Put into perspective

[HotelUser]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Earth's_Location_in_the_Universe_(JPEG).jpg

Do you think by the time we're old and dying, that scientists will be any closer at identifying extra terrestrial life?

[Defocus]

No, not unless they come to us.

[Manhattan]

Fermi paradox:

The Fermi paradox (Fermi's paradox or Fermi-paradox) is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probability) of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life) and the lack of evidence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence) for, or contact with, such civilizations.
The age of the universe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_universe) and its vast number of stars suggest that if the Earth is typical, extraterrestrial life should be common.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-sagan-0) In an informal discussion in 1950, the physicist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physicist) Enrico Fermi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Fermi) questioned why, if a multitude of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations exists in the Milky Way (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way) galaxy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy), evidence such as spacecraft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_spacecraft) or probes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_probe) is not seen. A more detailed examination of the implications of the topic began with a paper by Michael H. Hart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_H._Hart) in 1975, and it is sometimes referred to as the Fermi–Hart paradox.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-1) Other common names for the same phenomenon are Fermi's question ("Where are they?"), the Fermi Problem, the Great Silence,[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-Brin-2)[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-Annis-3)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-Filter-4)[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-Hope-5)[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-Cirkovic2009-6) and silentium universi[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-Cirkovic2009-6)[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#cite_note-Lem-7) (Latin for "the silence of the universe"; the misspelling silencium universi is also common).
There have been attempts to resolve the Fermi paradox by locating evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations, along with proposals that such life could exist without human knowledge. Counterarguments suggest that intelligent extraterrestrial life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life) does not exist or occurs so rarely or briefly that humans will never make contact with it.
Starting with Hart, a great deal of effort has gone into developing scientific theories about, and possible models of, extraterrestrial life, and the Fermi paradox has become a theoretical reference point in much of this work. The problem has spawned numerous scholarly works addressing it directly, while questions that relate to it have been addressed in fields as diverse as astronomy, biology, ecology, and philosophy. The emerging field of astrobiology (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrobiology) has brought an interdisciplinary approach to the Fermi paradox and the question of extraterrestrial life.


Rest is at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox

[Jordy]

I can't really see how they would be no, it would take well over 70 years to visit most of these places to check for extra terrestrial life. The only hope is through radio waves or something but let's face it, the chances of that are slim.

The existence of extra terrestrials doesn't really interest me in the slightest (it's quite likely anyway), if they started communicating with us unless we were actually going to meet them as that would affect the planet.

[ben]

hope so

[ifuseekamy]

They'd only release such information if it were in the public interest. The confirmed existence of alien civilisation would obviously have enormous, and presumably detrimental, consequences to society.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I'd actually rather we not go looking for life, its rather dangerous - not talking aliens with guns, but deadly bacteria being brought back to Earth.

[Jordy]

The confirmed existence of alien civilisation would obviously have enormous, and presumably detrimental, consequences to society.Why would it though? I can't see why or how it would change anything in the slightest. The general consensus among people and scientists seems to be that there is most likely "aliens" anyway.

[The Don]

Why would it though? I can't see why or how it would change anything in the slightest. The general consensus among people and scientists seems to be that there is most likely "aliens" anyway.

If aliens are proven to exist, that then throws most religions out of the windows.

[Inseriousity.]

If aliens are proven to exist, that then throws most religions out of the windows.

Lol no it wouldn't, they'd just adapt; the same way they adapted their teachings to the Big Bang and other scientific theories.

I imagine there is alien life out there somewhere and I would not be surprised if they had "made contact" with us in the past/present. As humans tend to have a fear of anything foreign/alien to them in human form and a natural caution for anything they don't understand, I don't think it'd be wise for us to go looking for them though.