Do any of you think we are really alone? That we are the only intelligent beings in the whole universe?

Answer 1

Frake Drake of Cornell University came up with an equation based on exiting physical laws and said given the vast possibilitites the notion that we are alone is highly unlikely....this is the basis that established SETI...search for extra-terrestial intelligence...given the vast possibilties of the search, Seth Shostak, the astronomer who directs the effort, has made a prediction for a hit at around 2025 to 2030..my wish is that i am still alive to see that wonderful day

Answer 2

No. We are not alone. The Universe is a big place. Somewhere, based on the laws of probabilities, there must be other intelligent beings out there.

"The Drake Equation was developed by Frank Drake in 1961 as a way to focus on the factors which determine how many intelligent, communicating civilizations there are in our galaxy. The Drake Equation is:

N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL
The equation can really be looked at as a number of questions:

N* represents the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy
Question: How many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?
Answer: Current estimates are 100 billion.
fp is the fraction of stars that have planets around them
Question: What percentage of stars have planetary systems?
Answer: Current estimates range from 20% to 50%.
ne is the number of planets per star that are capable of sustaining life
Question: For each star that does have a planetary system, how many planets are capable of sustaining life?
Answer: Current estimates range from 1 to 5.
fl is the fraction of planets in ne where life evolves
Question: On what percentage of the planets that are capable of sustaining life does life actually evolve?
Answer: Current estimates range from 100% (where life can evolve it will) down to close to 0%.
fi is the fraction of fl where intelligent life evolves
Question: On the planets where life does evolve, what percentage evolves intelligent life?
Answer: Estimates range from 100% (intelligence is such a survival advantage that it will certainly evolve) down to near 0%.
fc is the fraction of fi that communicate
Question: What percentage of intelligent races have the means and the desire to communicate?
Answer: 10% to 20%
fL is fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live
Question: For each civilization that does communicate, for what fraction of the planet's life does the civilization survive?
Answer: This is the toughest of the questions. If we take Earth as an example, the expected lifetime of our Sun and the Earth is roughly 10 billion years. So far we've been communicating with radio waves for less than 100 years. How long will our civilization survive? Will we destroy ourselves in a few years like some predict or will we overcome our problems and survive for millennia? If we were destroyed tomorrow the answer to this question would be 1/100,000,000th. If we survive for 10,000 years the answer will be 1/1,000,000th.
When all of these variables are multiplied together when come up with:
N, the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy.


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The real value of the Drake Equation is not in the answer itself, but the questions that are prompted when attempting to come up with an answer. Obviously there is a tremendous amount of guess work involved when filling in the variables. As we learn more from astronomy, biology, and other sciences, we'll be able to better estimate the answers to the above questions."

www.activemind.com

Answer 3

Only the most arrogant of creatures would assume that we are alone in the cosmos.

I will not say and do not claim that we have been visited by ET's. But I do not think that in all the great cosmos that we are the only intelligent beings.

Why?

The shear size of the universe precludes that this particular set of circumstances arose once and only at that time.

TFTP

Answer 4

No !

There could be and should be millions of other intelligent beings in the universe. It's just that we wouldn't know as to how far they have evolved and what their intelligent levels are. Their could be more intelligent beings than us as well as less intelligent beings than us.

Answer 5

Heck no. because there is an infinite number of solar systems and planets in the entire universe the odds of not one of them having intelligent life is like a million to one

Answer 6

Ask a scientist if he/she believes that there may be a God, and the answer a majority of the time is no.

Ask the same one in another conversation if they believe that there's extraterrestrial life and they'll say "probably."

The answers to each of these questions is based on nothing more than pure speculation, the idea of something believed in without evidence.

I say that there's good reason to imagine that there might be intelligent alien life. But then again, I also believe in God.

Answer 7

I would say that it is unlikely that we are alone. I will not however, say that we are not the most intelligent.

You have to consider this. If there was some super intel. Race of beings, do you not think they would have introduced themselves by now. WHy would they not have found us yet? We could not possible pose a threat to them, so why kidnap one or two of us.

BP

Answer 8

I believe there is other life in the universe, but I don't think we'll ever find it or learn if it's intelligent or not. The distances are too great.

Answer 9

no way, i believe that there is life out there and they are intelligent in their own way. I mean every animal has thier natural smarts and dumbs therefore an outer being might be much smarter than us

Answer 10

I don't think we are alone in the universe.