The Existence of Aliens

Debate Room
141

:joy: :joy: :joy: I literally just finished reading that book last week. Probably about the third or fourth time I’ve read it over the years. :joy: :joy: :joy:

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142

I believe that intelligent alien life exists because:

  1. A lot of real estate out there, and it seems statistically possible.
  2. Humans are the dominant intelligent life on Earth, but I argue that whales and dolphins (especially the orca) either qualify as intelligent, or are a very, very near miss. I also think elephants are a near miss . . . so several different types of intelligence evolving on the same planet seem to make the odds for intelligent aliens even more favorable.*
  3. Possible evidence for microbial life on Mars when we consider the 2 kilogram Martian meteorite ALH84001, which seems to have “fossils” of bacteria and chemical evidence of life . . . although this evidence has become weaker (over time) with further discoveries in Martian chemistry.
  4. The exoplanet K2-18b (about 50 light years from Earth) seems to have dimethyl sulfide in its atmosphere, as detected by the James Webb telescope. This does need to be verified, and would be very strong and robust evidence of extra-terrestrial life if this finding survives a skeptical review.
  5. The Miller-Urey Experiment (in 1952) shows how easy it is for the basic building blocks of life to form under the right conditions.
  6. The Universe seems to be about 13.6 billion years old, which means that there has been more than ample time for other intelligent life to evolve.

When we consider these points together . . . it justifies keeping a very open mind about alien life and/or alien vistors, although not so open-minded that my brains fall out.

  • Please note that I could probably place orangutangs, gorillas, and chimpanzees here as a near miss, but I deliberately excluded them because they are our closest relatives and should–for the purposes of my basic argument–be lumped in with us, because we are also apes.
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143

They are also as intelligent as some humans I know.

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144

I agree with you . . . especially when we consider Donald Trump.

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