I think there probably are aliens. They could be at different stages of evolution, but I'd have to reason alien life would form just as we did. I cringe at the thought of us being more advanced, though. Maybe they breathe nitrogen or something else. If they are more advanced, then they might treat us as backwards or as a plague planet.

Some article about the endless speculation made me think about the nature of our craving for aliens, which in my opinion is really just a civil substitute for some deity.
Interestingly Giordano Bruno already speculated about the possibility of life existing on other planets in other solar systems.
I posted my question and someone replied to it with a quote from Carl Sagan: UFOism is where religion and science meet.
What I find really intriguing is that many people seem to like the idea of a contact with aliens.Why the hell would they be driven by the same ideas as primates on planet earth? Why would extraterrestrial life even remotely resemble anything we know?
Perhaps collectively we are driven by a weird phenomenon: We fuck up one place and then look for a new pristine we can fuck up, instead of learning from the mistakes and cleaning up the mess.

Some article about the endless speculation made me think about the nature of our craving for aliens, which in my opinion is really just a civil substitute for some deity.
Interestingly Giordano Bruno already speculated about the possibility of life existing on other planet in other solar systems.
I posted my question and someone replied to it with a quote from Carl Sagan: UFOism is where religion and science meet.

It seems like a statistical likelihood that life exists elsewhere in the universe. Of course we have to admit "we don't know" but unlike in a religious discussion, more evidence (recently discovered exoplanets for example) can back up the assumption

All I know for sure is that of all the planets we have observed this is the only one that can sustain life like this. Most solar systems have binary stars, two suns, which means tons of radiation. Our core just happens to be dense enough that it creates a magnetic field that protects us, plus we have tons of water here. We are close enough to not be frozen and just far away enough to not be irradiated by the sun. Can life exist under extremes, of course, but I do not believe it can evolve and flourish beyond micro-organisms unless the conditions are right. These super earths you hear about, way too much magnetic pressure on all of them to sustain life like we know it. Maybe in another galaxy, we are the unique planet in this one. Most stars are binary which suggests that we had another star at one point. We have observed them being released as a result of changing magnetism and launched into open space. Anyway, the more we observe the better the chances are of finding life, its out there, just not anywhere near by.

Scotty beam me up! I've been wishing this for years, but have to settle to sit out in the night and look at the stars and galaxy in amazement. I thought I saw one last weekend but I keep it to myself. You have to stay out all night in cot with a sleeping bag and a hoodie to keep the creatures contained. I was sober the whole time and always am whenever I do this because it is such an amazing feat.

I don't see it follows that a complex universe needs a God. In fact, I believe that the odds of a God existing go down the more complex and large the universe gets... the idea of intelligent design on such a scale is impossible for any fathomable intelligence, it would require so much compute space just to hold the data.

So yes, i think the questions of whether aliens exist or whether God exists are fundamentally very different propositions. The number of alien races increases with the number of habitable planets, the likelihood of God existing goes down with the complexity of the universe.

I believe there has to be beings out there that challenge how we percieve life. Such as the recent discussion on reclassification of Viruses as a living being. This sketch here really does raise a lot of good points.

First off you need to better understand the difference between probability and possibility. It is possible AND probable that alien life exists while it is possible BUT NOT probable that a god exists. So the answer to your first question is no, they are not the same claim.

Questioning everything is great, but not being able to apply critical thought to existing statistical evidence is not a step forward. "I don't know" is a great start, now move on to "more and less likely", that's how you build hypotheses that you can start testing which is how we as a species builds knowledge on a subject.

Step 1: Ask a question
Step 2: Do your research
Step 3: Build a hypothesis
etc.

You're bowing out at Step 1 and claiming that anyone going any further is "an argument from ignorance".

Aliens are here. They are called bacteria.

Believing aliens may exist is a matter of probability based on logical reasoning and what we already know about the universe. Believing gods may exist is like believing that invisible telepathic purple unicorns that fart rainbows and sunshine exist. Yeah, I can't prove that they don't, but there's nothing to suggest they do, and it sounds so completely ridiculous based on what we already know about the universe, that why would I even waste any time or energy believing in something like that? Much less, worshiping it.

If there was really some omnipotent, omnipresent, conscious, creator being out there, don't you think it'd want to make its presence and demands a little more well known and clear? Instead of letting a thousand different cultures on our planet make up a bunch of half-assed and mostly contradictory stories and rules to fight with each other over? Doesn't make sense to me.

Well put. We could listen to different arguments for and against all day long, including the various examples based on the likely number of potentially habitable planets in the universe or the rare earth hypothesis I outlined in my reply to your original post... but the truth is, assuming the conspiracy theorists are incorrect and the US Government/Mossad/Freemasons/etc. haven't in fact got the Grays' email address, nobody knows.

I don't think the alien vs god question can be considered equivalent questions. As for aliens the presumption is another living creature on another planet and as we know thanks to science there are many planets out there so figuring the odds on that is possible. Now as for gods that would require a plane of existence not known to man and not quantifiable. The god theory requires something outside of the known universe while the alien theory doesnt. You do make a great point but in my opinion those two questions are like comparing apples to the ghosts of an orange lol

No, it has everything to do with logic. There is no apparent reason to believe in God, but there is one obviously apparent reason to believe aliens could exist on other worlds: the fact that we exist on this one. You would need a more religious basis to believe no aliens exist anywhere else in the universe than believe that they probably exist somewhere.

Yes, it is. One claim is based on the best insight science (which is to say, mathematics) can give us given what we know today. That is different that a faith based claim.

A belief is simply that. can't prove it and can't disprove it. I think there's a bloody good chance in life forms millions of light years away.

I would agree that, in the absence of compelling scientific evidence, the default and most reasonable position would be I don’t know and I lack that belief right now.

However, alien life is different from the god belief in that aliens would be still fall within a scientific worldview as they would be another result of biological evolution in a different environment. Most god claims immediately put “god” outside the realm of science, and if you believe that science is the only good way to know the universe, then it’s hard to say that it’s “possible” in any practical sense.

Now if we grant that it’s possible we are wrong about science being the only game in town, then all bets are off, but I don’t think that’s very likely.

I don't know that they do/donot exist. The everyone leads me to belive that it is absolutely plausible that there is some sort of life form out there.

Excellent fallow up. It caused me to rethink and reevaluate my previous responses to these types of questions. Thank you.

The discovery of ANYTHING is possible in the future and when the discoveries are made, evidence, facts and data presented, one should adjust their reality accordingly.