Are religious topics not taboo?

[Sir Goulum]

Originally posted by Oblivion437: our's has 8 (if you count Pluto)

Don't we have 9 planets including Pluto????

[ 07-23-2002, 05:27 PM: Message edited by: Sir Goulum ]

[Ar-Cunin]

Originally posted by Sir Goulum: quote: Originally posted by Oblivion437: our's has 8 (if you count Pluto)

Don't we have 9 planets including Pluto????[/QUOTE]Yes
1 Mercury
2 Venus
3 Earth
4 Mars
5 Jupiter
6 Saturn
7 Uranus
8 Neptune
9 Pluto - with its moon Charon

Just to set the record straight

P.S. I also believe that there is intelligent life somewhere out there.

[skywalker]

The bigger question is whether there is intelligent life here on Earth!

Mark

[andrewas]

Originally posted by Sir Goulum: quote: Originally posted by Oblivion437: our's has 8 (if you count Pluto)

Don't we have 9 planets including Pluto????[/QUOTE]Correct.

Now, back on topic.

Probability of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life existing : unity
Probability of Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life existing at a point in space/time close enough for us to contract them : Zero

These figures are an approximation and are only correct out to a few dozen decimals.

@Skywalker - there are at least two intelligent life forms on Earth. Dolphins take second place. Mice take first. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Horatio]

Is there life out there: Hell yes, how can there not be?
Intelligent Life: Probably, but the only alien here is Johnny, and well...judge for yourself. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Lord Shield: I thought the Bible mentioned God creating man. Dioesn't say he didn't zap a few other races into existence too

And to answer Willow's question, this is where the "Religion" aspect comes in.

The Bible does indeed say that God created Man. He also created every other living creature and/or organism on Earth (again, according to the Bible). But Man was the only creature made in God's own image. Therefore, Man was set above the other creatures.

How is this relevant to the discussion? Because many Christians feel that we are the ONLY intelligent life created by God, but atheists point out (as Oblivion) that the sheer number of planets in the universe make this stance practically impossible. Given the statistics quoted by Oblivion, intelligent life would HAVE to exist on at least SOME of the planets just by virtue of random luck.

Personally, I firmly believe that Mankind is - indeed - created in God's image and that sets us apart from the rest of the creatures here on Earth, but I also acknowledge that we may not be His ONLY Creations to have such status.

As for the random likelihood of intelligent life....I agree it is very likely (even though Statistical Mathematics is a creation of man, not God). EVERY creature on our own planet is "intelligent". Animals of all different orders form their own societal heirarchy, show evidence of problem solving skills, have a strong instinct for survival, and can adapt theirs skills and "mutate" thier young to increase their chances of survival within their given environment.

I believe that this level of intelligent life could very well exist on many other planets.

Do these planets have a "dominant species" that has risen above the rest? If so, were they "created" by our God, or another diety of cosmic power?

Good questions that are entertaining to speculate, but so far, impossible to prove.

[Chewbacca]

Astronomical stastics aside, the best evidence of life beyond Earth is right here on Earth.

Take the evidence ancient Sumeria left for us, or the ancient Dogon tribe in Africa with their detailed charts of the Solar system and star systems. The Dogon were "discovered" by the western world in the early 1900's and still flourish as a society today. They knew about pluto and the large asteroids well before "civilization" did. And what about the skywalkers of Native american lore? Worldwide some of our ancestors seemed to know more about "extraterrestrials" than we could hope to find out with all our wonders of technology.

So much information and we dont need the hubble telescope to look for it, these days we can use a mere internet search engine.

Though, it is compelling to ponder all those other planets and the possibilities the sheer number of them implies. Good for the imagination, heh?

[Evil Al]

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH! STATISTICS ARE PROOF NOW!?
Anyway, now that I've got that out of my system, I don't believe that their is other intelligent life out there. As said in the Bible we are Gods creation, so the only intelligent life in infintiy is people, angels and God (also spirits, demons and other nasties.)
I refuse to put my faith in science 'cause science and prove that you can tie a elephants tail to a daisy and hang it off a cliff and the elephant won't fall. And science can't attually prove that bee's can fly.

[ 07-23-2002, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: Evil Al ]

[Yorick]

I would challenge those "figures" of the odds.

For starters there is the huge variable of a creator or not. I would presume there to be two sets of "odds". A much greater likelihood with a creator, and an extreme unlikeliness without.

Have these "odds" taken into account the countering twenty kazillion to one odds of life developing by chance in a warm pond for example?

I personally believe such speculation fruitless and pointless. It's remarkable to me that a poster who finds belief in a creator/artist ludicrous - though we're surrounded by four dimensional art - yet has belief in extra-terrestrial intelligent life, based on ridiculously theoretical odds and the speculations of astronomers recording the lengths of shimmers in far distant stars.

I mean give me a break.

I have no opinion on whether there is life on other worlds or not. I don't need there to be because I don't believe humanity is alone anyway. Many "alien-believers" I've met, have a near religious conviction based on fear of us being alone.

Secondly I prefer evidence I can sense myself, not bizzarre speculations from technogurus in need of funding.

There may be, there may not be. It's not going to affect my life either way, unless "they" initiate contact.

And who's to say "they" are able to or want to?

On the contrary God does affect my life every day, and has bent over backwards to initiate contact. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 07-23-2002, 07:52 PM: Message edited by: Yorick ]

[Yorick]

Originally posted by Chewbacca: Though, it is compelling to ponder all those other planets and the possibilities the sheer number of them implies. Good for the imagination, heh?

Granted. Fair enough G'kar. [img]smile.gif[/img]