Do you believe in extra terrestrial life?

That really is a good question, I think I probably believe in other life because it is what I want to believe even though there is no proof whatsoever, yet I don't believe in God even though millions of people do, that is the best answer I can give.

I think it's highly probable.

Yes, I will /consider/ alien life with no proof; because there is nothing we have observed that says alien life can not be; on the contrary, our observations of the world around us indicates that life can survive in the most harsh conditions. Given the exoplanets being found on a weekly basis now it is absurd, even arrogant, to believe that alien life of some kind /cannot/ exist.

God, on the other hand, has no basis in reality. There is no theory that shows (explicitly) god can exist. All the same, I /consider/ the possibility. I merely deem it to be highly IMprobable, as it doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Addendum:

"...It it very easy to show statistically that the probability of the universe having a designer is greater than it coming into being by accident."

Considering the idea is unfalsifiable, there is no scientific basis for that. Any statistics you offer would be PURE speculation.

Atheist here.

I think extra terrstial life is likely. I don't see this as a question of belief, more a common sense. The statistics support this.

Here's the thing... out of the 8 planets we've studied at least 1 has life. So the odds look pretty good for extraterrestial life :)

"It it very easy to show statistically that the probability of the universe having a designer is greater than it coming into being by accident."

No, it's not....

Show the calculations?

I believe there is a statistical likelihood of life somewhere else. But that is based on evidence and not faith.

The problem with your notion is a common one in that it assumes all claims are equal. If I said that I had a penny in one pocket and an elf dragon in the other, are those claims equivalent? Do they require the same level of evidence for you to accept the claim?

Lets look what you're comparing. A. Life on another planet vs. B. a deity.

A. First we have irrefutable evidence of life existing. And we have irrefutable evidence that other planets exist. The elements and material necessary for what we consider life are measurably abundant in the universe.

B. We have no evidence or past experience of any deity.

If for instance deities were as common as life carbon or other planets the claims might be equal.

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"It it very easy to show statistically that the probability of the universe having a designer is greater than it coming into being by accident."

Actually it isn't. The people who make this claim make some pretty grand assumptions when calculating this. If you're talking about the incredibly poor notion of the "stability" of the universe being a 'statistical unlikelihood' that has been refuted so many times I would think people would have gotten tired of being shot down.

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"why people are willing to accept one thing without proof and not another."

I have never personally met an atheist who claims it is impossible for there to be deities. Just that there is no evidence to support a claim that there are.

Also I've never met anyone who claims they know for certain there is life on other planets. Just that based on the evidence it is statistically likely.

Also, I've never met a theist who can explain their own lack of belief in all deities but one without simply declaring it what they believe and no one can disprove it. At least atheists for the most part are consistent in their lack of belief.

If you think about the begining of the earth when it was made from the dust and rocks of space then obviously the building blocks for life came from space. To say that all of those materials are only on this planet and not anywhere else in space is statistically impossible. The trouble with proving that there is life outside this planet is the millions of miles that we have to travel.

But statistically there must be life outside this planet, no matter how small. Whether they have visited this planet is another matter, but that wasn`t your question.

I personally don`t care if there is a god or not.

But if there is then when he made the heavens and the earth and everything on it, then some of the matter must of been lost into space, therefore there would still be the building blocks of life in space.

So whatever you believe there must be life elswhere in the universe.

No, I don't. And for exactly the reason you mention: proof. There is no proof. There isn't even any evidence! Why would people believe in stuff that has NO evidence to support it? I think the herd mentality is at work. People can't stand the idea of there being a place with no "people" in it. So they invent "people" to occupy that space. The "people"are the goofy aliens that we all know and loathe. As for primitive life, we have no idea how it started on earth. Therefore we cannot speculate on whether it may have started elsewhere. However if life is common (as some desperately want to believe), it implies that advanced life must also be common, which in turn implies that there should be well documented and undeniable evidence of visits here. The shameful database of ufo reports does not stand up to analysis. It disintegrates into a disgraceful mess of hoaxes, lies and misinterpretations. The best explanation of the Fermi Paradox is that aliens simply don't exist. The best explanation for the non-existence of aliens is the non-existence of life outside of the earth's biosphere. I would also strongly urge you to repost your question in the biology section. You will get more informative answers devoid of the "universe is so huge/all the stars" cliches. Cheers! Cheers!

I am an agnostic, I believe that space goes on for ever, and time (the distance between change) continues for ever.

With those unlimited non boundaries, all possibilities which can exist, must exist.

Not only do I believe there is life other than on Earth, but I believe any possible form of life exists an infinite number of times, for that is how big infinity and eternity is.

Regarding the devine being, I cannot accept the God of the Bible because that God is prejudiced against itself.

I can however accept the prospect of a God which both exists and doesn't exist. I do not see it as a God, just a force eternally trying to save itself, and follow the forces which came before itself, and leading the forces coming after itself.

It is in both a figurative Hell, and a figurative Heaven, it knows nothing, and in knowing nothing it knows everything.

As there are an infinite amount of these forces, none of them are God, all of them are God, and all of them is everything and everyone.

If God is all powerful, can God create a Smartie so heavy that even God cannot lift it?

I believe the answer is yes, and no.

So I believe God both exists, and doesn't exist.

But I cannot accept the limited God of the Bible.

I do not believe in a God, but I can accept the possibility of an existence as mentioned above. I would never try to convince anyone else of these thoughts for they come from my existence. And I cannot understand why people with different believes need to try to make me share their believes, my own are much more satisfying to me.

As an atheist I can answer your question like this..

There is no proof or evidence for a god. There isn't anything to add weight to an argument for a supernatural entity.

However, in regard to extra-terrestrial life we can at least be 'agnostic'. We know that there are a billions of galaxies with a billion stars each. We know that there are other solar systems and they are not uncommon. If just one in a billion stars had a planetary system with life upon it, there would be billions of planets supporting life. I'm not saying life is out there, but there is a fair chance it is.

I have no definate proof of ET life but, there are good reasons for considering it possible. There are on the other hand no good reasons for believing in a divine being.

I could argue that you should believe in tooth faeries and the Loch Ness Monster as there is just as much 'proof' pointing to there existence as ther is to God's.

I don't see the relation. It's much easier for me to believe in extra terrestrial life than in an all powerful deity of whom we have no tangible proof. There are lots of stars and planets, we don't even know how far does the universe go, so it would be arrogant to think we are alone here. And if by chance we met these beings, should we start worshipping god together? They are also "sons of god", did jesus paid them a visit already? do they have a pope, churches etc.? I hope that whatever kind of extraterrestrial life there could be is far more intelligent than us, or at least enough to know that there's no divine being watching over us

There is more proof of possible extra terrestrial life than there is God. I would find it hard to believe that out of the whole entire universe our planet is the only one with life on it. We don't even know how big the universe is how can we ever know if something else is living in it. But you have to consider that our society assumes that aliens will be more intelligent and advance then us when they could actually be the exact opposite and not have anything that compares to our intelligence.