ive read most biologists argue that life existing elsewhere is so improbable to happen. they argue that things must be perfect for life to exist. most of the stars in the universe are unhabitable and for a planet to have complex life by chance is 1 in 10^31.

why are most scientists pessimists when it comes to et life?

you forget that science doesn't go out of its way to disprove everything. Science is a way of assertaining the truth through experimentation....its usually a long drawn out process.

We believe scientists it seems only when it suits us...

we believe them when they say that research into the influenza virus has given us a new medical breakthrough...

yet they're idiots when they tell us scientifically the chance of ET contact in our lifetime is quite slim...

We've done all we can from our end, its time for these "ET's" to stop being so damn covert and prove they exist....otherwise...Biologist's can only use the data they have in front of them to make their conclusions.

sorry for my error, i meant to say most scientists believe in complex life. but are pessimists
actually gaining some ground on the et life debate. it kinda leans toward there not being complex life

well this is one of the many reasons why the idea of Ultraterrestrialism is gaining a lot more ground.

I think many people get stuck on the idea that...yes...complex life may exist.....but they need to find a way to get here across light years of space.

People saying "they get here in UFOs that can break the laws of physics" just isn't enough to convince people these days.

I have to confess that I believe in wormholes and hyperspace and that there are species out in the universe that can travel to earth and pay us mere humans a visit.

I think that its completely STUPID to say that there is no other life out there ANYWHERE especially when u look at the fact that our solar system is just a small spot on one of the tails of this Milky Way Galaxy and that there is a whole UNIVERSE out there. I cant believe that there are people who HONESTLY and WHOLEHEARTEDLY believe that there is no way that life exists anywhere but earth.

Are there that many people who say there is NO life somewhere "out there"?

I was under the impression that most thought that, statistically, there's a good chance but that it isn't likely we're going to meet any soon.

Statistically speaking, the probability is that complex life does exist elsewhere in the universe (remember everything is only guesswork at this point in time). However, that isn't the same thing as saying that highly advanced ET life is likely to be paying us a visit (or has paid us a visit). The only thing we can say (about ET life) with great conviction right now is, "we don't know".

i believe that

microbes:very common

complex life(animals): between rare and common

civilizations: very rare



complex life should be much more common than civilizations. the authors of rare earth actually believe complex life exists, but it is probably scattered in very few places.

take the number of stars and calculate which ones have these long chain of factors that needs to be met. it doesnt have to look like life as we know it, but it has to follow the principles.

I think most scientists are optimists. The problem is that given what is known, the odds against a single peptide chain forming at random are superastronomical. That means the odds are against it happening even once, anywhere, ever. And according to what we currently understand, it already happened once, here on Earth. That's the basis for saying that life on Earth is a spectacular accident, and we might be alone in all the universe.

But that's only given what we know now. I think most scientists have the feeling that we don't yet know some essential principle that makes the formation of life a far more likely event. If we found life on nearby planets, it would strengthen that conjecture.

Totally agree

even if we dont know, its either yes or no. and the evidence is pointing towards no. scientists are discovering things about earth that make it a unusual planet.

So then u'r saying that the things that make Earth an unusual planet is just a singularity and has not been repeated anywhere in the universe?

sometimes i think yes and no. just take your mind off of how many factors u need for life to exist, and just imagine how many planets there are in the galaxy, imagine them as marbles. imagine looking through all those marbles(planets) and think there should be a marble that looks habitable.

Dont think u quite got u'r post in there positron, dont ya just HATE that

Thank god for this forum! This is the first paranormal site that I've found that has a forum in this catagory. Yay! I'm glad I found this site.

Pretty cool huh? There are a lot of knowledgable people here in matters of the supernatural and paranormal. I think u'll like it. Welcome

one of the problems with ETIB's is that we judge their technology by the science WE know. when you look ad some of the far out subatomic super-strings and what not. you get into some seemingly random events. in some of these random events the laws of physics are turned-upside down and in other cases reversed. so to us impossible. to a advanced ETIB say 100,000 years more advanced than humanity --then it could be a totally different story.

its just easier to think of undiscovered planets as marbles. i bet u will find at least 1 or more habitable planets

Marbles? WTF?

I was thinking the same thing.

Pretty cool.. quite poetic.

pessimists do prove good points that go against et life existing, optimists use the same numbers over and over again.

What scientists are you talking about? Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking both think there is a good chance of intelligent life out there.

actually u would think im a pessimist. im not. i actually do believe in life out there. its just that we need to put the nail in the coffin and find life. heres a list of scientists who believes intelligent life exists.

stephen jay gould
richard dawkins
michio kaku
frank drake
seth shostak
chris mckay
david grinspoon
carl sagan
peter ward(in an interview he said he does believe in intelligent life but its probably just a few planets with them)
neil degrasse tyson
simon conway morris
donald browlee
jill tarter

stephen hawkings is actually a pessimist

stephen hawkings say that earth is all alone