Are we alone in the universe?

Answer 1

So far we've seen no verifiable evidence of other sentient species. That said, I believe with some certainty that somewhere in our galaxy at some past, present, or future time, a sentient species did/does/will exist.

Why haven't we heard from them?

Perhaps they are not technologically advanced enough to be heard. They may be mastering stone knives right now, or experiencing their own Rennaisance.

Perhaps they are here right now. Any species sufficiently advanced to travel interstellar distances would be able to hide or masquerade with ease. That Boeing 737 that just flew by may be a surveillance craft.

Perhaps they are so far away they will never notice us and vice versa.

Perhaps they existed a million years ago and died out.

Perhaps they will exist a million years from now.

It is really impossible to know for sure.

The Drake Equation suggests that there is sentient life out there. The Fermi Paradox casts doubt. Play around with the calculation form at the second link and see what you think.

Answer 2

It's very unlikely. There are millions of planets in the universe. Our solar system is in the edge of a galaxy and we just have not been able to develop the technology that will allow us to communicate or travel great distances in short amounts of time.

But if you do a simple calculation statistically, the entire population of the Universe is = 0.

Answer 3

No, but you might as well be. Over the centuries, your planet was a curious place to visit once or twice and was not considered very interesting . Sure, your wars showed us how undeveloped you are as a species. Your infantile,(in cosmic terms) dependence on god concepts does not bode well for you and neither does your penchant to breed beyond your planet's ability to sustain you. We are now showing an interest in you because it is not often that we get to observe a species commit suicide. You are so close to maturing as a sentient species and it will be a shame to see you kill yourselves. There are just not enough of you becoming rational enough to force the issue. You let the least among you determine your fate, so be it.

Answer 4

I think it would be naive to say we are alone. Surely in this vast universe there must be life on some other planet. That's not saying there may be intelligent life, it could be life on the level of bacteria, but surely there is a planet somewhere in the universe where the conditions are favorable to support even a rudimentary form of life.

Answer 5

I say no we are not, if so than how is this in ancient art. The Madonna with Saint Giovannino, above Mary's left shoulder is a shining, or glowing, disk shaped object. A man and his dog can clearly be seen looking up at the floating object in the composite below. Painted in the 15th century, Palazzo Vecchio lists the artist as unknown although attributed to the Lippi school. So you tell me!

Answer 6

In all the Universe and all the galaxies and solar systems and all the planets, we would be rather self centered to think we were the only beings in all that space. No, we are NOT alone.

Answer 7

alone.....thats a very big word when you compare it to say, nothing. i laugh when I hear people say that there is nothing out there.....we are alone.

but this is the question you should be asking.
If we are so "alone". why is our mind capable of calculating
the probability, that there might actully be life out there................

YOUR ANSWER: this is the only way you will ever know that we are not alone.

take yourself out to the middle of nowhere. away from all the lights, the noise, the people. go to a place of uter tranquility.
and then look up. when you can see thee amass of stars, and your literaly able to point your finger at one end of the milkyway and drag it all the way across to the other end........Gaze into the vast, dark, yet so well lit obyss, and you'll see just like I did. we are not the only ones wondering if were alone.

Answer 8

The 345 sentient species that make up the Galactic Union of 10,000 Worlds are alone in trying to keep the Earthlings ignorant as to their existence.

Answer 9

The chances of that being the case are slim and none. We just haven't found any other sophisticated life forms in space yet. Who knows? Someday they may find us. The question is will they consider us to be nothing more than what we think of an amoeba and not worthy of their time, or will they attempt to cultivate a relationship with us.

Answer 10

What's up with this question today?! Seems to be popular. :)

"If it is just us, then it would be an awful waste of space" - Carl Sagan.

And I couldn't agree more. Statistically it's nearing impossible that we're actually alone. It is, however, very probable that we're not evolved enough (or ill evolved, if you ask me, funding war and religion instead of science and education) to search for planets / communications / life in a truly thorough manner.