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Is NASA About to Announce the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life?

Home ▸ Archive ▸ Serious Business ▸ Is NASA About to Announce the Discovery of Extraterrestrial Life?
OSH's avatar

OSH

Kosh B'Gosh

4,145 posts
Dec 1, 2010 3:49 PM
I Wear Pants;583030 wrote:Nonsense. Perhaps a bit much on the search for other life but not on space travel and science. We aren't doing enough in that regard. Space is logically part of our future. We should have a small station on the moon by now at least.
I said "sometimes" I think we spend too much money in space travel/science. That doesn't mean that I think that way all the time. Nor does it mean that I think we shouldn't continue it. I said "sometimes" I think that way. How can I not think that in some situations? With the problems this country is facing, why wouldn't throwing more money in those capacities help in some regard? So it's not nonsense. It's an opinion that happens "sometimes" and not all the time.
Fab1b;583500 wrote:If America isn't still run on the basis of religion, why the hell does "Faith" become such a large part of campaining? Actually you might be right though, now that I think of it. Those that proclaim their religious beliefs from a pedestal are usually hiding behind it!

America does have a "religious" side to it -- a pretty big one. But there's faith in religion just as much as there is faith in "extraterrestrial life" being found. There's just as much faith in those who oppose religion. Faith serves many capacities of one's life. I have faith that when/if I get up in the morning that I have a safe trip to work. People have faith in the POTUS (sometimes -- if I can say that). People that support those "religious" politicians also have those detractors who support the "non-religious" politicians -- and both support each pretty adamantly. So the faiths of the religious can be just about as strong as the faiths of the irreligious.
Dec 1, 2010 3:49pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Dec 1, 2010 3:53 PM
Bigdogg;583538 wrote:There is more intelligent life in space then you will find in the political forum on the chatter!
Well that goes without saying.
Dec 1, 2010 3:53pm
~

~U~

Member

99 posts
Dec 1, 2010 7:04 PM
Life on another planet = End of religion.
Dec 1, 2010 7:04pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Dec 1, 2010 7:09 PM
I don't see why alien life would equal the end of religion.

But anyways, the announcement isn't about that.

They've discovered concrete evidence in space that indicates Lebron James is a douche. This is why the announcement is Thursday.
Dec 1, 2010 7:09pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Dec 1, 2010 7:36 PM
I Wear Pants;583782 wrote:I don't see why alien life would equal the end of religion.
Logically, life on other planets doesn't at all discredit the existence of non-physical beings. I don't know why people have convinced themselves that such a thing would be any kind of bombshell.
Dec 1, 2010 7:36pm
Fab1b's avatar

Fab1b

The Bald A-Hole!!

12,949 posts
Dec 1, 2010 7:42 PM
O-Trap;583819 wrote:Logically, life on other planets doesn't at all discredit the existence of non-physical beings. I don't know why people have convinced themselves that such a thing would be any kind of bombshell.

If aliens and not some supreme being snapping his fingers saying poof here is man are responsible for life on earth it would!!
Dec 1, 2010 7:42pm
B

bigkahuna

Senior Member

4,454 posts
Dec 1, 2010 7:51 PM
Unless that alien is that supreme being.
Dec 1, 2010 7:51pm
Fab1b's avatar

Fab1b

The Bald A-Hole!!

12,949 posts
Dec 1, 2010 7:55 PM
bigkahuna;583830 wrote:Unless that alien is that supreme being.

So you would and all others that believe in god would be perfectly resigned to the fact that god is some creature from the movie indepence day rather than a bearded man sitting in the clouds behind the pearly gates?
Dec 1, 2010 7:55pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Dec 1, 2010 8:32 PM
Fab1b;583825 wrote:If aliens and not some supreme being snapping his fingers saying poof here is man are responsible for life on earth it would!!

Not at all.

First, provided that the aliens found are finite (in a time sense), it merely begs a question of what brought about the alien creatures.

Second, simply discovering life doesn't at all mean the life is sentient, or more complex than much of life on earth. Based on what I've seen about the potential of life from other parts of space, it would seem that this "life" is likely on the microscopic level, and there is no evidence thus far that it is sentient. Cool, naturally, but hardly telling of any of the current mysteries of origin science.

I'm honestly not holding my breath as far as finding life, purely based on prior excitement putting forth similar results, but I do hope we find some kind of "alien" life.
Dec 1, 2010 8:32pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Dec 1, 2010 8:37 PM
Fab1b;583835 wrote:So you would and all others that believe in god would be perfectly resigned to the fact that god is some creature from the movie indepence day rather than a bearded man sitting in the clouds behind the pearly gates?

Actually, few people I've ever met believe the latter.

The idea of believing in a "supreme being" is merely being compelled to think that everything in the physical universe was brought into existence by something non-physical (which would indicate that it isn't bound by physical laws). Saying that an alien exists within the physical universe really does nothing to alter that.
Dec 1, 2010 8:37pm
R

rydawg5

Senior Member

2,639 posts
Dec 1, 2010 11:06 PM
The setting: 19 someting..

Important man #1 "Sir, we have starving, homeless people all over the world. I feel that we could dedicate a huge amount of money to save them"

Important man #2 "hmm... how about we make an airplane that goes into space. that we can speculate about things we have no control over"

Important man #1"So do that instead of feeding the hungry?"

Important man #2 "We have to"
Dec 1, 2010 11:06pm
I

I Wear Pants

Senior Member

16,223 posts
Dec 1, 2010 11:30 PM
Space travel and exploration is largely not about finding aliens.
Dec 1, 2010 11:30pm
B

bigkahuna

Senior Member

4,454 posts
Dec 2, 2010 1:19 AM
O-Trap;583897 wrote:Actually, few people I've ever met believe the latter.

The idea of believing in a "supreme being" is merely being compelled to think that everything in the physical universe was brought into existence by something non-physical (which would indicate that it isn't bound by physical laws). Saying that an alien exists within the physical universe really does nothing to alter that.

I agree with this. It's human nature to put a "face" on everyone. It's not surprise that every God, whether it be what we perceive it to be, or Greek Mythology... they all seem to be a big powerful man. God could actually resemble a chick, but that's not a popular perception by us because men are seen to be in power. So, they make a big bearded man fit the bill.
Dec 2, 2010 1:19am
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Dec 2, 2010 11:59 AM
bigkahuna;584633 wrote:I agree with this. It's human nature to put a "face" on everyone. It's not surprise that every God, whether it be what we perceive it to be, or Greek Mythology... they all seem to be a big powerful man. God could actually resemble a chick, but that's not a popular perception by us because men are seen to be in power. So, they make a big bearded man fit the bill.

Yes, as human beings, we understand things more easily if they are personified. Hence the terms even used in the Bible to describe God. There are references to God's face, eyes, hands, feet, neck, mouth, etc. However, a non-physical being, especially one unbound by even the most basic laws of nature (even things like time, space, and matter), wouldn't have any of those things in a literal sense, nor would it need them.

And in terms of the masculine words used to describe God, a large part of that is probably more directly related to the languages that have been used. Many languages default to the masculine if no specifics or if a mixture is given. For example, a group of men and women is addressed collectively in the masculine form in many Latin-based languages, such as Spanish ("ellos" I think, though my Spanish is a bit rusty). Now this may have been influenced by the male-dominated cultural trends of the time, and as such, that trend would still have indirectly contributed to the masculine association of describing God.

Back to the topic, the problem is that by the orderly study of only the natural and physical universe (ie "science") alone, one can neither prove nor disprove an entity that, by its very definition, supersedes said universe. Thus, alien life ... life that still exists within, and is controlled by, the physical and natural laws that control our universe ... does nothing less or more to prove or disprove the existence of a sentient, supernatural entity that may have purposefully created it, and therefore exists outside its boundaries.
Dec 2, 2010 11:59am
Scarlet_Buckeye's avatar

Scarlet_Buckeye

Senior Member

5,264 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:26 PM
~U~;583776 wrote:Life on another planet = End of religion.

How do you figure?
Dec 2, 2010 12:26pm
McFly1955's avatar

McFly1955

Senior Member

1,441 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:30 PM
I think it's 2pm EST
Dec 2, 2010 12:30pm
krambman's avatar

krambman

Senior Member

3,606 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:30 PM
ccrunner609;584911 wrote:so do we have an announcement?

It's been leaked. They didn't find extraterrestrial life, but rather they found terrestrial life.

They have discovered an arsenic based life form in a poisonous lake in California. There are no other known life forms that are arsenic based, as all life forms share the same DNA building blocks now. This is news because it shows that life could potentially exist on a planet that isn't like earth (we previously believed that if life existed outside of earth it would have to be on an earth-like planet). I'm just trying to figure out why our government is funding all of this research instead of merely subsidizing some of it, but that's another discussion.

http://gizmodo.com/5704158/
Dec 2, 2010 12:30pm
~

~U~

Member

99 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:32 PM
Scarlet_Buckeye;584921 wrote:How do you figure?

Last time I checked I never seen the bible or koran talk about Mars or any life on another planet but this one. Don't worry though, I am sure to make you sleep better at night your 'rulers' will re-write the bible/koran like it has been done so many times before.

Dec 2, 2010 12:32pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:36 PM
~U~;584933 wrote:Last time I checked I never seen the bible or koran talk about Mars or any life on another planet but this one. Don't worry though, I am sure to make you sleep better at night your 'rulers' will re-write the bible/koran like it has been done so many times before.

This statement is a pretty textbook example of a fairly common logical fallacy. Quick, who knows it?
Dec 2, 2010 12:36pm
bases_loaded's avatar

bases_loaded

Senior Member

6,912 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:38 PM
O-Trap;584938 wrote:This statement is a pretty textbook example of a fairly common logical fallacy. Quick, who knows it?

No one wrote or rewrote the Bible?
Dec 2, 2010 12:38pm
O-Trap's avatar

O-Trap

Chief Shenanigans Officer

14,994 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:47 PM
bases_loaded;584945 wrote:No one wrote or rewrote the Bible?

I was speaking more to the statement that because the Bible DIDN'T mention something that is found later, then it cannot be true.

If a book, argument, statement, etc. doesn't speak to a topic, then OF COURSE it's not going to mention it.

What he said is the equivalent of me saying that because a Trig textbook doesn't mention splitting the atom, then the textbook must be dismissed as invalid.

Now, the merits of a book, statement, argument, etc. are to be logically evaluated on what they DO address, not on what they don't.

To your question, yes, people wrote it, because it is written. As far as being "rewritten," that depends on what you would consider rewriting. Does copying count? Does linguistic translation count? Does interpretation count? If yes to any of these, then yes, it has been rewritten.
Dec 2, 2010 12:47pm
J

jmog

Senior Member

6,567 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:50 PM
Fab1b;582809 wrote:One thing I have always believed about the whole ET situation is the Govt, no matter what is really out there, will not tell the world. The world's govt as a whole, because the world is basically functioning on religion, will keep it from us because people who believe in god, allah, buddah, etc.....will not be able to handle it and the world will go nuts!!

Come on, I'm a conservative, fundamental Christian and most of the people I go to church with wouldn't flinch/change their "tune" if ETs were found.
Dec 2, 2010 12:50pm
J

jmog

Senior Member

6,567 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:50 PM
dlazz;582907 wrote:Shouldn't you be against someone trying to prove God wrong?

How does ETs prove God wrong?
Dec 2, 2010 12:50pm
Z

Zunardo

Senior Member

370 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:52 PM
O-Trap;584938 wrote:This statement is a pretty textbook example of a fairly common logical fallacy. Quick, who knows it?
Irrelevant conclusion?
Dec 2, 2010 12:52pm
J

jmog

Senior Member

6,567 posts
Dec 2, 2010 12:53 PM
O-Trap;583293 wrote:Also, aren't scientists supposed to be letting the facts speak for themselves? I don't believe a good scientist goes into anything "trying" to prove something, as that would be a way of trying to force a particular conclusion, yes? Isn't that the very thing that many Christian scientists are accused of doing? Going into something with their mind made up as to what it will prove, and then trying to make the data fit that?

Anyone who knows anything about modern science, knows this happens on BOTH sides of the aisle, but Christian and non-Christian scientists have "agendas" before they start. Especially when dealing with abiogenesis and the history of the universe/Earth.
Dec 2, 2010 12:53pm