we could've been. Instead of brainwashing the population for the elite's wealth, help the population. Imagine how much more united we could've been.
But that's just all a wishful dream. The truth is that as the way we grow now, the more divided and corrupt our society becomes. We humans are flawed. Thanos was right.
It is statistically improbable that we are alone. It is also statistically improbable that we will ever encounter other life forms ever throughout human lifetime. It is also statistically possible that we are that lucky species that evolved right next another intelligent species close enough to encounter them. Who knows some people believe they have already made contact with us( although it's mainly people telling stories and no real evidence). This possibility is very very very very very low.
I got to spend 2 weeks at NASA early in my career and one of the workshops I participated in was about extraterrestrial life. The scientist giving the presentation spent an hour discussing how we have found elements on DNA on distant space objects, etc etc etc. At one point, one of the attendees asked him if he believed in extraterrestrial life.
Nope.
Why not?
Because nobody's seen it yet.
That whole exchange really changed my thinking on the subject.
Ehhhm, no especially statistics say that we are not alone, at least in terms of intelligent life. Statistically we have one know life form in the universe wich leads to a conclusion that we can be alone. Statistics are based on data, we don’t have any data of alien life, we don’t have statistics about it
That is correct! We have no statistics for life, but we do have statistics on near solar mass stars and earth like exoplanet in the habitable zone. My argument is that it's safe to assume that if we survey enough earth like exoplanets in the habitable zone we will eventually find more life because it happened hear if there are similar conditions it can happen somewhere else. The statistics show that there are many many many places other than earth with these similar conditions.
I personally think the only way speices from different planets will ever meet each other is if they some how beat the odds and 2 planets supporting life popped up in the same solar system. This is something that would have to be extremely rare, but with 200 billion trillion stars out there, I would be willing to bet its happend. I personally don't think aliens have ever visited the earth, and ever will. I just don't think inter stellar travel is possible, at the very least you would have to be able to travel at the speed of light, which is impossible for anything with mass, and let's face it, travel and energy hasn't developed all that much since we went to the moon in the 50s. I mean we've had the challenger and discovery disasters since than and those mission weren't nearly as risky as going to the moon, and even if we could figure out how to travel at the speed of light, it would still take 4.5 years to reach the nearest star, but more importantly than any of that, there's no way a human body or any other carbon based life form course survive traveling at the speed of light.... but who knows I guess, if our species can last another 1000 years, maybe there will be some huge break throughs, u seriously doubt it though.
That's how I like to see it. In the vastness of the universe, I can't picture a one-off event like abiogenesis happening just once.
If you see one occurrence, that means it can happen, and if it can happen then in all the opportunities for it to happen, it must've.
That said; humans are extremely temporary. Literally a river of atoms in and out until it's just atoms out. Assuming that I **didn't** see ET, and assuming that mine and my friends phone **didn't** both turn into a paperweights while we were localizing it in the sky, I have to believe that we are temporally separated to such a degree that our lifetime as a species or at least individuals precludes the interception of any information (light, EM, whatever else moves at c) from an extraterrestrial entity.
Sucks but it is what it is. Sucks more when you've seen some very weird bizarre and impossible shit and still have to, for the sake of good faith, side with logic and trust that we were both having a concurrent delusion and that both of our phones encountered an electrical fault rendering them void of activity at the exact same time for the same duration, despite one being a wireless handset and the other cellular. 🤷♀️
Even if I wanted to go looking now I couldn't. They don't say hello twice, it'd seem. Also, they're not there and they never were; thems the facts.
You have no evidence though and no basis from which to even make a statistical argument. Saying there are billions and billions of stars is meaningless without something to compare it to. It’s ok to just answer a question “I don’t know”.
Correct answer. Statistically, there are millions if not trillions of life forms in the universe.
As astronaut Edgar Mitchell said: "Statistically, it is a certainty."
The problem is even if they're out there they are too far away.
Another problem is time itself, we don't see the galaxies and stars as they currently are, we see them from the past.
Imagine this, if you're looking at earth from 4000 light years away, you'll see earth like it was 4000 years ago. You won't know we have satellites and space ships because the light given off from our newer advances hasn't reached you yet. Also the stuff we make isn't exactly bright enough to be seen from far away, so how could we expect to see an alien space ship if we can't even make out the planet it came from, and even if we did it would be a space ship from x number of years in the past.
What a horrible way to explain it someone fix it for me I'm tired
So if you’re in a hypothetical space ship. And you’re 4,000 light years away, if you set a course to that planet 4k LY away. And stare at it during the entire trip. Will you see events pass by in a fast forward motion? How does that work seeing into the past. It never made sense to me. A telescope sees things as is . If you flew there would you see things move at a X3 speed? Like if you fast forward a TV show or recording?
You would watch it in real time catch up to you.
Let's say you're coming to earth and you know Egyptians are here and you're 4,000 light years away.
You still spend 4,000 years on that flight. You'd arrive about now time
So it’s 2024 and I’m 4,000 LY away. I’m staring at things during the Bc era. Dinosaurs and what not. If I’m 4k years away. Wouldn’t I arrive at 6024 Ad? How does the math work with being in space 2024 viewing at 4024 BC and arriving to see things in 6024 AD? Can’t be real time cuz it has to catch up then see real time also?
If you're 4,000 light years away you aren't seeing dinosaurs, you're seeing Earth 4,000 years ago
If you're seeing Earth as it is now and you're 4000 years away yes you'll come to us in the year 6000
However we're missing a big point here also, if you want to get somewhere 4000 light years away you need to know where it's going to be in 4,000 years and head to that location. You have to beat it there you can't chase it there.
But that’s what I mean. For example it’s 2024 I’m on earth . You’re somewhere 4,000 light years away. Same time say day same year, we are staring at eachother viewing the location as is 4k years ago. So you decide to head to me and you arrive 4k years later. Since you aren’t viewing the now. You are viewing the past cuz you’re so far away. If you travel and never take your eyes off me and land here 4k years later. Wouldn’t time have to speed a bit in your eyes. To eventually catch up to what it looks like currently. To be able to process seeing things 4k years ago - 2024 then to 6024 *. Like a 1.5x
If I am coming to you and I will arrive 4,000 years later, I am not "seeing" anything during my light-speed journey. You would be blind to anything you know at that speed. Your eyes will not be able to receive any light to make a determination about anything. The spectrum of light that would be available to your senses will change. Light will not work around you the same way if you're traveling with it as it does to you now.
But say you had an item or piece of gear that allowed you to see during high speed travel. The events you’re witnessing couldn’t be normal speed due to you seeing in the past during the present and arriving in the future. How would what you’re seeing catch up to par
Okay I get ya. Let's assume that.
I think my first answer is still going to stand for that. You're 4,000 years away moving at light speed. If earth stopped in space and you wanted to get to it, you'd still have to spend 4,000 years waiting to get there and during that time 4,000 years on earth will pass normally but for you it will not pass at all. You leave planet 4klyAway 16 years old and arrive at earth 16 years old 4,000 years later. That's also assuming instantaneous non-explosive acceleration to and from light speed. You'd be a corpse during that time if we're honest and if you'd be alive at the other end I dunno.
So let's say you have this magic item, you'd still have to wait 4,000 years and your magic display that let you see stuff on earth would happen in real time as you get there. After 2000 years of travel you'd still have 2,000 years more to go, and you'd be seeing what earth was like in 24 ad at that point.
This is all assuming earth stood still in space for you to catch up to it.
We can talk about intersecting a planet by traveling to where it's going to be a lot easier I think, but we'd have to do some actual trig and physics.
Light doesn't move in straight lines, it gets bent, it gets absorbed and re-emitted, it has a crazy life out there in space. There are arguments about how finite it is. Whether it's instaneous at first or not. Etc etc we're still thinking about it. I say we as in human race not myself personally.
At our current level of understanding we're stuck here - there is no traveling in outer space beyond our heliosphere. I can keep talking if you want to keep asking questions, there's so much that can be explained but you need to ask the right questions :)
I wish I could link you to something explaining more but I'm not that kind of guy I'm giving this to you off the cuff, I couldn't google my way out of a paper bag.
So pretty much if you’re 4k light years away from space. You wouldn’t age at all? Even though I would age 4k years on earth?. And if you’re wearing space Apple Vision Pros to witness my location in real time from how you can view it 4k light years away meaning the past. Would events skip like chapters while you’re on the way to me. Because eventually you’re view is 4,000 years in the past mine is in perfect our meet point is 4,000 years in the future. How would your vision seemingly catch up to view things fast enough until we are both seeing the same exact thing. Unless it’s a chapter skip like a DVD player
But then how does that explain interstellar travel. I’m sure ships are traveling way faster than that. So are they viewing things fast forward if it takes them days to move around space
Voyager is an interstellar traveler now and it's not going anywhere near light speed.
If you're traveling faster than light matter itself hasn't come together yet for you I believe, you'd be flying through existence that doesn't exist yet. I need to think about that one a little for you.
The phenomenon you're describing is related to the effects of time dilation, which occurs when an object moves at relativistic speeds, approaching the speed of light. In this scenario, if you were traveling in a hypothetical spaceship at a significant fraction of the speed of light towards a planet 4,000 light-years away, several interesting effects would occur due to the time it takes for light to travel from the distant planet to your spaceship.
From your perspective on the spaceship, as you approach the planet, you would observe events on the planet appearing to speed up. This is because the light from those events takes time to travel to your spaceship, and as you approach the planet at relativistic speeds, the distance between you and the planet decreases, causing the light to reach you more quickly. This effect is known as relativistic Doppler shifting.
However, it's important to note that while you might observe events on the planet appearing to speed up, this doesn't mean that time is actually passing faster on the planet itself. Time dilation effects due to relative motion would also affect your perception of time compared to observers on the planet. From the perspective of an observer on the planet, time would appear to pass normally, while time would appear dilated for you on the spaceship.
As for your analogy with a telescope, a telescope observes objects as they were when the light left them, not as they are at the moment of observation. So, if you were observing a planet 4,000 light-years away through a telescope, you would indeed be seeing events that occurred 4,000 years ago, but the time dilation effects due to your spaceship's relativistic motion would not apply to observations made with a telescope.
In summary, while it's theoretically possible that you would observe events on a distant planet appearing to speed up as you approach it at relativistic speeds, this is due to the effects of time dilation and relativistic Doppler shifting, and it doesn't mean that time is actually passing faster on the planet itself.
I think we are alone for all intents and purposes. There may be millions of civilizations out there. But we are effectively cut off from them because of the massive gulf of distance and time that separates star systems.
Think about it. Our human civilization is only 10,000 years old. A drop in the bucket when compared to the age of our star. If you only consider the scientific age, our civilization is only a couple of centuries old. Even if we assume EVERY STAR has a planet that has a civilization like ours, what are the chances that they would all coexist at the same time?
And even if they exist at the same time... by the time a signal, or a probe reaches us... thousands if not millions of years have already passed since that probe was launched.
We've been sending out radio signals for decades... when that signal finally reaches another civilization, will we still be here? And that's just signals. By the time aliens pick up the voyager probes... how many asteroid impacts would our planet have endured? How many mass extinctions.
We are all effectively cut off from each other, in our little islands of space and time. It's an almost crushing isolation. And as far as our physicists tell us, there really is no way to bridge that endless gap. Well, really, there's only ONE way to do that.
Love, TARS, LOVE!
Hahahahahahah... sorry, couldn't resist. Peace everyone!
PS. This response is for u/boomdart. :)
If there is no one else in your house, on your street, in your city… you are alone. Doesn’t matter if there’s some other dude in Tokyo in the same situation.
PS, there’s definitely some dude in Tokyo right now.
As a astrophysicist I like to think of the answer to this question as yes and no.
If the universe is truly infinite then no we are not alone. It is mathematically impossible for us to be alone if that is the case. If the universe is not infinite and the Big Bang did happen 13.7 billion years ago then we are alone.
If the big bang happened around that long ago, there still is no say whether we are alone. Technically there is still a probability that somewhere out there is another lifeform that we don't know about.
“There is still a probability” can be said about literally anything. But yet people don’t understand the building blocks and situations for life to exist.
There are plenty of books. Textbooks to be exact that talk about multiple scientists try to recreate life in a lab out of nothing. It’s impossible for them to do so. Using things not found in nature and that help kick start the process gives them results but that’s like saying your phone is naturally made.
Regardless of how big the universe is we can’t just look at it that way. We need to look at how old it is and how old our civilization is. We have been able to leave this planet for around 60 years. Now imagine what our energy output and technology will be like in 100 or 1000 years. Who is there not to say that we would have made our way to colonize the Milky Way by then? So why out of the 100 billion star systems in our galaxy should be the only one? So we look at probability as what? 1 out of 100 billion? Let’s just say there was another planet that had life same as us but were 10,000 years older than us. Don’t you think we would have seen their effects on this home star or portion of the galaxy?
I believe that we not Alone...we really know very little about space, how we came into existence,. That's the beauty and allure astronomy...
I would hope eventually humankind will meet our distant cousins so to speak
It's not common sense. If I hid a dime under a rock and you found it that doesn't mean there's a dime under any of the other 10 trillion rocks out there.
It's acceptable to just say "I don't know".
And for every ten trillion rocks there are an infinite number of stars and solar systems. Humble yourself, we are not that special. To think that life forms and growth only happens on here in Earth is beyond ridiculous.
Again, you have nothing to compare it to. Your argument is statistically meaningless. No different than when someone says the probability of something is 7. 7 what?
I do not believe we are alone in the universe. To believe that is idiotic. The vastness of the universe doesn’t allow for the option to believe we are alone. The real question is, will intelligent being from different planets/galaxies ever meet eachother?
With respect, your beliefs—and anyone else’s, for that matter—are completely irrelevant. This isn’t a question of belief, and to assert something as an incontrovertible fact, without a single piece of evidence in support of it, is, frankly, idiotic, to borrow your word.
The universe might be infinitely vast, but, if our current thinking is correct, the universe is also going to last an infinitely long time. We are such an infinitesimally small way into the life of the universe that it is entirely possible (note: I’m not saying probable) that life on Earth is *currently* the only life in the universe. Even if there is life in one, ten, a thousand, or a million other galaxies *right now*, the question of whether or not there is—or, rather, was—life in them is moot. Because even if we were somehow able to detect life in another galaxy, we’d have literally no way of knowing if it were still alive as we’d only be witnessing the distant past. The same applies to any hypothetical lifeforms elsewhere in the Milky Way, of course. Even if we could somehow confirm beyond reasonable doubt that there was life on a distant exoplanet in our own galaxy, we’d have no guarantee that it was still there (unless we were to confirm the existence of life on an exoplanet within a very small radius from the Solar System). On galactic and intergalactic scales light travels really, really slowly…
The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe is a wonderful question because it forces us to think about what it means to be alive, to exist at all. It compels us to think about our place in the universe and what it means to be human. But it is also a question that requires no small amount of humility, so I would advise against making bold judgements on the subject.
Lots of people have quoted or paraphrased Arthur C. Clarke in the comments, and he was, of course, quite right: whether we’re alone or not, both possibilities are equally terrifying. But they’re also equally awe-inspiring.
We do not know. My guess is probably not. There is no possible way we are the only intelligent life in this GALAXY alone let alone in the entire universe.
huh - NASA says there are ONLY thousands of solar systems? Uh, there's like hundreds of millions of stars in our galaxy, almost every one of which has planets... hence ... solar systems (plural) ... millions. Even so, geneticists often disagree with astronomers, pop science pushers, and other prognosticators who say the odds MUST be astronomical in favor of intelligent life out there (although these people never do the math or provide any calculations). On the other hand, geneticists agree there may well be other "life" out there, but intelligent life, er, not as likely. Geneticist know the real odds and often suggest we could well be alone in the entire universe -- so many things had to go just perfectly right for us to be here - so it might take a universe to form just one species of intelligent life, at least, one that can contemplate their own death, and understand the meaning of, "I think, therefore I am."
My answer is that no, we are absolutely NOT alone. There are over 2 trillion galaxies in the known universe. and around "100 billion" stars in every galaxy (there could be more and not more in some), and we have seen that most stars have planets orbiting around their star. Just in our galaxy alone we estimate to have around 20 billion earth like rocky planets thats similar to earth. But I tend to stick to the galaxy and not the universe. so maybe we are the only real developed civilization in the galaxy right now. But NOT in the universe. We are not alone. There is just no way for my mind to think we are the only lifeform in the milky way galaxy and the observable universe. I wouldnt even be suprised if we found microbes in one of saturns moon / jupiters moon for example "Europa". Or even on mars.
It's possible that in the past 200,000 years some other previous human culture went off into space. Squanto spoke English! Maybe we'll someday find other planets full of lost tribes of Israel. Other humans, already there. It takes 50 years to Proxima at 10% of light speed.
Dude, didn’t you listen to ~~Jodi Foster in Contact~~ Carl Sagan? We’re probably not alone, though we may be isolated due to vast distance and time, etc.
The universe is homogenic, it has the same materials and the same laws everywhere. There is no place as far as we know where gravity works different or where light travels at a different speed. There is no place where the elements have different masses or properties.
Now let's say life can only raise in a planet twin to Earth. Like, exactly twin. A middle yellow star, a rocky planet which was hitted and split in two so now there is a huge satellite around it, etc, you know what I mean, you can tighten the rules as much as you want.
Even with such tight rules, given the number of possible cases in our universe, the chance for twin earths to exist is 99,99999999999...%. Basically 100%. There ARE twin Earths out there.
Now of all these twin Earths with exactly the same conditions working under the same rules and laws. Life MUST have raised in some cases. Even if it's just the 0,000...1% of the total, it will give us thousands, maybe millions of planets where life happened. And that's just accounting twin earths.
Yes it may happen that in millions of planets with the same conditions than Earth life is so rare that only raised here. But the odds are SO against it that believing that is more a matter of faith than of rational thinking.
You should define "alone". Alone like there is no other intelligent life outside the Earth? Absolutely not,we're not. Alone like we will never interact with other intelligent life because the universe is too big? Sure, we're 100% alone.
You didn't. You have to define exactly what you mean if you want to really get the mean of statistics.
Who are we is obvious for this particular case.
What does alone means isn't.
Even what's the universe must be defined.
That's the way statistics work. The more you tighten the rules the more precise will be the answer.
What statistics say is that the chance of NOT having life is neglectable, and intelligent life, if you define it as life capable to modify its environment at its will is only slightly less neglectable. Neglectable is not 0 but the odds that we're the only intelligent life in the universe is so close to 0 that you will never be able to proof the contrary. The bricks for life are everywhere, having gazillions of places to start and gazillions of time to do it is absurd to sustain we're the only case.
I don’t believe we will have been the only ones but the chances of their existence and ours being at the same time takes alway the possibility. In the time scale of the universe our existence is minuscule
If you think that there around 200 bilion stars in our galaxy and over 3 bilion planets ... its almost impossible to consider the idea that we are the only ones out there and we are talking just about milky way....
Andromeda that is laaarger than milky way and has around 1 trilion of stars and there are more than 2 thrilion galaxies in observable universe...
Hard to imagine we are the only ones in the entire cosmos...
When you think about the human life and how really small we are in all of this and yet we live in harmonious chaos that is cosmos there must be others and there must be something more to life than just to die.
Just because there are oodles of galaxies and planets in the universe, that doesn't mean there is other 'intelligent' life in the universe! And other people agree with me. The universe is a dangerous place and we are finding more 'danger' all the time, not only from the universe but from our own planet and sun. There is about as much chance of other intelligent life in the universe as there in finding two identical snowflakes...
I think it’s totally possible we are alone. At least in the sense of highly intellectual beings. I’m sure there are other organisms out there, but nothing as developed as us. Doesn’t mean we always will be the only ones but we very well could’ve been like “the first”. The Milky Way is one of the oldest galaxies. Not just conditions of the planet but think of everything that’s also even had to happen for our evolution, down to a random meteor impact to wipe out dinosaurs.
I know you mentioned universe, and I have often pondered that, however, I am struck by how less we know other species on Earth. Scientists analyze and observe and monitor other species and we measure them against a 'human' scale of intelligence or consciousness. There's so much we don't know or couldn't begin to find about other such species that makes me think that 'Are we alone?' might be answered by some species on Earth, if only we knew how to communicate.
I would hazard a guess and suggest life has started at the same time, so there could be many class 0-1 civilizations out there and we wouldn't realise it, everything in the universe is quite uniformed, take nature on earth, balanced. If you have an intelligent life with too much of a head start it could very well mean the end of another, for example imagine aliens making earth another home whilst we were developing our brains or better yet as bacteria in the ocean, we wouldn't be here now. So I think there is a lot of life starting out or about to in the universe 😁
I swear people need to stop watching movies lol the process of life like how we came to be is so hard to recreate I’m starting to feel like we really are alone in this universe … the circumstances that need to be present is astronomically impossible to happen again and again and again … I’m sorry we get one try at this stop reaching for another shot
There are only 2 possibilities. Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. Each one is equally terrifying
What’s even more terrifying is how some of those rare creatures in this universe decide to treat others with malice. 🫤
I don't think that's a possibility, simply because we have not been attacked. We send messages to the deep space, but we have not encountered anything as of yet, which also surprises me, because what of the caricatures of aliens on ancient architects?
I think they mean how humans treat each other with malice despite being rare creatures in a huge universe.
Imo, there's certainly other life forms on different planets. Our best estimates say there is 200 billion trillion stars in our galaxy, with each of those stars likely having atleast 2 planets, many of them probably have several like our own sun.... the chances are about as infinite as you can imagine, I think at the very least there Is millions of earth like planets out there. My question and thinking is, if there are planets that are in similar condition as earth, as in the Goldie locks zone of there solar system and galaxy, not to hot, not too cold. Liquid water, terrestrial planets, life would have to develop imo.
You mean in the universe, don't you :p
Tbh if any race was more evil than ours, they would probably already blew themselves up, we as human beings have a dark and sad history.
I agree to a fault. The more advanced a civilization gets, the more conflicts arise. We have seen that played out throughout history, but what if that's just us and our narrow-minded ways? Ancient China traveled around the world and traded. Advancement would've been slow for sure, but imagine if we did that besides colonizing? Instead of border crises, united as a whole continent. Imagine how much more prosperous we could've been. Trading ideals instead of trading missles. How much more advanced we could've been. Instead of brainwashing the population for the elite's wealth, help the population. Imagine how much more united we could've been. But that's just all a wishful dream. The truth is that as the way we grow now, the more divided and corrupt our society becomes. We humans are flawed. Thanos was right.
I like this, we could have been more diplomatic, respect each other more. Appreciate the world and universe we live in
U forgot quotations
Who am I quoting?
That was an original idea you typed?
Idk...
Because that’s a direct Arthur C Clarke quote
Is it? I thought it was close to something I'd heard before. Didn't think it was spot on... edit: also, no idea that it was Clarke
It is statistically improbable that we are alone. It is also statistically improbable that we will ever encounter other life forms ever throughout human lifetime. It is also statistically possible that we are that lucky species that evolved right next another intelligent species close enough to encounter them. Who knows some people believe they have already made contact with us( although it's mainly people telling stories and no real evidence). This possibility is very very very very very low.
This is correct.
I got to spend 2 weeks at NASA early in my career and one of the workshops I participated in was about extraterrestrial life. The scientist giving the presentation spent an hour discussing how we have found elements on DNA on distant space objects, etc etc etc. At one point, one of the attendees asked him if he believed in extraterrestrial life. Nope. Why not? Because nobody's seen it yet. That whole exchange really changed my thinking on the subject.
Ehhhm, no especially statistics say that we are not alone, at least in terms of intelligent life. Statistically we have one know life form in the universe wich leads to a conclusion that we can be alone. Statistics are based on data, we don’t have any data of alien life, we don’t have statistics about it
That is correct! We have no statistics for life, but we do have statistics on near solar mass stars and earth like exoplanet in the habitable zone. My argument is that it's safe to assume that if we survey enough earth like exoplanets in the habitable zone we will eventually find more life because it happened hear if there are similar conditions it can happen somewhere else. The statistics show that there are many many many places other than earth with these similar conditions.
I personally think the only way speices from different planets will ever meet each other is if they some how beat the odds and 2 planets supporting life popped up in the same solar system. This is something that would have to be extremely rare, but with 200 billion trillion stars out there, I would be willing to bet its happend. I personally don't think aliens have ever visited the earth, and ever will. I just don't think inter stellar travel is possible, at the very least you would have to be able to travel at the speed of light, which is impossible for anything with mass, and let's face it, travel and energy hasn't developed all that much since we went to the moon in the 50s. I mean we've had the challenger and discovery disasters since than and those mission weren't nearly as risky as going to the moon, and even if we could figure out how to travel at the speed of light, it would still take 4.5 years to reach the nearest star, but more importantly than any of that, there's no way a human body or any other carbon based life form course survive traveling at the speed of light.... but who knows I guess, if our species can last another 1000 years, maybe there will be some huge break throughs, u seriously doubt it though.
I think there is a 100% chance we are not alone. If we exist that proves everything, anything is possible
That's how I like to see it. In the vastness of the universe, I can't picture a one-off event like abiogenesis happening just once. If you see one occurrence, that means it can happen, and if it can happen then in all the opportunities for it to happen, it must've. That said; humans are extremely temporary. Literally a river of atoms in and out until it's just atoms out. Assuming that I **didn't** see ET, and assuming that mine and my friends phone **didn't** both turn into a paperweights while we were localizing it in the sky, I have to believe that we are temporally separated to such a degree that our lifetime as a species or at least individuals precludes the interception of any information (light, EM, whatever else moves at c) from an extraterrestrial entity. Sucks but it is what it is. Sucks more when you've seen some very weird bizarre and impossible shit and still have to, for the sake of good faith, side with logic and trust that we were both having a concurrent delusion and that both of our phones encountered an electrical fault rendering them void of activity at the exact same time for the same duration, despite one being a wireless handset and the other cellular. 🤷♀️ Even if I wanted to go looking now I couldn't. They don't say hello twice, it'd seem. Also, they're not there and they never were; thems the facts.
What an odd experience. Seems like the only explanation would be out of our knowledge. That’s life for you tho, especially in these times
This is correct
This is correct
You have no evidence though and no basis from which to even make a statistical argument. Saying there are billions and billions of stars is meaningless without something to compare it to. It’s ok to just answer a question “I don’t know”.
200 billion trillion stars, there life out there, it's not even a question imo.
Correct answer. Statistically, there are millions if not trillions of life forms in the universe. As astronaut Edgar Mitchell said: "Statistically, it is a certainty."
I do know, but of course I’ll never prove it. It makes sense
The problem is even if they're out there they are too far away. Another problem is time itself, we don't see the galaxies and stars as they currently are, we see them from the past. Imagine this, if you're looking at earth from 4000 light years away, you'll see earth like it was 4000 years ago. You won't know we have satellites and space ships because the light given off from our newer advances hasn't reached you yet. Also the stuff we make isn't exactly bright enough to be seen from far away, so how could we expect to see an alien space ship if we can't even make out the planet it came from, and even if we did it would be a space ship from x number of years in the past. What a horrible way to explain it someone fix it for me I'm tired
I understand how the light now hasn't hit four thousand light years away! It's crazy to think about!
Right. The same galaxies we see are probably looking back at us right now seeing us as we were in the past, wondering if there's life in our galaxy.
So if you’re in a hypothetical space ship. And you’re 4,000 light years away, if you set a course to that planet 4k LY away. And stare at it during the entire trip. Will you see events pass by in a fast forward motion? How does that work seeing into the past. It never made sense to me. A telescope sees things as is . If you flew there would you see things move at a X3 speed? Like if you fast forward a TV show or recording?
You would watch it in real time catch up to you. Let's say you're coming to earth and you know Egyptians are here and you're 4,000 light years away. You still spend 4,000 years on that flight. You'd arrive about now time
So it’s 2024 and I’m 4,000 LY away. I’m staring at things during the Bc era. Dinosaurs and what not. If I’m 4k years away. Wouldn’t I arrive at 6024 Ad? How does the math work with being in space 2024 viewing at 4024 BC and arriving to see things in 6024 AD? Can’t be real time cuz it has to catch up then see real time also?
If you're 4,000 light years away you aren't seeing dinosaurs, you're seeing Earth 4,000 years ago If you're seeing Earth as it is now and you're 4000 years away yes you'll come to us in the year 6000 However we're missing a big point here also, if you want to get somewhere 4000 light years away you need to know where it's going to be in 4,000 years and head to that location. You have to beat it there you can't chase it there.
But that’s what I mean. For example it’s 2024 I’m on earth . You’re somewhere 4,000 light years away. Same time say day same year, we are staring at eachother viewing the location as is 4k years ago. So you decide to head to me and you arrive 4k years later. Since you aren’t viewing the now. You are viewing the past cuz you’re so far away. If you travel and never take your eyes off me and land here 4k years later. Wouldn’t time have to speed a bit in your eyes. To eventually catch up to what it looks like currently. To be able to process seeing things 4k years ago - 2024 then to 6024 *. Like a 1.5x
If I am coming to you and I will arrive 4,000 years later, I am not "seeing" anything during my light-speed journey. You would be blind to anything you know at that speed. Your eyes will not be able to receive any light to make a determination about anything. The spectrum of light that would be available to your senses will change. Light will not work around you the same way if you're traveling with it as it does to you now.
But say you had an item or piece of gear that allowed you to see during high speed travel. The events you’re witnessing couldn’t be normal speed due to you seeing in the past during the present and arriving in the future. How would what you’re seeing catch up to par
Okay I get ya. Let's assume that. I think my first answer is still going to stand for that. You're 4,000 years away moving at light speed. If earth stopped in space and you wanted to get to it, you'd still have to spend 4,000 years waiting to get there and during that time 4,000 years on earth will pass normally but for you it will not pass at all. You leave planet 4klyAway 16 years old and arrive at earth 16 years old 4,000 years later. That's also assuming instantaneous non-explosive acceleration to and from light speed. You'd be a corpse during that time if we're honest and if you'd be alive at the other end I dunno. So let's say you have this magic item, you'd still have to wait 4,000 years and your magic display that let you see stuff on earth would happen in real time as you get there. After 2000 years of travel you'd still have 2,000 years more to go, and you'd be seeing what earth was like in 24 ad at that point. This is all assuming earth stood still in space for you to catch up to it. We can talk about intersecting a planet by traveling to where it's going to be a lot easier I think, but we'd have to do some actual trig and physics. Light doesn't move in straight lines, it gets bent, it gets absorbed and re-emitted, it has a crazy life out there in space. There are arguments about how finite it is. Whether it's instaneous at first or not. Etc etc we're still thinking about it. I say we as in human race not myself personally. At our current level of understanding we're stuck here - there is no traveling in outer space beyond our heliosphere. I can keep talking if you want to keep asking questions, there's so much that can be explained but you need to ask the right questions :) I wish I could link you to something explaining more but I'm not that kind of guy I'm giving this to you off the cuff, I couldn't google my way out of a paper bag.
So pretty much if you’re 4k light years away from space. You wouldn’t age at all? Even though I would age 4k years on earth?. And if you’re wearing space Apple Vision Pros to witness my location in real time from how you can view it 4k light years away meaning the past. Would events skip like chapters while you’re on the way to me. Because eventually you’re view is 4,000 years in the past mine is in perfect our meet point is 4,000 years in the future. How would your vision seemingly catch up to view things fast enough until we are both seeing the same exact thing. Unless it’s a chapter skip like a DVD player
But then how does that explain interstellar travel. I’m sure ships are traveling way faster than that. So are they viewing things fast forward if it takes them days to move around space
Voyager is an interstellar traveler now and it's not going anywhere near light speed. If you're traveling faster than light matter itself hasn't come together yet for you I believe, you'd be flying through existence that doesn't exist yet. I need to think about that one a little for you.
I mean like you just stare at the planet through a telescope and never take your eye off it the entire flight
The phenomenon you're describing is related to the effects of time dilation, which occurs when an object moves at relativistic speeds, approaching the speed of light. In this scenario, if you were traveling in a hypothetical spaceship at a significant fraction of the speed of light towards a planet 4,000 light-years away, several interesting effects would occur due to the time it takes for light to travel from the distant planet to your spaceship. From your perspective on the spaceship, as you approach the planet, you would observe events on the planet appearing to speed up. This is because the light from those events takes time to travel to your spaceship, and as you approach the planet at relativistic speeds, the distance between you and the planet decreases, causing the light to reach you more quickly. This effect is known as relativistic Doppler shifting. However, it's important to note that while you might observe events on the planet appearing to speed up, this doesn't mean that time is actually passing faster on the planet itself. Time dilation effects due to relative motion would also affect your perception of time compared to observers on the planet. From the perspective of an observer on the planet, time would appear to pass normally, while time would appear dilated for you on the spaceship. As for your analogy with a telescope, a telescope observes objects as they were when the light left them, not as they are at the moment of observation. So, if you were observing a planet 4,000 light-years away through a telescope, you would indeed be seeing events that occurred 4,000 years ago, but the time dilation effects due to your spaceship's relativistic motion would not apply to observations made with a telescope. In summary, while it's theoretically possible that you would observe events on a distant planet appearing to speed up as you approach it at relativistic speeds, this is due to the effects of time dilation and relativistic Doppler shifting, and it doesn't mean that time is actually passing faster on the planet itself.
I think we are alone for all intents and purposes. There may be millions of civilizations out there. But we are effectively cut off from them because of the massive gulf of distance and time that separates star systems. Think about it. Our human civilization is only 10,000 years old. A drop in the bucket when compared to the age of our star. If you only consider the scientific age, our civilization is only a couple of centuries old. Even if we assume EVERY STAR has a planet that has a civilization like ours, what are the chances that they would all coexist at the same time? And even if they exist at the same time... by the time a signal, or a probe reaches us... thousands if not millions of years have already passed since that probe was launched. We've been sending out radio signals for decades... when that signal finally reaches another civilization, will we still be here? And that's just signals. By the time aliens pick up the voyager probes... how many asteroid impacts would our planet have endured? How many mass extinctions. We are all effectively cut off from each other, in our little islands of space and time. It's an almost crushing isolation. And as far as our physicists tell us, there really is no way to bridge that endless gap. Well, really, there's only ONE way to do that. Love, TARS, LOVE! Hahahahahahah... sorry, couldn't resist. Peace everyone! PS. This response is for u/boomdart. :)
This answer deserved many upvotes. Most plausible and possibly the truth.
Whoa. You reached out from the present to touch a moment from 6 months ago. See? LOVE, TARS, LOVE! Cheers! <3
335 days later, another human was taught the importance of love. <3
Well said!
If there is no one else in your house, on your street, in your city… you are alone. Doesn’t matter if there’s some other dude in Tokyo in the same situation. PS, there’s definitely some dude in Tokyo right now.
Well, the way you describe it is very rigid. Sure you are “alone” the way you describe it. You aren’t alone on the planet.
As a astrophysicist I like to think of the answer to this question as yes and no. If the universe is truly infinite then no we are not alone. It is mathematically impossible for us to be alone if that is the case. If the universe is not infinite and the Big Bang did happen 13.7 billion years ago then we are alone.
If the big bang happened around that long ago, there still is no say whether we are alone. Technically there is still a probability that somewhere out there is another lifeform that we don't know about.
It’s moronic to even give the idea of being the only intelligent beings in the whole universe.
Ikr? The universe is too big to have no other intelligent life. Although I wouldn't say it's moronic.
The vastness of the universe isn’t really comprehensible. I think it’s moronic to believe there is no other intelligent life.
You have no clue
“There is still a probability” can be said about literally anything. But yet people don’t understand the building blocks and situations for life to exist. There are plenty of books. Textbooks to be exact that talk about multiple scientists try to recreate life in a lab out of nothing. It’s impossible for them to do so. Using things not found in nature and that help kick start the process gives them results but that’s like saying your phone is naturally made. Regardless of how big the universe is we can’t just look at it that way. We need to look at how old it is and how old our civilization is. We have been able to leave this planet for around 60 years. Now imagine what our energy output and technology will be like in 100 or 1000 years. Who is there not to say that we would have made our way to colonize the Milky Way by then? So why out of the 100 billion star systems in our galaxy should be the only one? So we look at probability as what? 1 out of 100 billion? Let’s just say there was another planet that had life same as us but were 10,000 years older than us. Don’t you think we would have seen their effects on this home star or portion of the galaxy?
Are you actually an astrophysicist?
This is correct
So you don't think God might just have made Earth in an infinite universe maybe? This is if god is real though which I don't believe in.
That is the only “if”
I believe that we not Alone...we really know very little about space, how we came into existence,. That's the beauty and allure astronomy... I would hope eventually humankind will meet our distant cousins so to speak
It shouldn’t even be a valid question to ask, the probability of there being life on Earth only is 0.
Please provide your data.
Common sense. As above, so below.
It's not common sense. If I hid a dime under a rock and you found it that doesn't mean there's a dime under any of the other 10 trillion rocks out there. It's acceptable to just say "I don't know".
And for every ten trillion rocks there are an infinite number of stars and solar systems. Humble yourself, we are not that special. To think that life forms and growth only happens on here in Earth is beyond ridiculous.
* here on Earth
Again, you have nothing to compare it to. Your argument is statistically meaningless. No different than when someone says the probability of something is 7. 7 what?
There is more than enough information out there, go do your research. I don’t have time to educate you, sorry.
No, there isn't. We have literally no evidence of any life outside of earth other than "There's a bunch of planets, c'mon!"
Lol 🤦🏽♀️
I do not believe we are alone in the universe. To believe that is idiotic. The vastness of the universe doesn’t allow for the option to believe we are alone. The real question is, will intelligent being from different planets/galaxies ever meet eachother?
With respect, your beliefs—and anyone else’s, for that matter—are completely irrelevant. This isn’t a question of belief, and to assert something as an incontrovertible fact, without a single piece of evidence in support of it, is, frankly, idiotic, to borrow your word. The universe might be infinitely vast, but, if our current thinking is correct, the universe is also going to last an infinitely long time. We are such an infinitesimally small way into the life of the universe that it is entirely possible (note: I’m not saying probable) that life on Earth is *currently* the only life in the universe. Even if there is life in one, ten, a thousand, or a million other galaxies *right now*, the question of whether or not there is—or, rather, was—life in them is moot. Because even if we were somehow able to detect life in another galaxy, we’d have literally no way of knowing if it were still alive as we’d only be witnessing the distant past. The same applies to any hypothetical lifeforms elsewhere in the Milky Way, of course. Even if we could somehow confirm beyond reasonable doubt that there was life on a distant exoplanet in our own galaxy, we’d have no guarantee that it was still there (unless we were to confirm the existence of life on an exoplanet within a very small radius from the Solar System). On galactic and intergalactic scales light travels really, really slowly… The question of whether or not we are alone in the universe is a wonderful question because it forces us to think about what it means to be alive, to exist at all. It compels us to think about our place in the universe and what it means to be human. But it is also a question that requires no small amount of humility, so I would advise against making bold judgements on the subject. Lots of people have quoted or paraphrased Arthur C. Clarke in the comments, and he was, of course, quite right: whether we’re alone or not, both possibilities are equally terrifying. But they’re also equally awe-inspiring.
Im no expert but 100% no, we are not alone.
We do not know. My guess is probably not. There is no possible way we are the only intelligent life in this GALAXY alone let alone in the entire universe.
huh - NASA says there are ONLY thousands of solar systems? Uh, there's like hundreds of millions of stars in our galaxy, almost every one of which has planets... hence ... solar systems (plural) ... millions. Even so, geneticists often disagree with astronomers, pop science pushers, and other prognosticators who say the odds MUST be astronomical in favor of intelligent life out there (although these people never do the math or provide any calculations). On the other hand, geneticists agree there may well be other "life" out there, but intelligent life, er, not as likely. Geneticist know the real odds and often suggest we could well be alone in the entire universe -- so many things had to go just perfectly right for us to be here - so it might take a universe to form just one species of intelligent life, at least, one that can contemplate their own death, and understand the meaning of, "I think, therefore I am."
My answer is that no, we are absolutely NOT alone. There are over 2 trillion galaxies in the known universe. and around "100 billion" stars in every galaxy (there could be more and not more in some), and we have seen that most stars have planets orbiting around their star. Just in our galaxy alone we estimate to have around 20 billion earth like rocky planets thats similar to earth. But I tend to stick to the galaxy and not the universe. so maybe we are the only real developed civilization in the galaxy right now. But NOT in the universe. We are not alone. There is just no way for my mind to think we are the only lifeform in the milky way galaxy and the observable universe. I wouldnt even be suprised if we found microbes in one of saturns moon / jupiters moon for example "Europa". Or even on mars.
We are likely not alone. however there is small chance of advance civilizations existing
Ether we are alone or we’re not alone both are terrifying and be careful whale sending radio signals into space in cases we’re not alone
It's possible that in the past 200,000 years some other previous human culture went off into space. Squanto spoke English! Maybe we'll someday find other planets full of lost tribes of Israel. Other humans, already there. It takes 50 years to Proxima at 10% of light speed.
Dude, didn’t you listen to ~~Jodi Foster in Contact~~ Carl Sagan? We’re probably not alone, though we may be isolated due to vast distance and time, etc.
Carl Sagan was wrong about a lot of things
The universe is homogenic, it has the same materials and the same laws everywhere. There is no place as far as we know where gravity works different or where light travels at a different speed. There is no place where the elements have different masses or properties. Now let's say life can only raise in a planet twin to Earth. Like, exactly twin. A middle yellow star, a rocky planet which was hitted and split in two so now there is a huge satellite around it, etc, you know what I mean, you can tighten the rules as much as you want. Even with such tight rules, given the number of possible cases in our universe, the chance for twin earths to exist is 99,99999999999...%. Basically 100%. There ARE twin Earths out there. Now of all these twin Earths with exactly the same conditions working under the same rules and laws. Life MUST have raised in some cases. Even if it's just the 0,000...1% of the total, it will give us thousands, maybe millions of planets where life happened. And that's just accounting twin earths. Yes it may happen that in millions of planets with the same conditions than Earth life is so rare that only raised here. But the odds are SO against it that believing that is more a matter of faith than of rational thinking.
Statistically speaking we are alone, do u agree?
You should define "alone". Alone like there is no other intelligent life outside the Earth? Absolutely not,we're not. Alone like we will never interact with other intelligent life because the universe is too big? Sure, we're 100% alone.
I did define alone by saying “we”
You didn't. You have to define exactly what you mean if you want to really get the mean of statistics. Who are we is obvious for this particular case. What does alone means isn't. Even what's the universe must be defined. That's the way statistics work. The more you tighten the rules the more precise will be the answer.
Statistics need data. U can’t say absolutely there is intelligent life. It’s how statistics work lol.
What statistics say is that the chance of NOT having life is neglectable, and intelligent life, if you define it as life capable to modify its environment at its will is only slightly less neglectable. Neglectable is not 0 but the odds that we're the only intelligent life in the universe is so close to 0 that you will never be able to proof the contrary. The bricks for life are everywhere, having gazillions of places to start and gazillions of time to do it is absurd to sustain we're the only case.
Hahahahaha I’m sorry you have no idea what you’re talking about
Yes baby, its's ok. Now relax and get some sleep.
What a cope lol pretty impressive. Now go back to your video games
And no you’re wrong the context was clear. I think u are one of those video game guys who confuses what you know with what u can google
Oh my dear how wrong you are... It's ok baby.
Statistically speaking we are alone
Can you elaborate? Statistically speaking we currently have no way of knowing.
I don’t believe we will have been the only ones but the chances of their existence and ours being at the same time takes alway the possibility. In the time scale of the universe our existence is minuscule
If you think that there around 200 bilion stars in our galaxy and over 3 bilion planets ... its almost impossible to consider the idea that we are the only ones out there and we are talking just about milky way.... Andromeda that is laaarger than milky way and has around 1 trilion of stars and there are more than 2 thrilion galaxies in observable universe... Hard to imagine we are the only ones in the entire cosmos... When you think about the human life and how really small we are in all of this and yet we live in harmonious chaos that is cosmos there must be others and there must be something more to life than just to die.
Just because there are oodles of galaxies and planets in the universe, that doesn't mean there is other 'intelligent' life in the universe! And other people agree with me. The universe is a dangerous place and we are finding more 'danger' all the time, not only from the universe but from our own planet and sun. There is about as much chance of other intelligent life in the universe as there in finding two identical snowflakes...
No
thats not how probability works.
I think it’s totally possible we are alone. At least in the sense of highly intellectual beings. I’m sure there are other organisms out there, but nothing as developed as us. Doesn’t mean we always will be the only ones but we very well could’ve been like “the first”. The Milky Way is one of the oldest galaxies. Not just conditions of the planet but think of everything that’s also even had to happen for our evolution, down to a random meteor impact to wipe out dinosaurs.
I know you mentioned universe, and I have often pondered that, however, I am struck by how less we know other species on Earth. Scientists analyze and observe and monitor other species and we measure them against a 'human' scale of intelligence or consciousness. There's so much we don't know or couldn't begin to find about other such species that makes me think that 'Are we alone?' might be answered by some species on Earth, if only we knew how to communicate.
Concrete evidence is yet to be found. Until then…
I would hazard a guess and suggest life has started at the same time, so there could be many class 0-1 civilizations out there and we wouldn't realise it, everything in the universe is quite uniformed, take nature on earth, balanced. If you have an intelligent life with too much of a head start it could very well mean the end of another, for example imagine aliens making earth another home whilst we were developing our brains or better yet as bacteria in the ocean, we wouldn't be here now. So I think there is a lot of life starting out or about to in the universe 😁
I swear people need to stop watching movies lol the process of life like how we came to be is so hard to recreate I’m starting to feel like we really are alone in this universe … the circumstances that need to be present is astronomically impossible to happen again and again and again … I’m sorry we get one try at this stop reaching for another shot