Then, almost immediately, a backtrack from the title! We are told at Space.com, “Probably not, but there are reasons to be optimistic about our near-future prospects.
Oh dear. If this were private life and not Science (!), it would all sound like that sort of woman, at least one of whom absolutely everyone knows, who wonders if this time her shiftless boyfriend is finally going to keep the job he landed…
Sure, dear.
No, but seriously:
The search for intelligent beings elsewhere, Shostak said, is largely conducted by checking out nearby star systems for either narrow-band radio signals or brief flashes of laser light. And those might succeed at any time, he told Space.com.
“But one should remember that this type of search is gaining speed in an exponential fashion, and that particular technical fact allows a crude estimate of when SETI might pay off. If we take — for lack of a better estimate — Frank Drake’s opinion that there might be 10,000 broadcasting societies in the Milky Way, then we clearly have to examine at least one [million] – 10 million stellar systems to have a reasonable chance of tripping across one. That goal will be reached in the next two decades, but certainly not in 2020,” Shostak said.
Leonard David, “Will 2020 Be the Year We Find Intelligent Alien Life?” at Space.com
It would be marvellous to find aliens out there to talk to, even if they turned to be an awful bore. But there is something suspicious about these statistics. With no single alien ever found, they offer us no history to go by.
See also: Tales of an invented god
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I think it might be remotely possible to find other life in the solar system. Very remote. And given the sheer size of the universe, it wouldn’t surprise me if life was out their. Even intelligent life. But given the distances involved, I think it highly unlikely that we will ever detect them. Is that reason enough to stop looking? I can’t answer that.
When it comes to alien life of any kind, I’m a Schrodinger’s Cat kind of person. Life does and does not exist, neither of which have any real bearing as to the reason to colonize the moon, Mars, the upper atmosphere of Venus, and beyond. There will be another Carrington and colonization will enable us to save as much data as possible. The internet is the Great Library of Alexandria, and the Carrington will be the fire to destroy knowledge. Another rock is going to fall out of the sky and bring about the next ice age. Yellowstone will erupt, which will also bring about another ice age. Without colonization as a priority of western nations, it’s just a matter of time before knowledge becomes lost and mankind is set back again.
Again- In an Intelligently Designed universe- or one Created by God- it is a given there is more than us, that there is life on other planets. And given the evidence it seems that some of them have visited us.
ET, from a Christian perspective that is theologically dubious, tending towards highly improbable. Under generic ID theory it is simply unknown and unknowable.
ScuzzaMan- The Bible has passages that relate to E.T.’s. Under a generic ID theory the odds of it being so approach 1. From “the Privileged Palnet”- Chapter 16 offers a “Skeptical Rejoinder” answering 14 objections. Number 14 is:
Way off topic but this is a great article, long but worth the read. Really a defense of liberalism in the classic sense. Happy Thanksgiving
https://quillette.com/2019/11/27/thanksgiving-a-uniquely-american-tradition/
Vivid
PS
This article touches on many of the topics we discuss here.
Vivid
as to:
First off, there is Fermi’s paradox.
Secondly, the Drake equation is a grossly simplistic and misleading estimate for the probability of finding life elsewhere in the universe. A far more realistic estimate for finding life elsewhere in the universe is Dr. Hugh Ross’s estimate,
And that is just the probability of finding a life supporting planet in the universe,,, that does not even take into account the probability against ‘simple’ life forming by chance on that life supporting planet,
Nor does it take into account the probability against scientifically advanced, (i.e. intelligent), life accidentally evolving from that ‘simple’ life on that life supporting planet,
Thirdly, we now have scientific evidence that the earth and solar system were purposely intended from the creation of the universe itself. Specifically, there are now found to be ‘anomalies’ in the Cosmic Background Radiation that ‘strangely’ line up with the earth and solar system,
Here is an excellent clip from the documentary “The Principle” that explains, in an easy to understand manner, how these ‘anomalies’ that line up with the earth and solar system were found, via ‘averaging out’, in the tiny temperature variations in the CMBR data.
In other words, the “tiny temperature variations” in the CMBR, (and even the largest scale structures in the universe itself), reveal teleology, (i.e. a goal directed purpose, a plan, a reason), that specifically included the earth from the start. ,,, The earth, (and solar system), from what our best science can now tell us, is not some random cosmic fluke as atheists had presupposed.
Fourthly, the fact that General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and the fact that life exists at the geometric mean of the universe, all provide powerful evidence that overturns the Copernican Principle and/or the Principle of mediocrity, and thus reveals that man as not nearly as inconsequential in this universe as atheists have presupposed,
Of humorous final note. Here is a humorous episode about an oh so ‘coincidental’ phone call at SETI, during the filming of a documentary, with very interesting timing as to its occurrence
As a Christian who has seen a few answered prayers during my life, I find it strange that the SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) organization spends millions of dollars vainly searching for signs of extra-terrestrial life in this universe, when all anyone has to do to make solid contact with THE primary ‘extra-terrestrial intelligence’ of the entire universe is to pray with a sincere heart.
God, who created heaven and earth, certainly does not hide from those who sincerely need and seek Him.
I would hope to think that personally communicating with the Creator of the universe would be a lot more exciting for people than not communicating with some little green men that in all realistic probability, given naturalism, do not even exist.
Here are some examples of the different ways God speaks into different people’s lives: