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Debate Info

13
27
Yes No
Debate Score:40
Arguments:29
Total Votes:40
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Argument Ratio

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 Yes (11)
 
 No (18)

Debate Creator

Capitalist(48) pic



Are we alone in the universe?

Does ANY life exist outside of Earth and the surrounding satellites?

Do microbes exist on other planets?

Is it possible that intelligent life aside from us is out there?

Yes

Side Score: 13
VS.

No

Side Score: 27
3 points

I think it is unlikely that at this time, there is any other form of intelligent life in the universe, or at least any form of life which we as humans can comprehend.

While I accept that we have only sampled a tiny fraction of the Universe this is not simply a matter of humans finding intelligent life. For life to be considered intelligent I believe it must have several things.

1) Life form that are to be considered intelligent must be self aware.

2) They must have a form of language or communication. This is essential for the formation of any kind of social structure, inter species cohesion and technical advancement.

3) They must be able to recognise intelligent life themselves.

Taking these premises (which I admit is an assumption and they may well be debatable) and what we know about the universe, we can deduce several things.

Firstly, that these beings must be evolutionary. Unless we make the assumption that they pre-existed the universe or have the ability to move beyond it (which would make us question why they haven't found us yet anyway), then we must assume that they have evolved from simpler creatures, which roughly fits the model we have on earth, of creatures becoming more complex at an exponential rate, with maximum intelligence matching that complexity.

The problem this provides is that if these beings are evolving in much the same ways we are, and developing intelligence in much the same way, then the odds of them being at an evolutionary stage at which they could be described as intelligent (humans have been at this stage for maybe 100'000 years, possibly more if you count other primates) The odds of them occupying a similar time frame are relatively low decreasing the probability that they are actually out there. Were they in some way more advanced then us it seems logical given the rate of human scientific progress and data storage that they would have discovered us by now, unless of course they have already become wiped out in which case they are no longer out there.

The fact that no-one has discovered us suggests that there are no species within the universe that have much greater intelligence than us, and if not then are unlikely to be species who are less given species who are more intelligent would have lasted longer than species who were less hence making their probability of existence higher.

Just some thoughts.

Side: yes
Capitalist(48) Disputed
4 points

Mr Blake, I must say that for a tier 3 civilisation (that is a civilisation that can cross intergalactic systems [Dr Michio Kaku]) to find us is extremely difficult and even if they knew of our where abouts it is probably unlikely that they should wish to make contact with us, our resources are limited at best, one can find more gold and iron from a meteorite than has ever been extracted on our planet I agree that life forms that are intelligent must have communication and the capability to develop technology.

Regarding your point of evolution, we can figure out (excatly how I'm not sure) that the universe is 14 billion years old, due to light years etc. this means that with the earth developing into a single entity only 5 billion years ago, a similar planet (rocky, similar proximity to a star as us) that is closer to the origin of the big bang (assuming it is form a single point) then there will almost certainly have been evolution on other planets preceding the commencing of it on our own 'terra' so the evolved 'civilised' creatures would be a billion, perhaps 2 ahead of us. Of course they may have been become extinct somehow but not all of them would have (Drake's 10,000 of the Milky Way).

To rebut your point about a lack of any species finding us. The universe is a big place and even with our most advanced and complex UNDERSTANDING (not physical technology), it is still very unlikely that an E.T. species would have found us, assuming we apply our understanding of physics, so proton engines and the possibility of wormholes through the fabrication of space-time.

Some more food for thought.

Side: No
1 point

I find it very difficult to believe that the only existence of life in the universe is in Milky way, in this particular solar system and only on Earth. Besides extrasensory perception has made the possibility quite evident though not strong. And Para psychology bets that it exists.

Side: yes
Noxstant(176) Disputed
1 point

ESP is a pseudoscientific concept, and so is parapsychology. Other than that, the rest of your argument is hard to decipher.

Side: No
92nida(1411) Disputed
1 point

I understand that parapsychology has made certain claims that are hard to believe. But, it does have references and proves to some of those claims. Every unidentified, intangible or unseen science was hard to believe before it was properly proved. I'm not in complete support of Parapsychology but it must not be underestimated. It has the power to answer some.

I was trying to explain that, I personally find it hard to believe that life is nonexistent elsewhere. I just don't digest that the only place life survives, is here.

Side: yes
1 point

I believe that life exists elsewhere in the universe, and I also believe that we already know it! I just don't think "they" are letting on as there would be mass hysteria.

Oh well the world may never know!

Side: yes
1 point

I think somebody exists in our Galaxy. Just imagine there are a lot of stars are similar to our Solar System, and it is possible to discover a planet such as the earth occupied by some beings. "Gliese 581g is in the 'Goldilocks zone' of its solar system, where liquid water could exist, and is a strong contender to be a habitable world" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/ sep/29/earth-like-planet-gliese-581g)

Side: yes
1 point

Indisputably we are at present. There is no life outside of human life elsewhere in the universe that we know of or can contact. A single discovery could change that just as indisputably. Making contact is another ballgame - if the signals originated thousands or even hundreds of light-years away the length of time it would take to communicate would make establishing a two-way contact a fraught business (suppose "they" were wiped out by a comet/meteor impact before they received any reply we sent - or conversely suppose we were before receiving their arguably serendipitous reply for example).

Neither belief nor wishing nor religious convictions should play any part in this debate. We are dealing with simple matters-of-fact. While the number of planetary bodies in habitable zones increases the chances that some form of life may have arisen elsewhere there is pretty big leap from that to intelligence.

Additionally there is one factor that few seem to take into account and that is coincidence. To give a simple example: suppose an intelligence has arisen elsewhere (and importantly has arisen prior to us). _When_, according to earthly clocks matters a great deal. If "they" had sent a signature (let's say in the form of a atmospheric nuclear test) and it just happened to be that the light was emitted in favour of intercepting earth at a time before we became capable of seeing it and understanding what it was (spectral analysis) we would miss the only recognizable signal sent our way before their extinction. Given the age of the universe and the age of earth itself we are talking about a very minute fraction of time when it comse to our ability to recognize intelligence-sent signals of any kind.

If such a civilization had arisen millions of lightyears distant they would have to have evolved at least to our level to have sent a recognizable signal millions of years prior to us (according to our clocks). Suppose that in spite of arguments about the rarity of intelligence arising _anywhere_ it did arise elsewhere but long after humanity's extinction. We would certainly not know about it and they might easily have missed any recognizable signals emanating from us for similar reasons.

Rather than discussing every possible permutation in an exhaustive manner I am trying to present some food for thought (and it is pretty mind-blowing to say the least).

Side: yes

I think so. So far, no forms of life have been discovered in Space.

Side: Yes
3 points

The Drake theory dictates that statistically there are likely to be 10,000 intelligent civilisations in the Milky Way galaxy alone.

The universe is very large, very very large.

If we take a drinking glass and dip it into the water at the beach and find there are no fish in it, we can't dismiss the possibility of fish existing because there is an entire ocean to explore, that drinking glass represents human exploration in our universe so it would be naive to think that we are alone in the universe.

Side: No
3 points

When I say satellites I was attempting to prevent people from going "haha there are astronauts they're off of the Earth" but yes I agree it is possible to find microscopic life on Mars or one of the gas giant moons

Side: No
1 point

Oh, okay... that was probably a good idea because someone would have done that.

Side: No
2 points

Of course life must exist in millions of locations throughout the universe. There is a picture taken by the Hubble space telescope that shows thousands of galaxies... I don't know how anyone could look at that and say life doesn't exist anywhere else.

Side: No
2 points

Due to the nature of the question, I have a hard time taking sides. I do not believe that we should ever claim that we ARE NOT alone in the universe until we have irrefutable proof that we are not. That being said...

given the sheer size, age and complexity of the universe, I would be incredibly surprised if we were on the only planet (or other body, environment, etc.) that generated some variety of organism...and natural occurring organic matter is now known to be rather abundant in the universe, so it just needs a bit of tweaking to become what we consider "life".

Side: No
1 point

Why did you say this:

Does ANY life exist outside of Earth and the surrounding satellites?

So far we haven't found any life on any surrounding satellites? I doubt we will find any within our own solar system but it is possible, especially on some of Jupiter's and Saturn's satellites.

Side: No
1 point

No, there is space algae on the planet VR700031.

Side: No
Capitalist(48) Disputed
1 point

There is no refutable evidence whatsoever to support this claim.

Side: yes
1 point

I was being facetious.

Side: Yes

Yes, there are other living things out there. But, if they are like me, you will never find them because who the hell would want to associate with us ;)

Side: No
1 point

If you think about the sheer number of stars in a galaxy, then the number of galaxies in a supercluster, it seems almost impossible for us to be alone. If you believe the universe is infinite then there is no question, there is an infinite amount of life. There is nothing unique in an infinite universe.

Side: No
1 point

Given the seemingly infinite (but not quite) vastness of the expanding Universe, we can't be alone. Just trying to imagine all the different possibilities of life is very fascinating for me. I believe there will be life like us and life almost unrecognizable to us.

Side: No
1 point

I think not. I think that there are alien beings, only out of reach. I hope we will ever come true science and that they are not dangerous.

Side: No
1 point

I'm just waiting for evidence...............................

Side: No
1 point

How many stars in the Milky Way are there?

How many Galaxies are there?

Statiscticly the chances are high.

Side: No
1 point

No, we're not alone.

There is a possibility that there are living beings on the other planets in our solar system or planets from other solar systems; a different race not a human. Remember, the universe is vast, it has countless of solar systems, planets, asteroids, comets, etc. so I believe that there are other beings out there. These beings may be like us searching for answers to complicated questions, discovering new things and continuously developing. They too might be curious what is out there in the universe.

Side: No