Aliens Poll

[TheFaithfulStone]

I got it down to 0.0005. Here's how. Let's say there are 100billion stars in the Milky Way (real number) and that 50% of them have planets (good guess) Of those, about 1 in 10-15 has a planet that can sustain life (good guess. ~150 extra solar planets - one good one.)

 

Unfortunately, the lowest number you could select there was .33 - so I took the "number with planets down to 10% and set "with life" to .5 - which is about equal to 1 in 20 stars having planets that can sustain life (I fear this number is probably too high.)

 

Now, let's say that life evolves on 100% of planets where everything exists for that to happen, but only 1 in 1000 evolves life of "human intelligence" and that only 1 in 1000 of those invents the artillery shell and the cellular telephone.

 

If we figure the life of a civilization at 1,000 years (optimistic maybe, or perhaps pessimistic, we almost wiped ourselves out after less than twenty!) That puts 0.0005 civilizations per galaxy - or one every 20,000 galaxies or so. When you consider that there are several hundred billion galaxies, you end up with a CRAP load of civilizations.

 

And that's being pessimistic! Alone in this galaxy? Maybe. Alone in the universe? No flippin' way.

 

TFS

[Mercedes Benzene]

What exactly do people here think is intelligent? Would you count gorillas and dolphins as "intelligent life"? I just want to see what people think.

[Buffy]

What exactly do people here think is intelligent? Would you count gorillas and dolphins as "intelligent life"? I just want to see what people think.

Its true I didn't break that out for the latter choices: the conventional definition for SETI/Drake Equation talks about ability to produce communications that can be perceived across interstellar distances (e.g. they could see our "I Love Lucy" and "South Park" reruns), so the "gorillas, dolphins" group wouldn't normally qualify, but I'd be interested in seeing what people were thinking when they answered too.

 

The earlier options in the poll question were of course designed to let those who think that man has some sort of unique and special place in the universe to indicate their beliefs too.

 

Survey said,

Buffy

[IDMclean]

I've often wondered what truely distinguished me from the crystals that grow. In an old definition of life crystals matched everything. It is only when exhibited thought came about that crystals no longer matched the definition of "alive", still I wonder, what would non-organic life look and act like, would we even notice?

 

Pebbles underfoot I would think.

 

Also anyone ever heard of the secret life of plants? Apparently someguy, a polygraph specialist, hooked up plants to a machine and got odd results, responces to various stimulae.

[Turtle]

I'm definitely in the is intelligent life but hasn't visited us. We're way too boring to bother visiting...

 

Cheers,

Buffy

 

Or are we?

 

 

In the documentary "Apollo 11: The Untold Story," shown on Britain's Channel Five on Monday night, July 24, astronaut Buzz Aldrin says he, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins all saw a UFO shadowing their spacecraft. Apollo 11, which took off on July 16, 1969, was the first manned mission to the moon. Aldrin says, "There was something out there, close enough to be observed, and what could it be?"

http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/?id=5469

Aldrin also revealed that he and other astronauts had reported seeing a UFO during the flight, but NASA had covered it up. He said,

 

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/7761.html

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17435592&method=full&siteid=66633&headline=man-on-moon--we-saw-a-ufo--name_page.html

:eek2: ;) :) :) :) :eek: :eek:

Curiouser & curiouser!

[Shekhar]

We are quite complex beings but it doesn't mean that we are the most intelligent ones.

 

I think that life is possible even without water or any fluid because its just a continous phenomenona eat and excrete .....on simple scale

[Tarantism]

We are quite complex beings but it doesn't mean that we are the most intelligent ones.

 

I think that life is possible even without water or any fluid because its just a continous phenomenona eat and excrete .....on simple scale

i think that the alien lifeforms will very in regards to lots of things, including things desireable for sustanence. but as far as i know, we havent found any lifeforms that were not carbon-based...then again, have we found aything that is from space? what about thsoe bacteria on mars? i do not know their nature.

[IMAMONKEY!]

I voted for Intelligent life and they have not visited us yet. It is hard to believe that out of Probably Trillions and Billions of planets circling Trillions and Billions of stars in our universe only one owuld support life... that's just concieted. The requirements of an environment to sustain life in general are not that specific. There is almost no chance that we are the only life in the universe let alone intelligent life in the universe... who knows.... maybe the Buggers from Orson Scott Card's Enders Game will someday attack us and we'll end up just like the sci-fi novels... death by ignorance. :confused:

 

Mark my words... they're watching us... Always watching...:)

[pmaust]

I'm sorry I haven't voted on this one but, none of the options seemed to fit with how I think and feel about it.

 

Humans are the only intelligent life, and there is no life beyond Earth.

Humans, dolphins, gorillas and a few others are the only intelligent life.

There's life beyond earth but its only bacteria and simple organisms.

There's complex life beyond earth but its not intelligent.

There's intelligent life in the universe but they've never visited Earth.

There's intelligent life in the universe and they've visited.

There's intelligent life and they regularly abduct humans for experiments.

 

I suspect but cannot prove that there is plenty of opportunity for life elsewhere in the Universe. Life that has higher intelligence whatever that is, may be rare in comparison to all other potential life.

 

It is possible that life even on this planet may have originated from somewhere else. I may be wrong but, I don't think we have actually proven or been able to replicate natural conditions for growing complex cells from scratch.

 

I think is would be ok to add "I don't know" as an option. :lol:

 

Have you learned some new information about life in the Universe that you would like to share with us? :naughty:

[justforfun]

I chose the one which has aliens abducting humans. I have no direct evidence for this but having read many opinions on various websites. I suspect that the 'true' facts are that higher-dimensional beings are now, and have been on this planet for as long as humans have. If you've never heard of this theory google 'keylontic dictionary.' In the book by Michael Harner entitled 'The Way of the Shaman' he mentions 'crocodilian demons' he sees in a vision. these 'lizzies' are repeatedly seen along with 'the little grays' in numerous sightings. Carlos Castaneda in his final book, 'The Active Side of Infinity,' devotes a chapter to 'mudshadows,' invisible beings guiding our lives in subtle ways. Most people reading this will think I am stupid or crazy and thats exactly the way these beings like it. As for me, I am writing to those few who will investigate, and hopefully upgrade their paradigms. - cheers!

[Eclogite]

Most people reading this will think I am stupid or crazy

This was the part of your post I felt most comfortable with.:)

[imaplanck.]

Where is the - 'All types of life elsewhere are a possibility, but not even the simplest life is certain' option?.

[REASON]

I chose that there is intelligent life elsewhere but hasn't visited. While I obviously can't prove this, we represent proof that it can happen. Since I believe that the processes that led to the development of life on a planet in our solar system are not likely to be unique, it would follow for me, considering the immense vastness of the universe and the sheer numbers of galaxies and solar systems, that life, including intelligent life, is probable elsewhere.

 

Factors including time and distance make the chances of being visited by intelligent life improbable.

 

The poll doesn't completely fit my position either, but it's a good question.:warped:

[Buffy]

Where is the - 'All types of life elsewhere are a possibility, but not even the simplest life is certain' option?.

My my, you are quite the cynic aren't you?

 

Nah you're right, even we don't qualify as "the simplest life"...

 

But anyway, the question is what your *opinion* is on whether there's life out there, not "what a is a demonstrably true statement about the existence of other life in the universe." I don't care if you're right, I just wanna know what you *think*.

 

Imagine all the aliens, :warped:

Buffy

[imaplanck.]

My my, you are quite the cynic aren't you?

 

Nah you're right, even we don't qualify as "the simplest life"...

 

But anyway, the question is what your *opinion* is on whether there's life out there, not "what a is a demonstrably true statement about the existence of other life in the universe." I don't care if you're right, I just wanna know what you *think*.

 

Imagine all the aliens, :D

Buffy

 

Oh OK. In that case I vote the 5th one.:)

[imaplanck.]

Just to play along:

 

 

If we assume for one minute an infinite universe, and further assume that the inception of life has a finite probability(as it at the very least occurred once, to our knowledge(here on earth)): Anything with a finite probability(no matter how small that probability) has to occur. Then given enough instances of the inception of life, evolution would inevitably throw up intelligent life, as any number multiplied by infinity; is of course infinity.

[Buffy]

If we assume for one minute an infinite universe, and further assume that the inception of life has a finite probability....

 

The ironic thing of course is that most that do not believe there is other intelligent life believe the universe is infinite, while most of those who do believe there is intelligent life believe the universe is finite....

 

Finite possibilities,

Buffy