# Turns out earth is not special and the universe could have many civilizations



## SociallyAnxiousGamer

Studies and astronomers indicate there could be 3,000 civilizations in our Milky Way Galaxy but are too distant to contact. Not only this but there are 40 billion potential life inhabiting planets in our galaxy alone. If this theory is true then it means we are not special at all and just one out of many in the universe

http://news.discovery.com/space/ali...-there-but-too-distant-for-contact-141002.htm


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## Bored Alien

What a fount of common sense information.


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## DeniseAfterAll

Can't wait for first contact . Gives us a break from our boring ****ing Lives .


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## SociallyAnxiousGamer

Bored Alien said:


> What a fount of common sense information.


You'd be surprised how many people out there don't know this


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## Kanova

Why do you keep trying to prove stuff most people already know? A galaxy is ****ing gigantic. And there are too many galaxies to count in the universe, it isn't really that much of a surprise that there might be more than one planet that can sustain life *in the entire ****ing universe.*

The part where I differ is, how do we know they are so advanced? Everyone always says they are so advanced that they don't even want to bother with us or something, but maybe they are just beginning their existence also. But then I guess you get into light years and how if it is happening here right now, it happened millions of years ago that far away and what not. Kind of hard to wrap the head around. But then again, our species hasn't been around for very long at all on the time scale, so whatever.

Also, I think the only people who don't know this are just uneducated or never really thought of it, OR they are just religious people. And I am waiting for the next big truth thread lol


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## Unit731

DeniseAfterAll said:


> Can't wait for first contact . Gives us a break from our boring ****ing Lives .


Maybe Aliens will spare us SA people xD


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## Riri11

meh, maybe they've been in contact with us but the government haven't yet shared that with the public, there are books about it


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## DeniseAfterAll

Unit731 said:


> Maybe Aliens will spare us SA people xD


They will spare us because we can relate better to aliens than other human beings .


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## SociallyAnxiousGamer

Kanova said:


> Why do you keep trying to prove stuff most people already know? A galaxy is ****ing gigantic. And there are too many galaxies to count in the universe, it isn't really that much of a surprise that there might be more than one planet that can sustain life *in the entire ****ing universe.*
> 
> The part where I differ is, how do we know they are so advanced? Everyone always says they are so advanced that they don't even want to bother with us or something, but maybe they are just beginning their existence also. But then I guess you get into light years and how if it is happening here right now, it happened millions of years ago that far away and what not. Kind of hard to wrap the head around. But then again, our species hasn't been around for very long at all on the time scale, so whatever.
> 
> Also, I think the only people who don't know this are just uneducated or never really thought of it, OR they are just religious people. And I am waiting for the next big truth thread lol


Because Earth is relativly late coming into existence in the 13 billion years the universe has existed. Other lifeforms would have billions of years of advantages. Your forgetting that there is most likely many different civilizations. Some may be more advanced and others may not


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## Kanova

SociallyAnxiousGamer said:


> Because Earth is relativly late coming into existence in the 13 billion years the universe has existed. Other lifeforms would have billions of years of advantages. Your forgetting that there is most likely many different civilizations. Some may be more advanced and others may not


Yeah I..I mentioned that in the post you quoted.


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## RelinquishedHell

Well of course. I think it's arrogant to assume we're the only ones in a seemingly infinite universe. I won't be shocked or surprised at all if we find microbial life in our own solar system within the next 20 years. The fact that life exists here is proof to me that life exists elsewhere.

I'm actually looking forward to the reaction of the religious kooks when it's revealed that the universe is teaming with life.


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## AnonymousPersonG

Everyone imagines aliens as evil... but what if they are kind? The could be like uber pacifists and help our civilization advance.


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## Bored Alien

If i remember correctly, there's really no way other planets capable of life would have really existed before our sun. It was all one phase of the history of the universe, any stars like sol would be about the same age. So maybe millions more years, but I'm of the opinion civilized life probably isn't a long lasting phase. At least not an advanced stage. Maybe if a society stayed in a medieval type society for a long time it might work.


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## EmotionlessThug

Unit731 said:


> Maybe Aliens will spare us SA people xD


What makes you say that?


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## Unit731

EmotionlessThug said:


> What makes you say that?


Some of us are completely Alien to this world ,it only makes sense that we might be able to negotiate with real Aliens .


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## DeniseAfterAll

AnonymousPersonG said:


> Everyone imagines aliens as evil... but what if they are kind? The could be like uber pacifists and help our civilization advance.


There is no point in wasting energies of entire stars for the sole purpose of arriving to a tiny planet whose resources are already available elsewhere in the universe .

Theoretically , alien life would follow the exact same principles of natural selection .. and natural selection inevitably leads to the creation of Suffering as well as Pleasure .

An alien civilization would be far more likely to treat us like zoo animals .. which could be fun . They would then develop a means of communicating with us , then try to teach us everything they've learned .


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## Blakey

If I'm able to breathe on it then I think it's pretty ****ing "special"


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## zonebox

DeniseAfterAll said:


> There is no point in wasting energies of entire stars for the sole purpose of arriving to a tiny planet whose resources are already available elsewhere in the universe .
> 
> Theoretically , alien life would follow the exact same principles of natural selection .. and natural selection inevitably leads to the creation of Suffering as well as Pleasure .
> 
> An alien civilization would be far more likely to treat us like zoo animals .. which could be fun . They would then develop a means of communicating with us , then try to teach us everything they've learned .


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## InfiniteBlaze

It can be comforting to just sit back and realize that none of this really matters.


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## 2Milk

I never thought we were special anyways. Those kinds of thoughts are for the naive.
Plus, I wouldn't have social anxiety around aliens, which would be cool, we would hang out.


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## Bored Alien

Unit731 said:


> Some of us are completely Alien to this world ,it only makes sense that we might be able to negotiate with real Aliens .





2Milk said:


> I never thought we were special anyways. Those kinds of thoughts are for the naive.
> Plus, I wouldn't have social anxiety around aliens, which would be cool, we would hang out.


And pick up chicks.


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## zonebox

Bored Alien said:


> And pick up chicks.


It was foretold, back in the 80s.


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## Setolac

This is one of the reasons why it is also difficult to believe that there is an afterlife. We have 7 billion people currently living on earth. The earth has been inhabited by human beings for 2000+ years already. Each century, millions to billions of people from each generation have lived and have died. Does that mean there are 50+ billion "souls" roaming in the afterlife right now? How does that even work? And 50+ billion might not even be the bare minimum if you take into account the 40+ billion potential life inhabiting planets that we have so that means the exact number of these "souls" could be exponentially great.

How would those "souls" fit in the afterlife? Or is the afterlife based on the theory of reincarnation where we are stuck in a loop of being brought to life until death comes and then the same cycle goes on and on?


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## SociallyAnxiousGamer

Setolac said:


> This is one of the reasons why it is also difficult to believe that there is an afterlife. We have 7 billion people currently living on earth. The earth has been inhabited by human beings for 2000+ years already. Each century, millions to billions of people from each generation have lived and have died. Does that mean there are 50+ billion "souls" roaming in the afterlife right now? How does that even work? And 50+ billion might not even be the bare minimum if you take into account the 40+ billion potential life inhabiting planets that we have so that means the exact number of these "souls" could be exponentially great.
> 
> How would those "souls" fit in the afterlife? Or is the afterlife based on the theory of reincarnation where we are stuck in a loop of being brought to life until death comes and then the same cycle goes on and on?


There isn't man you should just realize that already


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## nubly

I hope three breasted female humanoids exist and visit earth soon.


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## tonyhd71

SociallyAnxiousGamer said:


> You'd be surprised how many people out there don't know this


This.


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## feel me now

I doubt that there's any alien civilization out there that isn't dealing with psychological issues similar to ours. I'm sure there are some exceptions but I think beings capable of technological advancement must inherently have some social issues. Thats pretty much a given, right?


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## BuggingMe

Well if they do exist they would be labelled as evil. As a civilization that has probably lived longer than us they know the universe rule : Eat or be eaten.


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## Hikikomori2014

They have been here for many, many years


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## feverfew

Why is this under frustration? Shouldn't this be in the science forum?

[Well they moved it now. That was fast!]


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## blue2

Well that's just fabulous


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## WillYouStopDave

This is very depressing but on a totally different level than the one I'm sure it was meant to be on.


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## WillYouStopDave

What is it they say? Faster than light travel would take an infinite amount of power. If the aliens have liberals, they'd never get anywhere because they'd be whining about universal warming.


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## RandomlyGenerated

Sure, but why haven't we contacted any yet? You'd think there'd be at least one or two in nearby star systems who could communicate with us.
The only explanations I can think of are A)that civilizations always die out before or soon after they develop communication via EM radiation, or B)they know we're here and are trying to keep us from knowing they exist.


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## ugh1979

Bored Alien said:


> If i remember correctly, there's really no way other planets capable of life would have really existed before our sun. It was all one phase of the history of the universe, any stars like sol would be about the same age. So maybe millions more years, but I'm of the opinion civilized life probably isn't a long lasting phase. At least not an advanced stage. Maybe if a society stayed in a medieval type society for a long time it might work.


That's nonsense i'm afraid.

Our sun is pretty young cosmologically, and there could have been millions+ of instances of life on other planets in other systems which have either been and gone or are still active elsewhere in the universe.

The phase of the universe in which planets exist and which could potentially sustain life is over 10 billion years old.


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## ugh1979

feel me now said:


> I doubt that there's any alien civilization out there that isn't dealing with psychological issues similar to ours. I'm sure there are some exceptions but I think beings capable of technological advancement must inherently have some social issues. Thats pretty much a given, right?


Indeed, any intelligent entity must be capable of atypical mental behaviour which could cause issue for it in its society.


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## ugh1979

BuggingMe said:


> Well if they do exist they would be labelled as evil. As a civilization that has probably lived longer than us they know the universe rule : Eat or be eaten.


Nonsense. If they are more advanced than us, they are probably a lot more enlightened than us, and know how to co-exist with other species peacefully.


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## ugh1979

WillYouStopDave said:


> What is it they say? Faster than light travel would take an infinite amount of power.


Not necessarily via certain potential tricks such as warping spacetime.



> If the aliens have liberals, they'd never get anywhere because they'd be whining about universal warming.


And if they were conservatives they would have become extinct from not admitting the reality of scientifically substantiated issues. :roll


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## ugh1979

RandomlyGenerated said:


> Sure, but why haven't we contacted any yet? You'd think there'd be at least one or two in nearby star systems who could communicate with us.
> The only explanations I can think of are A)that civilizations always die out before or soon after they develop communication via EM radiation, or B)they know we're here and are trying to keep us from knowing they exist.


You can't assume any can know we are here, or that we should be able to find them.

The universe is so vast, scanning the skies for evidence and not finding anything is like taking a cup of seawater, seeing no fish in it, and thinking there can't be any fish.

You could be right about our neighbours already being extinct or being able to hide from us. Or, they could have technology so far in advance of ours they could be undetectable.


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## BuggingMe

ugh1979 said:


> Nonsense. If they are more advanced than us, they are probably a lot more enlightened than us, and know how to co-exist with other species peacefully.


 I'm not saying they don't know how. If they are more advanced they have experienced much more things and know that for peace to exist war must be a thing aswell. Plus it doesn't matter you advanced you are your cells would still need water for metabolism therefore you'd steal when your's over.


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## ugh1979

BuggingMe said:


> I'm not saying they don't know how. If they are more advanced they have experienced much more things and know that for peace to exist war must be a thing aswell. Plus it doesn't matter you advanced you are your cells would still need water for metabolism therefore you'd steal when your's over.


So they would therefore be well aware of the perils of war as well.

The universe is full of water accessible water locked up in ice.. They wouldn't need to come and take any of our amount of fresh water which we would of course fight for.


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## BuggingMe

ugh1979 said:


> So they would therefore be well aware of the perils of war as well.
> 
> The universe is full of water accessible water locked up in ice.. They wouldn't need to come and take any of our amount of fresh water which we would of course fight for.


 Just knowing about something doesn't mean that you can avoid it. Take Death as an example.

Nhm.. True. You won that so I'll bring another argument.

Humans fear the unknown. If they were to meet "something strange" they'd point their guns at it. They'd try to do experiments with it for the sake of turning the Unknown into Known.
Now how would the other side react? They'd assume humans are hostile. Or not worth sparing the life. Or ignorants that doesn't deserve a second chance. Maybe a threat?
Most people say that if this had happened the extraterrestrian would run. But if they really are superior for them, we are like the mosquitos we kill everyday.


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## ugh1979

BuggingMe said:


> Just knowing about something doesn't mean that you can avoid it. Take Death as an example.
> 
> Nhm.. True. You won that so I'll bring another argument.
> 
> Humans fear the unknown. If they were to meet "something strange" they'd point their guns at it. They'd try to do experiments with it for the sake of turning the Unknown into Known.
> Now how would the other side react? They'd assume humans are hostile. Or not worth sparing the life. Or ignorants that doesn't deserve a second chance. Maybe a threat?
> Most people say that if this had happened the extraterrestrian would run. But if they really are superior for them, we are like the mosquitos we kill everyday.


Indeed any aliens who could visit would probably be smart enough to stay away from our relatively primitive selves if they had studied how many in our society fear change.

A prime directive like protocol may well be in place among many extra terrestrial species.


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## WillYouStopDave

ugh1979 said:


> Not necessarily via *certain potential tricks such as warping spacetime*.
> 
> And if they were conservatives they would have become extinct from not admitting the reality of scientifically substantiated issues. :roll


 You've got a point. Liberals can warp everything else. Why couldn't they warp spacetime?


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## Wirt

I feel like they pulled that number out of their butt

But Yea, the vastness of space makes contact unlikely. But another aspect to contact that is really interesting to think about is the evolution progress of a species being able to communicate to others in space could be a very short window. These other species could be at the "roman" levels of technology and be on our level but wed have no way of knowing. And do they become extinct before they can reach another species (aka, will we likely be extinct by the time another civilization talks to us)


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## BAH

They'll be coming to earth in a few years


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## ugh1979

WillYouStopDave said:


> You've got a point. Liberals can warp everything else. Why couldn't they warp spacetime?


If you think it's just liberal politicians that warp the truth you are very naive. :roll

All politicians tend to spin the truth to their agendas.


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## Bored Alien

^you don't say?


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## ugh1979

VipFuj said:


> I feel like they pulled that number out of their butt


It's taken from the Drake equation. Yes it's highly speculative, and provides projections that are constantly updated as we learn more about other planets, but the point is that it's always a relatively high number which is very interesting.

Even if it calculated a low number it would be interesting, as either way it indicates we shouldn't think we are alone in the universe.


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## ugh1979

Bored Alien said:


> ^you don't say?


Exactly. However, sometimes it's not realised by certain people who blindly adhere to their chosen parties line.


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## hoddesdon

This is purely speculative.


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## ugh1979

hoddesdon said:


> This is purely speculative.


And you point is?

Do you have some problem with speculating? That would be strange if so seeing as your religious worldview is purley speculative.


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## Bored Alien

^what if lots of religions are in fact true, but in the ancient alien way kind of true?


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## ugh1979

Bored Alien said:


> ^what if lots of religions are in fact true, but in the ancient alien way kind of true?


What if cats are actually aliens from one planet, and dogs aliens from another?


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## Bored Alien

How ridiculous. How would a cat build a spaceship.

Unless you're saying the grey aliens brought them as pets.


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## Choci Loni

Judging from how things are going here on earth, it seems possible that civilisations simply wipe themselves out a few hundred years after reaching the technological level needed for interstellar communication. And that's why we haven't heard of any such civilisation yet; they are so short lived


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## ugh1979

Bored Alien said:


> How ridiculous. How would a cat build a spaceship.
> 
> Unless you're saying the grey aliens brought them as pets.


Did you know the pyramids are actually cat ears? The rest of the head is now buried under the sand.










Must have been aliens!


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## Foh_Teej




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## Eazi

lol you watch too many sci fi flicks.


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## jamery

I'm hoping for some Mass Effect kind of stuff, only I call dibs on being Shepard!


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## ilhamonsas

Kanova said:


> Why do you keep trying to prove stuff most people already know? A galaxy is ****ing gigantic. And there are too many galaxies to count in the universe, it isn't really that much of a surprise that there might be more than one planet that can sustain life *in the entire ****ing universe.*
> 
> The part where I differ is, how do we know they are so advanced? Everyone always says they are so advanced that they don't even want to bother with us or something, but maybe they are just beginning their existence also. But then I guess you get into light years and how if it is happening here right now, it happened millions of years ago that far away and what not. Kind of hard to wrap the head around. But then again, our species hasn't been around for very long at all on the time scale, so whatever.
> 
> Also, I think the only people who don't know this are just uneducated or never really thought of it, OR they are just religious people. And I am waiting for the next big truth thread lol


You've answered your first question. People have different background and education. People don't "know" how large the universe is. Everybody ASSUMES it differently, some just don't think about it or are even sadly, afraid to question and ended up telling themselves about how mighty God is, etc to explain the uncertainties.


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## twitchy666

*I'm waiting for changes*

apocalypse of our society or physical / geographic.

Migrating to moon, planets, new planets appearing? Variety? Weather, biology?
More interested in Earth's decline in resources & population - extinction - when everybody decides not to breed, or vice versa, towards growth

Our existence is about our ideas, improvements. I prefer outwardly awareness, not making electronic products to sell for revenue within this jammed civilisation.

Are people special, or just sheep-following? Their creations are trying to impress. Too many people. I journal an obituary of what famous people do & why they die.


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## ugh1979

ilhamonsas said:


> You've answered your first question. People have different background and education. People don't "know" how large the universe is. Everybody ASSUMES it differently, some just don't think about it or are even sadly, afraid to question and ended up telling themselves about how mighty God is, etc to explain the uncertainties.


Indeed. Many people don't think about or can't even comprehend concepts like deep space and deep time.


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## lmoh

I would want to see aliens within my lifetime (and by aliens, I mean actual intelligent aliens, and not some microorganisms we find on a rock). However, let's just hope that when we do find them, it would be us who finds them and not them finding us. If they have the technology to travel across galaxies in seconds and create laser cannons, then all the worse for us if we don't have anything to match that.


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## Blag

lmoh said:


> I would want to see aliens within my lifetime (and by aliens, I mean actual intelligent aliens, and not some microorganisms we find on a rock). However, let's just hope that when we do find them, it would be us who finds them and not them finding us. If they have the technology to travel across galaxies in seconds and create laser cannons, then all the worse for us if we don't have anything to match that.


If they have those capabilities i doubt they will be bothered by us.For them, we are monkeys in our world and not causing too much trouble. Plus they already know we're here, and they also know where many of the other civilizations/populated planets are.


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## lmoh

Blag said:


> If they have those capabilities i doubt they will be bothered by us.For them, we are monkeys in our world and not causing too much trouble. Plus they already know we're here, and they also know where many of the other civilizations/populated planets are.


Well, if they were intergalactic overlords who would want to take advantage of another weaker civilization then that is a reason to worry. Humanity doesn't have any reason to act like they are any better though, given its own track record . Let's just hope that they are peace loving though and we can learn from each other in harmony.


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## fredbloggs02

I have no strong bias on there being intelligent life besides humans. However, most scientists concede the chance of such life near earth resembling humans is incredibly remote; and this, in any case, thoroughly gluts my anthropocentric sense of uniqueness and innate superiority. So it would logically follow: any life they did find would be servile in comparison and only suitable to be enslaved.

Yes, I think I will definitely hold to that fundamental position in my final death throes.


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## ugh1979

fredbloggs02 said:


> I have no strong bias on there being intelligent life besides humans. However, most scientists concede the chance of such life near earth resembling humans is incredibly remote; and this, in any case, thoroughly gluts my anthropocentric sense of uniqueness and innate superiority. So it would logically follow: any life they did find would be servile in comparison and only suitable to be enslaved.
> 
> Yes, I think I will definitely hold to that fundamental position in my final death throes.


What if it's life that finds us though? I doubt you would feel as superior then.

Your thoughts on superiority and slavery are remarkably similar to a 16th century colonialist. :|


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## herk

i dont think we would be less special if other civilizations exist, just less rare


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## ugh1979

herk said:


> i dont think we would be less special if other civilizations exist, just less rare


The more common something is the less special it becomes in many ways.


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## coeur_brise

Welp, someone told me recently that the earth is roughly under a quarter (or a third?) of the age of the entire universe, soo there could be other earths out there that are just as old or old enough to have formed. I think, anyway. It wouldn't surprise me if there was. I also can't believe that the earth is that old, that it actually has a significant chunk of time in the universal time frame.


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## ugh1979

coeur_brise said:


> Welp, someone told me recently that the earth is roughly under a quarter of the age of the entire universe, soo there could be other earths out there that are just as old or old enough to have formed. I think, anyway. It wouldn't surprise me if there was. I also can't believe that the earth is that old, that it actually has a significant chunk of time in the universal time frame.


The earth is about a third the age of the universe.

Universe age -13.8 billion years
Earth age - 4.54 billion years

Why can't you believe it's that old?


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## coeur_brise

@ugh1979, I meant it as in, it's amazing how old the earth is. I always thought it was younger for some reason seeing that the universe is this huge all-encompassing space. Or maybe what I mean to say, is that I didn't realize how long this earth has been forming. Just seems like, in those terms, the universe is our older brother or something. And that's mind-boggling/amazing.


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## ugh1979

coeur_brise said:


> @ugh1979, I meant it as in, it's amazing how old the earth is. I always thought it was younger for some reason seeing that the universe is this huge all-encompassing space. Or maybe what I mean to say, is that I didn't realize how long this earth has been forming. Just seems like, in those terms, the universe is our older brother or something. And that's mind-boggling/amazing.


Fair enough. The tone of the comment was lost in type. 

Yes pondering deep time is amazing. There are some people that just can't accept it, or can't think on such scales.


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## Insignificant Other

SociallyAnxiousGamer said:


> Studies and astronomers indicate there could be 3,000 civilizations in our Milky Way Galaxy but are too distant to contact. Not only this but there are 40 billion potential life inhabiting planets in our galaxy alone. If this theory is true then it means we are not special at all and just one out of many in the universe
> 
> http://news.discovery.com/space/ali...-there-but-too-distant-for-contact-141002.htm


Are they taking into account the deadly gamma ray bursts?

http://physics.aps.org/articles/v7/124


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## ugh1979

Insignificant Other said:


> Are they taking into account the deadly gamma ray bursts?
> 
> http://physics.aps.org/articles/v7/124


Yes the estimates do account for such events. Obviously such things could wipe out life, but statistically it's still going to be a minority.


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## Insignificant Other

ugh1979 said:


> Yes the estimates do account for such events. Obviously such things could wipe out life, but statistically it's still going to be a minority.


I thought the bursts were very common, and Earth is in an odd spot where they occur less often. Of course, I can't remember now where I read that. (I say "of course" because that is the nature of the internet.)


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## ugh1979

Insignificant Other said:


> I thought the bursts were very common, and Earth is in an odd spot where they occur less often. Of course, I can't remember now where I read that. (I say "of course" because that is the nature of the internet.)


It's cosmological scales so very common (i.e. about 1 day in the universe according to what we can detect) is actually an almost meaningless figure considering the amount of galaxies there are.



> Although they happen most days in the universe this makes them actually very rare because considering the billions of galaxies out there, one a day in the cosmos isn't very much. So the likely hood of a gamma ray burst going off in an average galaxy like the Milky Way is about 1 every 100,000 to 1,000,000 years


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## WillYouStopDave

I think it's kind of unlikely there is "intelligent" human-like life. Or at least I think wherever it appears, it is doomed from the start. So the likelihood there's a ****-ton of it right now as we speak seems pretty unlikely. 

You think about it. Having the brainpower to actually think about yourself, your situations and conditions and your place in the universe is really kind of a curse (if there is such a thing). It's not a good thing at all. I'd really rather be a damn cow eating grass somewhere. The only thing I'd have to worry about would be natural predators and I probably wouldn't even really know it. I'd only really be aware of danger when bad **** was actually going down.

Humans are too "smart" for their own good. We'd be living like monkeys if we knew what was good for us. But there would always be that one monkey that thought he had everything figured out. He's too good to live like a monkey and he's gonna raise the standard of living.

Eventually, someone is going to harness "The god particle". Gee. What could possibly go wrong?


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## Cassoulet94

WillYouStopDave said:


> I think it's kind of unlikely there is "intelligent" human-like life.
> 
> I don't see any evidence to support that claim... It is really a big mistery so i am curious to know why you think that.
> 
> You think about it. Having the brainpower to actually think about yourself, your situations and conditions and your place in the universe is really kind of a curse (if there is such a thing). It's not a good thing at all. I'd really rather be a damn cow eating grass somewhere. The only thing I'd have to worry about would be natural predators and I probably wouldn't even really know it. I'd only really be aware of danger when bad **** was actually going down.
> 
> That's your opinion. I am myself proud to be a human being, as we are the cleverst race of all times (on earth, obviously). I don't think I am the only one to feel that way. Yeah, having such a high level of consciousness is a burden, but it is also a great chance IMO.
> 
> Humans are too "smart" for their own good. We'd be living like monkeys if we knew what was good for us.
> 
> If you know that, it means that you know "what is good for us" . I thougt that we didn't know ?
> 
> IMO, what is good for us doesn't mean much, insofar as good is a very unprecize notion. Everybody as his or her way of understanding it. What is good for us in order to survive ? to be closer from the truth ? to be happy ? I don't think that living like monkeys would help us to achieve any of this goals, but maybe you had others in mind ?
> 
> But there would always be that one monkey that thought he had everything figured out. He's too good to live like a monkey and he's gonna raise the standard of living.
> 
> Haha I can see that The space Odyssey has really marked you. Is this clever monkey gonna grab an animal bone and hit the ground while listening classical music ?
> 
> Eventually, someone is going to harness "The god particle". Gee. What could possibly go wrong?


.


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## WillYouStopDave

Do you think you could learn to quote if you're going to try and argue with a long post like this? It's going to be tedious to sort this mess out just to respond._




I don't see any evidence to support that claim... It is really a big mistery so i am curious to know why you think that.

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 _That's nice. I didn't see any need to show you any evidence to support anything. And it wasn't a claim. It was an opinion.
_




That's your opinion. I am myself proud to be a human being, as we are the cleverst race of all times (on earth, obviously). I don't think I am the only one to feel that way. Yeah, having such a high level of consciousness is a burden, but it is also a great chance IMO.

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_That's right. That's my opinion and it works for me. Why would you be proud to be a human? What's the point in that? Where is your audience? :lol_




If you know that, it means that you know "what is good for us" . I thougt that we didn't know ? 

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 _WE don't. Obviously._ 
 




Haha I can see that The space Odyssey has really marked you. Is this clever monkey gonna grab an animal bone and hit the ground while listening classical music ?

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 _No. You know what really made an impression on me? All the mass murder and mass graves from the last century. It made me wonder if humans are really as wise as some people think and if we are ready for the kind of technology that can just wipe out gazillions of people without blinking an eye.

I think this species will never be ready for that but that's too bad because it's already here. And it's not going to stop now.

Humans have done nothing but abuse everything we have "created". I don't think that's going to change. There will always be someone who claws his way to the top and justifies whatever he does with some garbage about doing bad in the name of doing good.


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## Cassoulet94

Wow. I'm pretty amazed. I was just making conversation, i Wasn't expecting such hostility. I guess you don't like to exchange opinions with people.


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## Wirt

WillYouStopDave said:


> I think it's kind of unlikely there is "intelligent" human-like life. Or at least I think wherever it appears, it is doomed from the start. So the likelihood there's a ****-ton of it right now as we speak seems pretty unlikely.


the great thing about the vastness of the universe. Even if intelligent life is extremely rare, there are SOOOO fricken many stars in the universe with planets that even extremely rare, theres a good chance there's plent of intelligent life out there.

I mean..in the galaxy theres more stars than grains of sand on earth, and there's a crazy amount of galaxies (100 billion, thank you google). why would it be unlikely there's intelligent life? especially when there's been so many mass extinctions, human intelligence didnt really take that long to evolve in relation to the age of the universe

unfortunately, that vastness also leads to us never being able to reach other life unless something that no scientist could ever predict happens that brings life closer together. On the off chance we're the only life in our galaxy, other galaxies are 11.7 million light years away...the fastest thing in existance takes 11.7 MILLION YEARS to reach us. nuckin futs

I agree we're our own worst enemy, but with a sample size of 1, I wouldnt be comfortable assuming all intelligent life acts like we do


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## xxDark Horse

Heres a thought. What if we haven't made any contact with any intelligent life because most species go extinct before they're capable of long distance space travel? 

100 million light years away, theres some green alien that's typing on his alien computer right now asking the same questions we're asking.


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## ugh1979

xxDark Horse said:


> Heres a thought. What if we haven't made any contact with any intelligent life because most species go extinct before they're capable of long distance space travel?
> 
> 100 million light years away, theres some green alien that's typing on his alien computer right now asking the same questions we're asking.


Indeed it's a plausable hypothesis. At least in terms of civilisations that could have contacted ours.

I still think in the vastness of the universe at least some civilisations have endured to the point they can travel long distances in space. There are over one hundred billion galaxies after all, and maybe travelling between galaxies is beyond even the most advanced civilisations who have mastered inter-system travel.

There are many other good reasons why such an advanced civilisation wouldn't have contacted us as well as already discussed.


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## Surly Wurly

OK so here's a thought. 

There are so many stars in the universe that it's inevitable that we aren't on the only planet in the universe with life, and that there will be lots of life elsewhere too, right?

BUT

It's now more or less believed that everything that can possibly happen plays out in an infinite number of alternative universes. 

So, what if we are in the universe where we literally ARE the only life in the entire universe?


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## ugh1979

Surly Wurly said:


> OK so here's a thought.
> 
> There are so many stars in the universe that it's inevitable that we aren't on the only planet in the universe with life, and that there will be lots of life elsewhere too, right?
> 
> BUT
> 
> It's now more or less believed that everything that can possibly happen plays out in an infinite number of alternative universes.
> 
> So, what if we are in the universe where we literally ARE the only life in the entire universe?


Yeah that can't be completely ruled out.


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