Alien Life

[Tiberius]

Dude, you should, it is fucking hi-lar-ious, and probably necessary when talking with Americans.

Seriously good film. So funny

[tackattack]

Agreed one of my top 5 classic movies.

Anywho, back to point. I think the search is what causes a great deal of the advances. I'm pretty sure that someone had the idea that something smaller than can be seen with the eye existed before the microscope was invented. I think at this technological stage it does seem a little fruitless, but it never hurts to be prepared if they come seeking us. They're probably talking more about the how than the who which I think is productive.

[leo-rcc]

Dude, you should, it is fucking hi-lar-ious, and probably necessary when talking with Americans.

I work with Americans on a daily basis, so I doubt that last part. But I'll check the movie out none the less.

[Welsh cake]

I think at this technological stage it does seem a little fruitless, but it never hurts to be prepared if they come seeking us. They're probably talking more about the how than the who which I think is productive.

You've nailed the problem right there - this entire monotonous search for alien life relies heavily on alien life finding us, rather than using scientific research and new technologies to investigate it out for ourselves. Hilariously it's the lazy man's guide to understanding life, the universe, and everything - let someone else worry about it.

We will not conceive an effective cure for rabies, by hoping the virus will treat itself without intervention, likewise how can those bunch of Rip Van Winkles honestly reach a viable conclusion that has the extra-terrestrial life have the technology or means to discover us? It's the daftest most non-productive solution I've ever heard of.

Come on perpetual energy! Demonstrate yourself so that I may discover you and have the bragging rights! XD

[Pippy]

They've been here all along. Duh duh duhhhh duh! Eeeeeeeeeeep!
They made the first flawed Drake's Equation as a kind of invisibility cloak.

[Zen Badger]

I'm of the opinion that Life is common through the universe.

Technologically Intelligent life tho, that's a whole 'nother bag of Klingons.

When you think that we are the only technologically capable species

out of the millions of species on this planets.

Then other like minded alien species are probably very unlikely.

Certainly ones we can talk to.

[Pippy]

There has to be a species, a race that is more advanced than us. If we are (as the fundamentalists think) the only children of God, then we are a sad example of a sad universe.

We are stuck between skinny money and sentient glow.

[Darwinian]

The one thing that I never really hear proposed about technologically advanced alien life is the fact that it only takes one species to spread beyond the confines of its own world and start populating other worlds within and beyond its own star system and the whole process becomes practically unstoppable.

Then, given enough time the force of natural and artificial selection will drive the various colonies further and further apart until they reach a point where many colonies basically become 'alien' to each other and even loose contact.

The whole thing can of course then start again with one or many of these branches, like seeds of trees growing into trees themselves and then spreading their own seeds.

It could well be that there are thousands of civilisations out there who are very different from each other but can all trace their genealogy back to one common ancestor.

This, I think, is also something that needs to be factored into the Drake equation.

[Tiberius]

There has to be a species, a race that is more advanced than us. If we are (as the fundamentalists think) the only children of God, then we are a sad example of a sad universe.

We are stuck between skinny money and sentient glow.

There doesn't "have" to be. We really could be the most advanced form of life in the universe, or the only life in the universe. If you use the "there has to be" argument, then you could do the same for all alien races, and you'd go to infinity.

[Welsh cake]

The one thing that I never really hear proposed about technologically advanced alien life is the fact that it only takes one species to spread beyond the confines of its own world and start populating other worlds within and beyond its own star system and the whole process becomes practically unstoppable.

Granted, the debate at the Royal Society questioned "contact" with intelligent life outside our own planet, it didn't necessarily depict a scenario that alien life would be able to bridge the vast distances between their world and ours, then establish contact.

Obviously a major obstacle to your premise is that with regards to evolutionary theory outside Earth is a given when the universe is theorised at only being between 13.5 and 14 billion years old, not that old really considering at how long some Red Dwarfs and Black Holes are estimated to last (trillions of years).

Its taken us a long time to get to where we are now - we're a relatively young race, our actions often bordering on the self-destructive, and when people aren't trying to annihilate themselves in some world war do we briefly gaze at the stars to ponder at the possibilities before rejoining the rat race so as to survive.

Our world-view hasn't really changed all that much, we can't evolve beyond our biological needs or be immune to natural pressures. We're currently successful in our natural environment, but existing, let alone living outside the biosphere is just too hostile for us life-forms to cope with, for instance, we can't adapt to life on the Moon anytime soon. Technology has limits too, since it's unable to break the laws of thermodynamics so consequently devising interstellar machinery capable of travelling faster than the speed of light is beyond our capabilities, it may even be impossible (note that I said "may", I wouldn't dare assert that I know it can't be done, but given the laws of physics as they stand, its not looking realistic).

We can't be sure if intelligent alien life (if any) isn't in the same boat as us, or worse off even. The only kind of life that could *conceivably* reach us is not that which started off on the confines of a terrestrial world, that evolved in space and doesn't need technology, but alas, this is all speculation since such a life-form isn't conceivable outside the imagination to start with. >_>

I'm starting to think this whole body of study is a complete waste of time and money...