I don't believe we are an exception. We will do anything to survive. It's just in this modern age in first world countries, we don't have an issue of survival. Right now we are more worried about getting fat because we have too much to eat. We are worried about overpopulation because too many of us survive. Once resources start dwindling, do you think we all will just die of starvation without trying to stop it? How many people out there harm other people without an issue of survival? We are just as prone to evolution as any other species, just we are a bit smarter. Also, I would argue the intelligence to some degree. There is such a variation of intelligence from people like einstein to people who can't wipe their own a" at 30 years old.

javier varela Says:
May 20th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
you also ot to think that even though we may one day be able to find a planet with life trillions of light years away or so, they may not evn be there any way, light travels fast, but not fast enough tht we know if there is any civilization out there still, so to another civilization billions, or trillions of light years away, to them also we may still appear to be in the triassic period or so on

The definition of a light year is the distance travelled by light in one year. The actual speed of light is approximately 3*10^5 m/s. Consdering that about 14 billion light years is all we can see in any direction of the universe, it would be impossible to see something that is anywhere near a trillion light years away. This is where scientists get the idea that the universe is only 14 billion years old. There are alot of holes in this age. First, you have to assume that space does expand faster than the speed of light. Second, you have to assume there is nothing past that 14 billion light year mark. If the universe is 14 billion years old, then we should theoretically be able to work the the paths of these supergroups of galaxy backward until a point where they were all together, which should add up to 14 billion years if correct.

As for the odds of intelligent life on other planets, we don't know enough at all to even make an estimate. One of this guy's arguments is the complication of evolution. We don't consider the fact that life could flourish in some conditiones that we haven't considered. Or even solar systems with gas giants that have many moons and are close enough to the parent star for liquid water. Until we can get samples from at least a small section of the universe, we won't be able to provide a statistic for how many civilizations that are out there. As far as we know it could be 0 or it could be 10^20000

there was a study done on toddlers and chimpanzees that showed the distinct difference between humans and there closest relatives. The first test was done on a group of toddlers where an adult would purposley put him or herself into a situation where they would be in need of help. Every toddler in the room was willing and eager to help its fellow human.

A similar situation was set up for chimpanzees. They put one chimpanzee in a room where the center was divided by metal bars. Food was placed in the middle of a long board just out of reach of the chimp on the other side. Each end of the board had a string attached to it that traveled through the bars to the side of the room where the chimp was being held. Alone, the strings where to far apart for the chimp to successfully pull the board close enough to him to reach the food. The chimp was then faced with the option to open a door on his side of the room where a fellow chimp was being held. The door was opened and with the help of the second chimp, the original was able to reach the food. But being the dominate chimp, the orignal chimp did not share the bounty with his companion. The test was tried again but this time when the chimp opened the door for help, the second chimp refused to do work with no profit.

Selfishness is what drives evolution. An organism is wired to do anything to survive. We are the exception. If any other animal was given the technollogy and the means as humans what would you think the world would be like. Now this doesnt mean we can become better as a society and help regrow our environment but thats for another day.

Secondly if we find other forms of life, the chances of it being carbon based is extremely high. Carbon is the element that most easily bonds with any other element. It is the most efficient means to the biulding blocks of life and this will never change anywhere throughout the whole universe.

p.s. dolphins arent that smart. Unless they somehow evolve to walk of land, which would probably never ever happen being so well adapted for the water and might have evolved from land into the water, dolphins, even if it wasnt for human intervention, would have never evolved into anything like humans or as succesful. HEED THY WORDS! BEWARE THE FUTURE WHERE ELEPHANTS RULE THE WORLD! THERE TRUNK TRIGGERED GUNS WILL OBLITERATE US ONE DAY!

Rather than searching for a beacon from many many light years away, shouldn't we maybe just stay within a technically reasonable distance? Then again all we really know of is carbon based lifeforms. How could we truly know of non carbon based lifeforms short of hovering above them?

Lyria

Sounds like he has another agenda, or at the least is from the old school of God made only one planet in the Universe with life, so that the British Empire could conquer it.

Come join the 21st Century. doc.

As for other civilizations, I have no doubt there are out there. Space is just so big, I cannot expect that we are the only ones. But I hope, as we work on detection that we do not work to exposure ourselves to them for awhile. If they are anything like us and a million years ahead, we will probably be treated that the native Americans by the Europeans. Or worst.

Greed is not a good indicator of intelligent life. It's just ignorance. Our species ignorance is just proof that we're designed to destroy ourselves. If there was intelligent life outside of the solar system, they probably look at us as the trailer park of the universe; should they notice us at all and would most likely keep looking around until they found truly civilized and intelligent beings.

TVSingh and DaveM have encouraged me to consider further the idea of our own planet's life cycle (or, more importantly, our sun's life cycle). Why are we so sure that intelligence hasnt evolved previously here, given the amount of time that has elapsed. Also, considering the minute amount of time it took for us super apes to bite in to that apple, it seems (to me) that there might be better odds of the chance of life evolving multiple times here, than out there, where many more other parameters could and would affect the equation.

If dexterity is the key to larger brains and evolved intelligence, why is that so unique to modern times and primates? In the 130 million years or so of the existance of flowering\fruit bearing plants and trees, why us?

Just because we havent been able to dig it up doesnt mean that it hasnt happened here before, no? Might be an easier explanation for those mass extinctions as well.

It's just too stinking awesome not to look for. Just like "worm holes", forcefields and perpetual motion machines. It may get to the point that scientifically we've decided there's little to no chance, but lets be honest how many future astronomers wouldn't entertain the idea of meeting intelligent life? In my opinion that's all we need to know until we know. Trying to create a mathmatical probability proof is a waste of time when we have more immediate goals in that area that need attention. Lets get good step or two off the planet first I say.

Patience, patience please

"Salutations, Earthlings!

MY fellow beings have attempted to contact you regarding an important matter concerning intellectual property.
Your Dasani and Ozarka bottled water companies have continuously taken credit for "inventing" and/or otherwise propogating the concept of bottling and distributing water as unique and "revolutionary". While this may be the case in your microcosm, our records indicate that this otherwise jaded concept of packaging and marketing essential resources is none other than our own.

Your planet Earth – known as "spherical water packaging concept #2" on our planet Voltrexdotnet – is merely one of many products offered by our planet to other solar systems in the universe. The problem with our test package was the rampant microbial growth due to less-than-sophisticated manufacturing techniques. In turn, our water packaging concept slowly transformed into something similar to what your fellow creatures would refer to as a "Chia Pet", more or less.

To handle this matter appropriately, please cease any further attempts by Dasani, Ozarka, and other related companies to accept or proclaim intellectual credit involving packaged resources, or otherwise risk invasion and/or cattle mutilations.

Sincerely,

Gribetz McClane
Supreme Overlord Power Master and co-founder of Voltrexdotnet Marketing"

What an asshole!

Your inability to properly select "than" versus "then" in a comment about the communication abilities of the human race is quite hilarious.

You must be in the worker class of "comedian."

I look forward to eating your people when they are ready for harvest.

Soon to buy you at a supermarket near me,

Alien OverLord

No one is born into the world smarter than their ancestors. A child knows only to cry for its mother.
When we lack the capabilities to communicate effectively, we end up falling into war and and oppression.

Are we really as intelligent as we think we are?

Even if very few technological civilizations develop, they would likely exponentially expand outward from their planet of origin, and populate the galaxy in a relatively short time.

The fact that it appears not to have happened yet belies that notion…unless we happen to be the first…which seems to be rather long odds itself.

Conclusion: Who the hell knows?

Evolution itself, could just be one sign that intelligent life other than what's here on this planet, exists. After-all, what it the reason that we as human beings seek to improve on the things which we make with our hands?………So that they will work better for us and be more efficient in doing so. Is this not correct?

One day, in the not too distant future, we WILL send out probes to a planet or moon that we have some idea about already. This probe will make the rovers on Mars look prehistoric by comparison. The reason being is that these particular probes will be self-sufficient…….and being self-sufficient means that they will need to evolve in order to survive the conditions of their environments. To survive the conditions of their environments ultimately means they will continue to carry out the missions of their programmers.

Now, does this sound at all familiar, or I am just dreaming this up?

Some could argue that we're all here due to random chance, and that this is not a sign of intelligence at work, ok. Think about this, the fact that I am even writing this is based on randomness, none of my words as I have typed this were premeditated, I drew them off the top of my head. To go even further beyond just typing words randomly, what about the artist, the musician, the painter, the sculptor, the architect, etc., who come up up with their own ideas out of nothing. This nothing which evolves over time from within their minds, into works that are appreciated by all who have eyes to see, ears to listen, and hands to touch.

Earth is just one place that harbors living entities that are the very products of MUCH older, higher intelligent beings which preceded them.

So, to say that there isn't much chance that there are other beings outside of this planet is being EXTREMELY naive.

Nuno

I really think life will turn up in more places than we think, as what we look for evolves. As the universe goes from order to disorder life becomes inevitable.

Now having said all that, Intelligent life is just another step in disorder, but it may be a tough one. I hope we are not the only intelligent beings in the universe, but we are not even entirely sure we are the only intelligent beings on Earth yet. Dolphins? "So long and thanks for all the fish!"

Intelligence is all relative anyway, as talked about in Jay Igmans 'Theater of the Mind' he describes the different 'levels' of consciousness, and how they are just baby steps from each other. A cat has no idea what a mirror is, a dog will bark at itself, but not really know its itself, a chimpanzee with a red sticker on its head will see its self image and try to wipe the dot off its own head. Humans would make a sarcastic comment and laugh at the sticker on their head."

So what am I getting at? with the almost infinite number of stars and variability on each, we are limiting our search for life rather narrowly. Its we find a strange web of life on Europa… everything will change