What do you think will happen to Religion if Extra Terrestrial Life were discovered?

[superstarr]

Superstarr -

It depends on the belief. It's perfectly possible to believe in god and pursue science as far as you want to go with it. I have no ambitions to pursue science, but I know that none of my beliefs would get in the way, should I ever choose to. And I'm sure I speak for many. If you were to make a list of beliefs based on theism, or which could be connected in any way with any kind of theism, I could go over that list and tell you which of those beliefs apply to me. I doubt any of them will.

I know it depends on belief, but most people don't want to pursue a career of science because of too much exaggerative belief. Some (but very little) amount of people aren't too religious like others and wouldn't mind getting a career in science. Of course there are people that are religious and wouldn't mind a career in science, but it's the majority of religious people that don't want to, and that's a shame. I've known some people that wanted a career in science, but they say that they can't because of their beliefs.

[Godhead]

Superstarr -

You're talking about here on earth. What we know is that we don't know how any of what you're saying would apply elsewhere, or what their beliefs would or wouldn't entail or what effect they would have on their pursuit of science. We also know that it's perfectly possible to believe in god and pursue science.

[superstarr]

Superstarr -

You're talking about here on earth. What we know is that we don't know how any of what you're saying would apply elsewhere, or what their beliefs would or wouldn't entail or what effect they would have on their pursuit of science. We also know that it's perfectly possible to believe in god and pursue science.

So they'll be like "I believe that God-alien made everything, but I know we evolved from a common ancestor from the past history of the planet". It would be very awkward, but it is possible, but I'm just saying that it's not too likely for that to happen because unless they learned their knowledge about reality first, religion might be a larger priority for them. It would be marvelous if different beings from different planets came. A extremely religious civilization and an extremely scientific.

[Godhead]

Superstarr -

That would certainly be interesting. I actually do believe that any civilization advanced enough to make it here would have some kind of spiritual belief. They wouldn't necessarily be benevolent, but I think they would have some awareness. The reason being that I believe that science is the tip of the iceberg, and spirituality is the bulk of the iceberg. I also think that humankind will learn this within our lifetimes.

[Zen Badger]

All the scientific discoveries made so far, Evolution, Cosmology, Astrophysics, Biology, etc,etc,etc has not caused the religious

fucktards to change their beliefs one bit.

Why then, would you think that extra-terrestials would make the slightest dent in their obdurate ignorance?

[The Omnissiunt One]

Superstarr -

That would certainly be interesting. I actually do believe that any civilization advanced enough to make it here would have some kind of spiritual belief. They wouldn't necessarily be benevolent, but I think they would have some awareness. The reason being that I believe that science is the tip of the iceberg, and spirituality is the bulk of the iceberg. I also think that humankind will learn this within our lifetimes.

This seems to me unlikely, as the correlation between scientific progress and religiosity is, if anything, a negative one. With the Enlightenment and its values of rationality, scientific enquiry, etc. came the first real wave of atheism. In Western Europe, most of society is overwhelmingly secular. So, for us to have some kind of spiritual epiphany, the trend of increasing secularism would have to go into reverse, or it would have to strike us in a moment of sudden revelation. Furthermore, whilst I don't wish to denigrate spirituality per se (in its strictest sense, which isn't necessarily religious), transcendent experiences and such have been shown to be products of chemical reactions in the brain. This suggests that the scientific, material nature of our universe is more fundamental than the spiritual dimension, which is just an offshoot of our evolved minds.

[Godhead]

Omnissiunt -

But you're referring to earth history, and humans. You don't know how things would have turned out on another planet, their history, or anything about their politics, culture, their psychology, and other factors which would influence the relationship between theism and atheism and science on their planet. It is possible to believe in god and not have beliefs which hinder scientific progress. It's also a fact that theist scientists exist. Add those three things together and there's no reason to strongly assume that ETs would necessarily not be theists. Also, the ones doing the visiting might be atheists, while most of their population back home might be theists. Or vice versa.

[koshthevorlon]

Superstarr -

You're talking about here on earth. What we know is that we don't know how any of what you're saying would apply elsewhere, or what their beliefs would or wouldn't entail or what effect they would have on their pursuit of science. We also know that it's perfectly possible to believe in god and pursue science.

So they'll be like "I believe that God-alien made everything, but I know we evolved from a common ancestor from the past history of the planet". It would be very awkward, but it is possible, but I'm just saying that it's not too likely for that to happen because unless they learned their knowledge about reality first, religion might be a larger priority for them. It would be marvelous if different beings from different planets came. A extremely religious civilization and an extremely scientific.

Of course there have already been aliens on earth! They are known as Vorlons, but we usually see them as Angels! How else do you explain Jesus toast and crop circles?!
They should make Vorlon Nativity scenes!

But seriously, it would be interesting to see. If aliens are real, I suspect that most of them would steer clear of this planet. The ones that wouldn't would probably be more interested in conquering or destroying it. Otherwise, they probably don't know or care that we are here.

But I don't really know. I guess we will find out someday though...

[Ashendant]

Aliens invade hongkong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6s32Hwy2...feature=iv

[The Omnissiunt One]

Omnissiunt -

But you're referring to earth history, and humans. You don't know how things would have turned out on another planet, their history, or anything about their politics, culture, their psychology, and other factors which would influence the relationship between theism and atheism and science on their planet. It is possible to believe in god and not have beliefs which hinder scientific progress. It's also a fact that theist scientists exist. Add those three things together and there's no reason to strongly assume that ETs would necessarily not be theists. Also, the ones doing the visiting might be atheists, while most of their population back home might be theists. Or vice versa.

Well, I was mainly referring to your statement that humanity will have some epiphany about religion. But it seems inconsistent for you to say that we know nothing about the ETs' nature, then to use facts from our world as evidence that they might be theists.