This is why everyone you see (including yourself) is really just a figment of your imagination. First, you must understand that the universe is big...REALLY big. It is so unimaginably big that your mind (nor mine) can comprehend the sheer size of it. Understand the fact that your imagination simply cannot fathom how large the universe really is, and we can begin. Second, take into account the number of planets out there. It's safe to say that there are so many out there, and that the universe is constantly expanding and that new planets are being formed probably every second, it's safe to assume that there are an infinite amount of planets out there. Now, take into account that we know, 100% for sure, that only 1 planet in the entire universe supports life: Earth. If you were to figure out the average of how many planets in the universe have life on them, the number would be so ridiculously low (0.0*10 to a million of billions) that the average number of planets in the universe that have life would be, in reality, just 0. Now, you can argue that there COULD be planets out there that have life on them, but really, it is so unbelievably hard to get life on a planet, it is safe to assume that there will still be an incredibly vast majority of planets out there which support no life that the average would still be a miniscule number that would end up being 0. tl;dr - You're all a figment of my imagination, good day to you. And yes, this is from Douglas Adams (can't remember which book specifically it's from).
And here is the flaw in your statement. I'm willing to bet there is life on other planets. If there really are millions of planets, chances are some have the right conditions for some form of life to be created.
Well this is all just a matter of subjective belief as no one can know for sure whether life exists at this current time in another place. It's a blind idea to think that we are the only life forms in an infinite universe. Regardless of what some person writes in a book no one can run around the universe to verify everyone’s opinion anyway. The fact is Einstein proved with relativity that nothing can travel faster then the speed of light so even if there are people just like us right around the corner in the universe we will never have the means of seeing each other. The nearest Galaxy (Andromeda) to ours is a mere 2.5 million light years away meaning even if we could go 10 times the speed of light it will still take 250,000 years to get there. Homo Sapiens as we are today have only been around for about 200,000 years. This means that in the time it would take to simply get to our nearest galaxy traveling at 10 times the speed of light our entire evolution has come and gone. You could travel there only to find out life used to be there. Messed up though isn't it? Life is not a matter of things being hard; it's simply a matter of whether or not a planet can sustain water. Without that no life can exist. Our planet was around the right kind of sun and it was the right distance from the sun and it contained ice which eventually turned to water and allowed the possibility for life to begin. There are many theories out there in the scientific community that believe that life was brought to the planet from the collisions of comets and asteroids due to their makeup of ice and other elements required for life. I totally believe there is other forms of life out there, however to say that there is life exactly like ours out there exactly at the same time as us and at the same period of evolution as us would be highly improvable. That doesn't mean it’s an impossibility though. When you are dealing with something as big as infinity there really isn't any impossibilities.
K you guys aren't getting it...I agree that there is a pretty high chance that there are other planets out there with life but at different points of evolution or whatever. What I'm getting at is that it is extremely hard for life to be created (and some planets may HAVE supported life, but no longer do), but there will ALWAYS be an infinitely larger amount of planets that DON'T support life...making the average number of planets in the universe that have life 0. Also, I really hope that people aren't taking this that serious... :S
Actually, I thought the chances of life developing weren't that bad. Planets need to be earth-sized or a little smaller, need a primordial atmosphere and some lightning, contain hydrogen and oxygen, need an ozon layer and need to be somewhere between the heat of Earth and Mars.
Not that its that serious amongst us anyway but to some people who have dedicated their lives to this type of research it's probably taken very seriously. The problem with your statement is a simple matter of math. When you say the average of something is 0 then you are saying that it doesn't exist. Further more in order to have an average you have to have a total number of things divided by an amount of occurrence. In this example you would have to know exactly how many planets there are (which you have no way of knowing) and then you would have to know how many of them actually have life (another thing you don't know) in order for you to even use the term average more less actually trying to define what the average would be. As far as you know there may be more planets out there with life then without it. The point of the matter is that you can't claim any average of what is when you know absolutely nothing about the facts of what really is.
I don't understand how the number of planets that support life out there relates to those of us on Earth being figments of imagination.There is only one Earth as compared to all the planets in the universe. That's 1/A very high number. Does that mean the Earth does not exist, either?
Jesus man, have some humour in your life. Rather then try to actually scientifically and mathematically prove this "theory" on a off-topic forums for Starcraft 2, have a goddamn laugh and leave it. This is from one of the hilarious books by Douglas Adams and is purely meant for entertainment purposes. Way to kill a joke man.
Sounds like you’re the one who needs the Zoloft my friend as I have plenty of humor in my life. I had a pretty good laugh when I first read your original post for one thing. I wasn't trying to prove anything other then your faulty logic however if you can't stand a little constructive criticism maybe you're the one who needs a little humor in your life.
This is just a bad argument. It doesn't matter at all if there's alien life or not. I ask you: what makes aliens necessary for us to exist?
I wouldn't say it was a bad argument just a post maybe being interpreted differently by different people. As an astronomy buff I'm surrounded by these types of discussions on a frequent basis, which is why at first glance I may have neglected to see the satire context of what was being said. You want to hear some interesting stuff get a bunch of geeks drunk I meant no offense to anyone with my initial comments however I do have a tendency to jump into teacher mode when it comes to certain subjects, Information Technology being another one but there was no initial intention to offend.
