I'm all for Space Travel, but is it really worth the money?

There’s no way this is the only planet that holds life, with the universe being so big.

The universe is too vast to not have some life somewhere other than Earth. But unless a way can be found by us or them to travel, at a bare minimum, five times the speed of light, we aren't going to see one another. Extraterrestrial life may be so radically different from ours that we might not be able to communicate. As for the money, relatively little in terms of % of the GDP is spent on space research, and even if we don't find the exact thing we're looking for, there are other benefits. Just one example is the very device you made your post on.

Absolutely there is, though I personally have no proof - nobody does. It's just the laws of probability. I would also note that there are many 'intelligent' species on earth that we can communicate with at some level, however since we cannot have a human-language conversation with them we deem them lower in intellect. I think it people realized how precious all life is this world would be a much better place. That isn't to say there would be no death or suffering, but we might treat each other with more respect....

Reading your last sentence, I posted this on my Samsung Smart Clock...

okay, but seriously, you make a valid point. Personally, I don't think there's Extra-Terrestrial Life in any way, shape, or form. And I don't have an accurate number of percentages and GDP of money correlated with space travel and productivity.

Yes, I'm certain life exists elsewhere in the universe. (Whether "intelligent" life can survive is another question.) But since money is artificial, manufactured by nations, spending some on science doesn't take it away from poor people.

Correct! Not only that, advances in science has led us to this point and allows us to communicate virtually around the globe. Unimaginable not long ago!

No and no

why do you doubt the possibility of extraterrestrial life? There's got to be something out there. Even an alien plant is extraterrestrial life.

I personally don't believe there is life beyond the earth, but even if I did believe that extraterrestrial life was out there it would be too far for us to ever reach it therefore a waste of resources. (unless you can break the laws of physics)

I know you don't believe. But why?

Because I'm a creationist.

Even if there is a god, they could have still created life on other planets.

It's a possibility.

The human mind is still evolving but obviously many folk are still working on getting up to speed on the basics. Remember when humans used to think the universe revolved around earth? Some folks think everything revolves around them also. This narcissism limits their ability to grow and learn, and sadly religious dogma demands fealty and discourages learning and knowledge.

That's a harsh but ultimately pretty fair assessment of the conflict between religion and science. I do believe that people can believe in science but still believe there is something higher out there even though those beliefs contradict each other. Believe what you want.

Definitely. Philosophical theism and religion are two different things.

true!

earth first, then space

I believe extraterrestrial life exists. Even nowadays, there is already debate between scientists regarding Mars and the evidence they have found that microbial life once existed there, and that it may still exist today. Venus, Europa, Enceladus, and Titan are also cited as potential places to look regarding life in our Solar System. Read more here: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/1665/life-in-our-solar-system-meet-the-neighbors/ And that's just in our Solar System. With our current technology, we are able to observe millions of exoplanets, some of which may also offer evidence of extraterrestrial life. And that's only a minuscule fraction of what's out there. Simply put, the odds are in favor of extraterrestrial life existing.

Now should we keep funding these programs? It's hard to say. I certainly want to see us explore space and colonize the stars, but I'm not so sure we should advertise our presence to the rest of the universe in case some aliens are thinking the same thing. I think we are still in a position where we can start expanding into our Solar System and we should take that opportunity while we still reasonably can.

Q. 1: Yes, I do.
Q. 2: No, I don't.

Life on other planets is a thing but not in our solar system but space exploration could help us get to life on other planets with new resources or find a planet we can colonize.

1) probably, but even if we did, how do we know aliens communicate the same way we do, make noises that is audible to our ears, or that they could survive on our planet (and vice versa)?
2) no

no and nope

You bring up a good point that we’re spending money on missions that don’t really mean anything. But I don’t know if it’s the US government’s place to help everyone around the world out of poverty.

Also, the US deficit spending on space exploration is a very small fraction of their budget IIRC

Lol ok so they can invade anywhere they want and bomb them into submission though right

If anything I said the opposite.

I don't think that's anything what @TheBigPig intended. He/she was more of saying that the U.S has no real need, or entitlement, to go into other countries and help their goodwill. Now, of course, there are charity events and missionary standpoints who go to foreign countries but most of those are on behalf of the citizen, not the government(from what I know).

Good point! I saw a stat that showed US citizens generally are at the top of the list for giving money to folks around the world, so you know that regardless of generalized stereotypes there are some very generous and caring people. Government too gives a lot, but I'm not sure how much of that has conditions attached.

That's how I read it, at the very least-

No, "if not" is the question. Not being a hater; you have learned the logical idiom incorrectly.

Sorry, I normally ask these kinds of question the other way around. Thank you for the correction!

It almost makes more sense the way it is here. However I had to say some thing as a good grammar nazi.

1. Yes
2. No

I am a Christian, and there is scripture saying God created worlds without number, so I believe there is extraterrestrial life. However, trying to reach out to them would be useless, since we could never feasibly contact them unless they were in our solar system. Since they would be made in the image of God, they would look just like humans. Because of this, I am confident there are none in our solar system. We should fix our problems here instead of reaching out to aliens

there's an extremely small chance of finding aliens that look like humans, because they would have to adapt to their planet differently, and the through natural selection they would have to develope the same mutations our species did.

I know. Scientifically, it is very improbable. Then again, on the near-infinite scale of the universe, there would surely be enough random variable to get extremely similar life forms.

*variance

extra terestrials do exist and that is a fact but we should help our own planet instead of trying to find those beings. of they wanted to be known by the people of earth they would come to us us.

*us. why did i say us us

I love the enthusiasm! But have you thought of the possibility that the alien life may not have superior technology? They might just be as small as bacteria or as inferior to us as a Neanderthal.

reasonable argument.

Saying that we shouldn’t spend money exploring space when there are so many problems on earth,
is like if ancient humans said “why should we try agriculture when we have so many problems hunting and gathering”.

And besides, (the USA anyway) spends 0.5% of the government’s money on space exploration.

Yes, I do think there is other life out there, the universe is so huge. Probably billions of planets capable of hosting life, I think at least one has life.

I love the way you worded that. Brings a strong argument to what you think.

Yes and yes. We need to find a new planet soon because there is no hope in saving this one. Within the next 100 years this place will be a hell hole

Possibly.
Probably not.

Nah, it would be in the Bible if it did. Also, even if the Bible had precise coordinates on where to find extraterrestrial life, we should take care of things on Earth first.

I feel like I should point about...

You are trusting an ancient book written by some random dude, instead of trusting the modern day scientists learning, exploring, and discovering new things every day?

Idk man seems irrational.

So you’re saying that I should believe the people who directly discredit the one thing I KNOW that I can believe in.

Well I mean, ancient humans used to believe so many messed up things about the way the world works.

Imagine trusting a plague doctor from the 1300s to cure cancer.
If you need a website to research, would you rather trust an article from 2004 or 2019?
Similar to that, but way earlier in history.

I personally think many of the things we know today will be disproved in the future, just like so many things humans used to believe, so for now I’m sticking with modern ideas.

I’m not completely ruling out extra terrestrial life, but the chances of a them being above humans is low, as humans were made in God’s own image. And plus, if they were above humans, they would be the ones to find us, and would likely conquer us.

I mean humans are pretty stupid, it wouldn’t be that hard to be above us lol

If humans didnt have emotions we would be far more advanced, but also less. I mean above as in they have reasoning like humans, emotions like humans, and more than humans do.

Change "some random dude" to "some random dudes" because the Bible is a complex history of books written by many people, apostles, and... dudes(I practically said three words in 3 different ways, don't quote me on that). Plus, Christianity is the most historically accurate religion out there and your scientific research proves it: https://equip.sbts.edu/article/every-religion-claims-historical-christianity/ So, if anything, your science is more or less nothing different than what's said in the Bible. Now, of course, I'm still learning the word of God so I'm not 100% knowledgeable on it.

That’s fair, but in the future I will still trust what I can do and understand myself.

And the article isn’t working for some reason for me.

Lots of things we know today weren't in the Bible. Science is more reliable at this point in time

Unless you are Christian

True, the unfaithful may turn to science as a means of comfort and I don't blame them. But Christianity, unlike a lot of other religions, is discovered to be historically accurate and many accords, especially on the existence of Jesus. This site goes deeper into comparing and contrasting several religions their possible factuality: https://equip.sbts.edu/article/every-religion-claims-historical-christianity/ Personally, I'm a Christian, and even then, I still look at science not as a way to turn away from God, but as a way of God showing us how he makes everything work in this universe. And I agree with @JIMBO with too many Os, if it was mentioned in the Bible their was life beyond Earth, it would have most likely been mentioned but from my own thoughts, the closest thing to E.T. life would be Heaven's and Hell's angels and demons, if you can call them living(I'm still learning the word of God so I'm not 100% knowledgeable like most are)

I think you have the best mentality possible. I may not be religious, but I still thought your analogy was heartwarming. I do think aliens exist tho

if God does exist, he's more of a metaphor than anything. If I say I'm a magic being that created the universe, should you believe me?

No, because a god would waste time on a meme website

I agree. If E.T. life existed, it would have been mentioned somewhere in the Bible. So, unless it is yet to be recognized, I, too, don't think aliens exist.

Yeah. Honestly it doesn't matter if there's no scientifically, religious, or whatever evidence supporting the existence of aliens, I just can't handle thinking we're the only ones in this universe