One thing I see occasionally is the "if there is no proof then it must be fake/non-existant" comments. I'm just curious; anyone besides me have any irrational beliefs? As a lot of you know, mine is the belief in aliens and the supernatural.
Come-on, I know I can't possibly be the only one.
I like finding pictures in the clouds. But I don't for one moment consider them to be real.
Aliens? Probably! If evolution has occurred on Earth, no doubt it will have happened elsewhere too. It is however most unlikely such beings would be anything like us.
The Supernatural? If at all, only because we have yet to find a NATURAL explanation.
Hi -- I'm new here, but I'm afraid I'm exactly what you're talking about. I want evidence. I know we don't know everything and may never know, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to break the laws of physics that we DO understand. As for aliens, that depends on how you define it. Do other life forms exist somewhere? I think it's likely, based on the sheer size of the universe and the fact that we're not in the center of it. But do I think little green men visited New Mexico in the 50s? Nope.
Have you read Carl Sagan's "Demon-Haunted World"? If not I highly recommend it.
Since 95% of the universe consists of black matter and black energy which is invisible and unknown to us, I'm pretty confident that the 5% we are aware of is a tiny part of the whole picture of what is possible to know through current "facts" and "proofs". I like to say that we are like blind people examining the tail of an elephant attempting to speculate what the rest of of the elephant looks like.
I like that analogy. I'll have to remember it.
You can't say something that is untestable exists or doesn't. On these matters people will always differ on opinion and until there are tests that can be done, repeated and predictions proven that's how it will remain. On the subject of aliens, I struggle to believe in humanoid aliens (however I cannot deny their existence) it would suggest common ancestry, and I've not seen evidence to suggest we've been visited. There is how ever a very good chance of life out there, the universe is massive. There are little animals known as water bears (tardigrades) these animals are so Hardy they can survive the vacuum of space and even live without water for years. These creatures give hope to astrobiologists of finding life in the universe, it could be silicone based instead of carbon who knows, but the theory suggests its going to be so different to life as we know it we might look straight past it. I hope to see it in my life time!
Sadly, I admit to a fervent irrational belief...that one day I will win the lottery! On the flipside, I just convince myself it's a poor man's tax for a couple of moments of dreaming.
You can't expect proof, although disproof is possible. That which is not disproved remains possible, however unlikely it may be.
and disproof is just an obstacle for possibility to hurdle...
@JohnnyThorazine If that which was disproved turns out to be true, then the disproof was fallacious. (Can happen!)
@Coffeo until that disproof is reaffirmed....hehe
I think nothing needs to be taken off the table. Some things are further toward the edge of the table, but that is subjective to the person. Aliens, supernatural (though, if it exists within nature, then it is natural, isn't it), cryptozoology, etc. are all interesting and the idea/possibility make life more rich. When I was in high school, we had a great debate on multiple dimensions of existence that started as a discussion on Yeti/Bigfoot.
Or this: [scientificamerican.com]
@LucifersPen Didn't the Sims game inventor form a religion based on this idea? We used to joke about this all the time back in the apple II days...
Got to admit Chariots of the Gods, in the movie theatre, was convincing for awhile.
I read them all when I was about 14; got to admit ol' Erich had me going for a while too.
Oh, now there's something I didn't know... von Däniken's original manuscript was extensively rewritten by editor Wilhem Utermann, who had been a journalist for the Völkischer Beobachter - wholly owned by Hitler and the official newspaper of the Nazi party.
I didn't know thateither.