Aliens: Yes Or No?

[ichabod]

I have no idea if there ever were or ever will be other intelligent life forms in the universe. But I don't think intelligent species will survive very long in the cosmic scale, so it's incredibly unlikely two of them would be around at the same time.

 

[overgeeked]

Next poll: Is there intelligent life on Earth?

That’s easy. Hell no. Look what we’re doing to the planet. Clearly no intelligent life.

 

[J.Quondam]

I voted "Yes, but no contact" since i guess that covers the potential for "they're intelligent but not in any recognizable way" cases; the "they're there, but not interested in commicating/traveling" cases; and the "they're there, but can't contact/travel because it's impossible due to the extent and physical laws of the universe."

Tbh, though, I'm on the fence. Sometimes I think "No, there aren't any" is closer to the truth. Not to say that we're necessarily the first ones to evolve, but rather that technological civilizations might just have a predilection for extinguishing themselves. We're on the cusp of doing that to ourselves in, like, four different ways at this point in history, so if we're "typical," then perhaps all the others winked out, too.

ETA: Also as far as I understand, there's nothing about evolution that mandates the emergence of intelligence, much less intelligence interested in or capable of building technological civilization. I mean, as big as the Universe is, the whole mathematical span of evolutionary possibility might be significantly bigger.
And now I've become pensive and melancholy, and am tempted to amend my vote.

 

[Parmandur]

I voted "no, there is no intelligent extraterrestrial life," though strictly speaking I'm agnostic about the question. It is possible, but at this point the null hypotheses the probable conclusion to me.

 

[Ryujin]

I voted "Yes, but no contact" since i guess that covers the potential for "they're intelligent but not in any recognizable way" cases; the "they're there, but not interested in commicating/traveling" cases; and the "they're there, but can't contact/travel because it's impossible due to the extent and physical laws of the universe."

Tbh, though, I'm on the fence. Sometimes I think "No, there aren't any" is closer to the truth. Not to say that we're necessarily the first ones to evolve, but rather that technological civilizations might just have a predilection for extinguishing themselves. We're on the cusp of doing that to ourselves in, like, four different ways at this point in history, so if we're "typical," then perhaps all the others winked out, too.

I can't remember the name of the book series but there was one in which the closer you got to the galactic core, the "higher" and more incomprehensible the beings were. They had to do such things as manufacture devices or biological beings in order to interact with "lower order" beings, because their thought processes were so far beyond us poor schlubs out on the rim.

 

[le Redoutable]

I think it's rather easy to reach a distant planet the moment you acquire teleportation, and also if we can time travel in the future, then people must have come from the future,
So by evidence Aliens do exist and roam the Earth ( usually by using invisibility )

 

[ichabod]

I can't remember the name of the book series but there was one in which the closer you got to the galactic core, the "higher" and more incomprehensible the beings were. They had to do such things as manufacture devices or biological beings in order to interact with "lower order" beings, because their thought processes were so far beyond us poor schlubs out on the rim.

That sounds like Vernor Vinge's zones of thought, as in Fire Upon the Deep, but his is the reverse: the further from the core you are, the higher the beings are. Close to the core is the "unthinking depths."

 

[Zardnaar]

Voted yes but not here.

Distance and time is the main problem locating them.

 

[Ryujin]

That sounds like Vernor Vinge's zones of thought, as in Fire Upon the Deep, but his is the reverse: the further from the core you are, the higher the beings are. Close to the core is the "unthinking depths."

Good catch. It was "A Fire Upon the Deep" that I read, out of that series. I guess that order of things would make more sense as presumably the outer stars would tend to be older.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

That’s easy. Hell no. Look what we’re doing to the planet. Clearly no intelligent life.

That’s wisdom. Int is “can we?”, Wis is “should we?”