Do you believe in UFOs/Aliens?

[Cureless]

I think very similarly to you, yes.

"Great minds" as they say!

 

[Ikagura]

Think about how huge the universe is. Us being the only intelligent life anywhere in it would be astronomical, we're probably not even a fraction of a percent of all the different species that could be considered smart. As a species humans "use to" believe a lot of things and most of those beliefs ended up being proven faulty or just plain wrong eventually, so the long-term belief that it was crazy to believe in aliens really isn't much of anything to consider, or even evidence towards aliens existing being more likely.

But it's different to believe alien life exists and to believe we've witnessed it. The crazy science behind the type of space travel and speed needed to cover the minimum distance between us and anywhere even capable of housing intelligent life is wild. Even if another species could travel that far it'd be like throwing a pebble into the grand canyon and hitting a fly with it; probably not happening.

Hm... I believe we aren't alone in the universe. It's way too big and massive, too many other planets and systems out there for us to be all that there is.

Not to mention that I refuse to believe we are "it"... could you imagine if humans are the peak of existence in the universe? That's a frightening thought!

The issue I got with the whole "the universe is so big therefore aliens exist" is that these are assumptions without any actual proofs. It's borderline middle schooler logic when it's much more complex than that and the size of the universe is only one of (too many) factors to decide a proper answer. It's like saying that "day is hot because the night is cold" (technically both are factual but this isn't the proper logic being applied).

We cannot tell if they exist since we cannot apply the scientific method on that aspect (which is the basis of all of our beliefs).

We proved that Black Holes existed before we saw one because of the sensors and calculus around them, same with other theories.

Unless an invasion happens (or that a spaceship is actually seen) we can never be sure.

So the most rational answer is that we cannot be sure but we cannot believe since it would be pure faith with 0 science to back it up. I don't mind people believing in God or Aliens as long as they're not bothering others with that or forcing their beliefs.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

I dont believe we're the only intelligent lifeforms in the universe.

TBF I dont believe we qualify as an intelligent lifeform to begin with.

 

[Ikagura]

I dont believe we're the only intelligent lifeforms in the universe.

Intelligence is quite hard to qualify. There are not one but many intelligences like how we have several types of memories.

Same as consciousness.

 

[Benjamillion]

I believe that aliens are watching over us in some way, they just haven't bothered to visit for whatever reason. My older brother used to buy alien themed products after the Men In Black movie became popular but that was a phase lol

 

[miguk]

TBF I dont believe we qualify as an intelligent lifeform to begin with.

Individually, about ~52% to ~75% of us are intelligent. The smart outnumber the idiots. Unfortunately, the idiots have systematic power, including control of mainstream propaganda, so they make the majority of us look dumb.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Individually, about ~52% to ~75% of us are intelligent. The smart outnumber the idiots. Unfortunately, the idiots have systematic power, including control of mainstream propaganda, so they make the majority of us look dumb.

I can't but speak for myself, but I would say that cats is the dominant species here.

 

[Ikagura]

Individually, about ~52% to ~75% of us are intelligent. The smart outnumber the idiots. Unfortunately, the idiots have systematic power, including control of mainstream propaganda, so they make the majority of us look dumb.

I'm wondering, where are those stats from?

Also intelligence isn't just on/off. It's more of a spectrum with a gauss curve (this is why I.Q. is a quotient).

On the other hand I believe that most I.Q. tests are not deciding enough as there are too many various factors (and even people with issues like ADHD would've been wrongly called below the median).

And I'd even say that the Dunning-Kruger effect is apparently why incompetence and stupidity are in the higher ups since we always promote people until their incompetence.

On the other hand I'd like to hear what you mean about "mainstream propaganda".

I can't but speak for myself, but I would say that cats is the dominant species here.

Along with probably rats and cockroaches but then again being adapted to any situation and creating tools aren't the same kind of intelligence.

 

[_oBSOLEte_]

Along with probably rats and cockroaches but then again being adapted to any situation and creating tools aren't the same kind of intelligence.

I've never filtered the byproducts of rats or roaches with a tiny plastic shovel out of a small zen garden dedicated to my furry overlords.

Thanks god I dont live in Japan. Their cat litters look dreadful. The ravages of the toxoplasms.

 

[trickybus]

"the universe is so big therefore aliens exist"

I've always assumed that the folks who think this way are coping with the concept of existential loneliness. The idea that there are no other comparable lifeforms is unbearably distressing for them.

That's just my armchair analysis, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[miguk]

I'm wondering, where are those stats from?

Also intelligence isn't just on/off. It's more of a spectrum with a gauss curve (this is why I.Q. is a quotient).

On the other hand I believe that most I.Q. tests are not deciding enough as there are too many various factors (and even people with issues like ADHD would've been wrongly called below the median).

And I'd even say that the Dunning-Kruger effect is apparently why incompetence and stupidity are in the higher ups since we always promote people until their incompetence.

On the other hand I'd like to hear what you mean about "mainstream propaganda".


Along with probably rats and cockroaches but then again being adapted to any situation and creating tools aren't the same kind of intelligence.

The numbers are a combo of normal distribution and polling results. They aren't exact numbers, as the results vary, but usually you get between those two numbers. And note that I said nothing about IQ, just intelligence; I'm considering practical use more than some test numbers.

IQ tests aren't very useful beyond a few purposes (like testing for intellectual disabilities). That's made even worse by the fact that we have 3 types of IQ tests: the ones that go up to 120 (based on the idea that it doesn't matter past that number), the ones that go up to 130 (which assume a little more points would matter, but that's a questionable hypothesis), and flat-out BS that goes beyond 130 (which are usually just internet survey junk and not real IQ tests).

The people who get promoted the most fall into 2 categories: nepo-brats who got mummy & daddy to just hand them the family corporation, and brats who got into elite universities because mummy & daddy had the money and influence to get them in, resulting in them making the connections to give the same result. Either way, power begets power, wealthy people almost always come from wealth (with the vast majority of the remainder coming from backgrounds of opportunity), and actual skill and intelligence aren't needed when you start off with enough millions in the bank that failure costs a fraction of a percent of what you already have. You can afford to be a super confident idiot when there's no risk in being such.

Media is, for all intents and purposes, a variant of propaganda. This is an inescapable fact of how it influences how we think. That doesn't mean it's all bad, though; just that it all works similarly. And mainstream media resembles the bad propaganda more and more as we've entered the age of tech-bro supremacy (although conventional bad actors are piggybacking on their corruption). More and more malicious actors are buying up mainstream sources, censoring out anything that doesn't fit the status quo (or says anything bad about, say, the CEO of a big online retail corporation). And all this is leading to a brain-dead media that makes it look like we've all become idiots when we're just losing our ability to have our voices be heard. And social media is no different and corrupting even faster, to the extent that we don't really have freedom of speech there, but an illusion of it that is skewed towards a bread-and-circuses situation that masks all the censorship (as well as personal data theft).

On that last point, roaches would die off if we didn't support them. They evolved with civilization to rely on us, and will die off if we go. Rats are similar, but will probably survive in much smaller numbers if our food supply gets cut off.

 

[Parasite_Steve]

fun fact: the Roswell crash happened in June 1947, the first transistor (aka the one thing that make basically all electronics possible) was made in December 1947

Transistors had been in the works for a while at that point and were first realized before 1947. The first patents for predecessor technology based on the same physical principles are from 1925.
I think if aliens actually crashlanded on earth in 1947 they probably would have inspired technology beyond what was perfectly technically feasible for the time.

I’m fairly certain there is life out there in the universe, maybe even in our solar system. It’s more than plausible and statistically likely, we just have no idea how commonplace it is or how complex, and contacting it is going to be impossible for a good while due to a variety of different factors beyond our control.
Have they visited us though? I’ve not seen any plausible evidence for that. Even the really "crazy" sightings that popped up recently can be explained rationally when you know even a little bit about how cameras work.

 

[flingninja1234]

I would say there are definitely other lifeforms aside from us in the universe. Maybe not the grey/green aliens we've seen in various movies and other things, but maybeeee. View attachment 36362

I definitely do. It's entirely possible that advanced civilizations exist. I do think governments know about them.

 

[Cureless]

The issue I got with the whole "the universe is so big therefore aliens exist" is that these are assumptions without any actual proofs. It's borderline middle schooler logic when it's much more complex than that and the size of the universe is only one of (too many) factors to decide a proper answer. It's like saying that "day is hot because the night is cold" (technically both are factual but this isn't the proper logic being applied).

We cannot tell if they exist since we cannot apply the scientific method on that aspect (which is the basis of all of our beliefs).

We proved that Black Holes existed before we saw one because of the sensors and calculus around them, same with other theories.

Unless an invasion happens (or that a spaceship is actually seen) we can never be sure.

So the most rational answer is that we cannot be sure but we cannot believe since it would be pure faith with 0 science to back it up. I don't mind people believing in God or Aliens as long as they're not bothering others with that or forcing their beliefs.

The OP didn't ask us to make statements based on proof or rational answers: they just wanted our opinion. If you want to try and apply logic to the concept of belief, as you did, you aren't going to win any arguments concerning the question at hand.

 

[miguk]

I definitely do. It's entirely possible that advanced civilizations exist. I do think governments know about them.

If governments knew, they'd rat out whichever government is hiding it just to screw them over. Russian & China would have told on the US and/or other NATO countries, most of Asia would have told on Japan, Canada would tell on the US now, and the US would have told on the US now. And it would likely be similar for other countries.

And note that governments aren't really led by people competent enough to run 100% secret conspiracies. Every government has whistleblowers and spies among them. And none of them are part of the conspiracy theory community, who are all just egotists trying to "prove" how "smart" they are, not research and explain any real historical event.

 

[Antihero]

Some people also consider a certain blonde haired old man in a suit to be an ugly alien of our times!

 

[ThirteeTooBeets]

I do believe that there's something out there, now wether or not every UFO sighting is genuine it's another story.
In other words:

 

[DemiDivine]

Yeah, but probably just micro organisms. I don't think we will see any spaceships.

 

[MrWrighty]

Sure, but would they be friendly? That's the real question xD

 

[Cuestionador]

Many years ago i watched with my family a pitch-black inert circle stay frozen in the sky for hours, i didn't know it was an UFO, but it was strange and when took pictures of this thing, the photos looked like the object was very far, like a black point in the clear sky. It was strange, for say the least.