If the universe is infinite..........?

Question

.........how can anybody argue that there isnt life out there?
Infinite by definition would mean every possibility is happening somewhere.

Marky Mark - If the universe is not infinite then where does it end? And what's beyond that?

Answer 1

I share that same theory. It also implies that there are infinite you's out there living in a parallel universe. Very wierd to think of it like that. Imagine there is another you out there doing exactly what you are doing except he/she is wearing blue underpants instead if green,

Answer 2

The Universe is certainly not infinite. It is just big, really big (apologies to author Douglas Adams).
If, as you say, it is infinite, and everything is happening somewhere, and life exists, then there must be an infinite number of planets, and infinite life forms. some of whom must be landing here everyday, in large numbers (remember, there are an infinite number of them). We would have seen lots of them, everyday.

The reality is, that the Universe is finite. There are a finite number of planets, of which an extremely small percentage have the conditions in which life, as we know it, can form and evolve. Of that life that evolves, chances are it may remain at the single cell level, like 90% of the life on Earth is now. If it evolves past this, is may remain at fish or dinosaur level, as we would be if an asteroid had not hit the Earth about 65 million years ago. So, what are the chances of there being intelligent life out their, more advanced than us? Very, very small (but clearly not zero).
As to the outside of the Universe - Why does there have to be anything past the most remote atom of matter? Why can't there just be nothing? Is "nothing" a concept which you can not accept?

Answer 3

The Universe is not infinite though there may be an infinite number of universes. In which case, you'd have to say that the existence of life elsewhere is certain. The distances involve (even in our own universe, or for that matter, galaxy) are so vast that we will probably not ever be able to cover them to meet these other life forms.

Answer 4

The universe is not infinite - there could have been no big bang if it was.

There is no "edge" to the universe as such, at least not one that it's possible to reach. As Stephen Hawkins said, it's "finite but boundless". Space-time curves in such a way that it's impossible to travel to a boundary.

And the universe doesn't have to be infinite for me to be convinced that there's other life out there - I'd bet my life on it. And it's also still possible that "every posssibility is happening somewhere" as you put it - check out the multiverse and multiple realities theories.

Answer 5

You will find people will argue black is white,the moon is cream cheese etc etc.Life exists here and elsewhere,the known universe is relatively infinite compared to our tiny planet.We bandy words and argue petty points,that's humans.The Vastness of the universe defies belief,so some choose not to.It can make your brain ache!Of course there is other life forms out there,there are so many here and in some very curious places,very hot springs/volcanic vents,even in and under ice.The real question is where are our peer group in this universe and can we find them and would we be able to communicate or in the 3rd genie wish,visit/meet up.

Answer 6

Your question to Marky Mark is silly...Who could possibly know the answer to the question what is beyond the end of the universe? That is like asking what will happen after the end of everything... Or what was there before everything began??? Who might still be alive to tell you the answer to those questions? Everything that you get back as an answer will be a guess, a joke, or some kind of theory, and theories are a dime a dozen.

Look at it this way... with out present technical level of optical and radio telescope equipment for observing space we can "see" out to a distance of 40 Billion Light Years in every direction from us. Now, 40 Billion Light Years is not = infinity.
However, for all practical purposes it might as well be infinity.
Nobody is ever going there. Nobody who might, in your wildest dream, go there will ever come back. And if you were to demand a status report via EMail from them from time to time, those EMails via radio transmission would take up to 40 Billion Years to reach the traveler and 40 Billion more years to return back to your receiving antennas.

So hang up the idea that there is some way to know the shape, configuration, extent, depth, and composition of anything beyond what we already can see and make educated guesses and estimates about. It just isn't going to happen. If you can't see it, you can't describe it, or evaluate it based on your previous experiences (or the findings of others that came before you).

The argument about life being out there is mute. With so many possible places for life to exist, the probability is large that it does in one form or another. What most people seem to miss in the big picture is that "Life" has many forms and evolves over time. So, when life is discovered somewhere else, it may be in the bacteria stage, the plant stage, the reptilian stage, the fish stage, the bird stage, or any combination there of. Life may have also been there and gone due to some huge catastrophe on the planet.

On Earth which is 4 Billion years old human kind has just been around for the wink of an eye, relatively speaking; say 5,000 years. Really high intelligence has only been around for say the last 100 - 200 years when all this nuclear thinking and space travel, communications with space probes, and all that took place. So 100 years in 4 Billion Years is really an eye blink. It is foolish to imagine that life on a distant planet has mirrored life on Earth exactly, in a locked step progression. As a result there is no way of telling what stage or form "life" might be in on the newly discovered Earth Equal way out there. Most likely they do not have a Channel 2 Television Station just like yours; nor do they have Windows XP Computers, and World Soccer Matches. Life forms on these new planets we discover might be really smart Fish.

When you consider that there are 200 Billion Stars just like our Sun in the Milky Way Galaxy, and each one might have from 0 to 10 (or more) planets and moons circling about them, that is a LOT of possible places for life to exist. Oh yes, did I mention that there are tens of thousands of other galaxies out there beyond the Milky Way? Each of those galaxies also contain billions of stars and their many possible planets and moons. So the reality is that life exists out there somewhere, and some very smart people are going to find it sooner or later... If you expect visitors, you had better fill your aquarium or swimming pool soon. They will need a place to stay... Don't forget to leave a light on for them.

Answer 7

It is a statistical improbability that there isn't other life out there in such a vast universe. There are 100 billion observable galaxies in the universe, each with 10 million to 1 trillion stars each, our sun being but one. With that many trillions of stars and hundreds of trillions of planets, there simply has to be intelligent life on more than a few of them. Our technology simply hasn't found it yet because its so primitive.

Answer 8

Possible arguments as to why there isn't life out there:

* no one has obtained evidence so we cannot say for certain (the real pragmatists would take this viewpoint)

* Earth is special (religious fundamentalists would take this viewpoint)

* despite our longing to believe the opposite, life is actually extremly unlikely (the sceptical exobiologist & the die hard pessimist could take this viewpoint)

So - there's at least a few examples of the sorts of arguments people may propose.

Answer 9

Nobody argues against the idea, its just the fact that, in 60 years time, we would be barely able to send a manned spacecraft past Jupiter. The point is there probably is life out there it is just that we will never find it. There are over 120000000000000000000000000 stars in our quadrant of the Milky Way alone.

Answer 10

We like to feel special.
I've always said that one diamond among many , is no less unique.

Maybe life is a property of the universe , as malleability is a property of tin.

Carl Sagan has some interesting views on the subject.