• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Life in the universe. Does it only exist on earth.

Dan From Smithville

What's up Doc?
Staff member
Premium Member
The interesting factor isn't intelligence (fi) but communication (fc) or rather detectability. An alien civilization doesn't have to send radio waves in our direction to be detected. But we can assume that highly technological civilization would transform their environment in a detectable way, e.g. with a Dyson Sphere. We haven't detected one so far. I.e. we can say hat there is no advanced civilization in our vicinity at the time.
As for simple life, the next generation of telescopes will be able to make spectral analyses of the atmospheres of exo-planets (if they have any). I.e. we could detect bio markers like ozone or methane. So, in a decade or so we will know if there is life on a planet outside our solar system.
It would have to be a civilization of high technical order to engineer an artifact like a Niven ring, Dyson sphere or a Brin fractal. Detection of something like that would be sobering. Hopefully, they would be too busy with all the real estate to be contentious with the neighbors. You never know though. Like some people, aliens might have issues and not be able to leave others in peace.
 

Dan From Smithville

What's up Doc?
Staff member
Premium Member
I think it's important to realize that the ability to manipulate aspects of the environment is not necessarily correlated with intelligence. Cetaceans and elephants display considerable intelligence, as do the corvids, but are limited in their ability to manipulate their environment.
We need to look for the cosmic equivalents of beaver dams as well as artifacts of intelligent activity.
 

McBell

Resident Sourpuss
Do you assume the existence of dark energy and dark matter? Neither one can be seen or tested.
Nope.
But then, I have no problems with admitting I do not know when I do not know something.
I am not saying nor implying that you do, I am merely stating that I do not.

However there are things that make us think they exist like certain effects on galaxies and gravity, but that could also be a giant invisible pink unicorn.
It could also be our imagination.
The point, IMO, is that we do not know.
Of course, that point is the very reason to investigate and see what can be learned.
 

Heyo

Veteran Member
It would have to be a civilization of high technical order to engineer an artifact like a Niven ring, Dyson sphere or a Brin fractal.
Yes, they would have to be some thousand years ahead of us. But that was the question. Are there civilizations older than ours that have reached a much higher technological standard? And the answer is: not within the reach of our telescopes.
Detection of something like that would be sobering. Hopefully, they would be too busy with all the real estate to be contentious with the neighbors. You never know though. Like some people, aliens might have issues and not be able to leave others in peace.
That's why some people like Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking argued that we should try to hide and not send out Radio messages. But that's too late already. If they are only a few decades ahead of us, they already know that we are here.
 

Dan From Smithville

What's up Doc?
Staff member
Premium Member
Yes, they would have to be some thousand years ahead of us. But that was the question. Are there civilizations older than ours that have reached a much higher technological standard? And the answer is: not within the reach of our telescopes.

That's why some people like Elon Musk and the late Stephen Hawking argued that we should try to hide and not send out Radio messages. But that's too late already. If they are only a few decades ahead of us, they already know that we are here.
Engineering on that scale would be incredible to observe.

We are either alone. Early to the scene. Late arrivals in a universe turned quiet out of conflict. Or...?

I think that is true too. We have already talked too much for hiding to work. In fact, we have basically invited them by if they are in the neighborhood.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
It seems we have two types of opinions here...
1. If it can't be seen or tested it doesn't exist
2. God created life on earth, that's all.

IMO both of those opinions are closed minded.

There are trillions of planets with many billions of earth like planets orbiting their own star. Odds are life does exist elsewhere...
-if life can naturally arise here, couldn't it naturally arise on one or some of the other billions of planets?
-if god created life here, couldn't he have created life on one or some of the other billions of planets?

The universe is 13.7 billion years old. Other planets have had billions of years headstart on the young 4.5 billion year old earth.

Whether you accept life arose naturally or believe a god created life, do you think life exists any where else in the universe? Why or why not?

PS.
I'm not looking for the science quack that will only answer "science can't show it, so it must not exist"
And
I'm also not looking for the religious quack that will only answer "God created life here and here only"

Be optimistic and open minded with your answers.
Well you have to start on the initial premise that we are the only ones in the universe in the same vein as the premise there is no God because we haven't seen anything to the contrary to substantiate it and then go from there.

There certainly are indicators that life is likely out in the universe so far because there's so much organic material out in space that puts us to step closer to establishing the likelihood of other life.

As for the question of design you would need to look for supporting evidence that would point towards design. The argument of complexity would be the closest I would think , but we already know more often than not how that complexity comes about without any observable designer that could be placed in the category of the supernatural or what not. You would need an indicator conducent of the supernatural.
 

We Never Know

No Slack
Nope.
But then, I have no problems with admitting I do not know when I do not know something.
I am not saying nor implying that you do, I am merely stating that I do not.


It could also be our imagination.
The point, IMO, is that we do not know.
Of course, that point is the very reason to investigate and see what can be learned.

Excellent reply!
 
Top