The Probability of Extraterrestrial Existence
Frank Drake, an American astronomer made an equation to find the probability of finding aliens in our galaxy. The probability of humans finding extraterrestrial intelligence in our galaxy equals Nfpnef1fifcfL, where N equals the number of stars in the Milky Way, fp equals the fraction of those stars having planets, ne equals the number of those planets that can support life, f1 equals the number of those planets on which life arises, fi equals the fraction of those planets on which intelligent life evolves, fc equals the fraction of those planets where intelligent life developed into a technologically advanced civilization and fL equals the fraction of time a technical civilization lasts. Drake's equation is beautiful, meaningless mathematics. It does not come close to solving the question of the existence of extraterrestrials because it has so many variables that we cannot imagine what they stand for.
I feel there must be extraterrestrial intelligence. Even if not in our galaxy, in the universe somewhere. Someone once said, "Absence of proof, is not proof of absence." I think he is correct. While we do not know that aliens exist, we do not that they do not exist. Considering the many UFO sightings, most of them are probably conjured, but at least one had to have really happened because the idea is too crazy to be thought of out of nowhere. Some scientists argue that the chances of alien intelligence are slim since the circumstances that produced life were all just strange coincidences, all the same circumstances happening somewhere else is extremely unlikely. I think it is just arrogance to assume we are the only intelligent life in the universe.
If we do not have the tec...
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... of everyone in a civilization that uses telekinesis for transport, are probably very advanced. It might even be beyond their capabilities to think down to our level, or ours to think up to theirs. If antimatter is used as a source of propulsion, then their technology must more advanced then our own. It costs so much money for us to create one particle of antimatter that it is very impractical for us to try to power ships with it. While we might be able to communicate with them, discussing science could be nearly impossible because concepts they would take for granted would be way above our heads and then we would have no basis to build on.
I think that contact with extraterrestrial intelligence will cause more problems than it solves, but we should still keep searching. Who knows, they might have to cure to cancer or AIDS, or be able to solve all our problems.
Ever look up at the sky and just wonder if there is life anywhere else? Have you seen anything in the sky that is almost unexplainable? What if your thoughts really came true? The thought of the existence of aliens seems to have been around since the beginning of time. There is one incident in particular that really hits home when talking about the subject, the UFO incident of Roswell, New Mexico.
Fermi’s paradox supports this claim because theoretically there should be species capable of interstellar travel due to the age of the universe. Although we haven’t encountered any life forms from other galaxies it doesn’t mean there aren’t any. Ted Chiang uses an endangered parrot to show that a possible reason for our great silence is due to or erratic and dangerous nature as humans. However, there are still some instances where humans have connected with other species and created special bonds in the
The Asch Conformity Experiment was an experiment conducted in 1951 by Solomon Asch. Asch believed that group influence would cause someone to agree to something even though they know that it is obviously incorrect. This assumption is called conformity. In 1951, Asch decided that he wanted to test his hypotheses so he gathered a group of male college students from Swarthmore college. He asked them to simply match the length of the lines that was presented to them. The task was quite simple. Each individual had to announce which of the 3 lines on the left matched the reference line on the right. Every participant; but one, was told to give the right answer for the first couple of rounds and then purposely give the wrong answer to see if everyone
Over a 1950 summer lunch at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the great physicist Enrico Fermi asked his colleagues an unexpected question – “Don’t you ever wonder where everybody is?” Laughter went around the table as everyone immediately knew that he was talking about extraterrestrial intelligence [1]. If life arises fairly commonly, as Fermi believed, it follows that there should be advanced civilizations with the desire to visit and colonize Earth close enough to do so. However, there is no incontrovertible evidence of aliens on Earth, either now or in the past. This is called the Fermi Paradox. The lack of observational evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence is known as the ‘Great Silence.’[13]
... highly equipped technology that humans do not have yet, while others insist these are just one of many hoaxes. Believing these are made by aliens will impact greatly on current society because the biggest religion in the world will be proved wrong. Some even say it is impossible for aliens to exist, but we must leave both options open, since we can never predict the future. Even a few hundred years ago, humans thought the earth was flat. Then we found out the earth is not the center of the universe. Recently, we can now travel to other stars and only collect samples. Because we know not even 1% about the universe, I think anything can be possible. Just a week ago, a news released that Vaticans are holding a conference for possible alien beings(fox). Maybe, we humans are just getting adopted to accept other intelligent beings as planned by unknown sources.
The Internet, with its unlimited access to any kind of information, is today’s most commonly used tool used worldwide. This poses some complex questions that challenge liberal and conservative alike, the most recent defenders of the First Amendment, and the most passionate exponents of censorship. With the rush by our President to make the Internet accessible to every U.S. student, the problem extends far beyond libraries and into our schools. This censorship problem would seem to have no easy solution. First, let's assume pornography is a bad thing. It encourages poor behavior and disrespect toward women in general. Yes, any respectable human being would agree with that. But why does this have to be a problem in our schools? Isn't it the responsibility of the parents to guide their children? Isn’t it up to the parents to teach their kids stuff like that is morally wrong? Kids should already know behavior like that does not belong at school. Schools have a fear of this happening so they take action and put a block on all key words that are linked with pornography. Great, now how will students learn about subjects such as bre...
The existence of life – Aliens, beyond our planet has been a controversial topic for several centuries, and is a debatable issue even today in the 21st century. What is our topic you may ask? Aliens, Do, Exist. According to theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, it would be improbable for life not to exist somewhere other than Earth. This is a bold claim, but there is evidence to support this statement. The evidence we seek is in the many Alien occurrences we have experienced throughout human history.
Since the internet has been available in schools and libraries in this country, there has been a debate about what should be accessible to users, especially minors. The amount of information disseminated on the world wide web is vast, with some sources valuable for scholarly and personal research and entertainment, and some sources that contain material that is objectionable to some (ie. pornography, gambling, hate groups sites, violent materials). Some information potentially accessible on the internet such as child pornography and obscenity is strictly illegal and is not protected under the First Amendment. Some information available on the internet that may be valuable to some is at the same time perceived to be worthless or potentially harmful to some. For libraries serving the public, there has been controversy on the issue of providing the internet, free of censorship or filtering, to users. While some librarians and their professional associations align with ideals of free and unfiltered access to all information provided by the internet, some feel that filtering internet content to exclude possibly objectionable materials is a reasonable measure to prevent potential harm to minors.
Johnson, D. (1998). Internet filters: Censorship by any other name?. Emergency Librarian , 25 (5), 11-13.
Solomon Asch performed the line-experiment studies in the 1950’s as a social experiment. The purpose of this experiment was to demonstrate the power of conformity in a group of people. He wanted to see if other would give in to the pressure of conformity even if the answer was wrong and if they do give in then how quickly would it happen?
Abstract: Scientists claim that other life forms do in fact exist based on probability. The conditions necessary for life are likely to be present on various other planets. Signs of possible life have been found in material from outer space. Much research has been dedicated to proving the existence of life on Mars. SETI is a program entirely dedicated to finding and establishing communication with extra terrestrials. If other life forms are found, communication with these beings will be a difficult task. Laws to protect humans from the dangers of extraterrestrial beings are already in effect. Although contact with alien beings has not yet been made, technology today may make it a reality in the near future.
I conducted an experiment, which I designed to mimic Solomon Asch’s conformity experiment of 1951. This allowed me to determine how individuals act when placed in unclear situations.
Another reason for not censoring the internet is the psychological effects that it can have on a child. The filtering of the internet can tell a child that adults do not trust them to surf the net on their own. This can lead them to believe that they can not make their own decisions, and that a computer determines what right and wr...
Arnold, Lee. “Mysterious Universe”. Life On Other Planets Likely, Alien UFO Visits Doubtful. 7, August 2013. Mysterious Universe. 4, April 2014. http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2003/07/life-on-other-planets-likely-alien-ufo-visits-doubtful/
Several factors affect conformity. The larger the group, the more likely people are to conform, although this effect levels off at around seven group members. If there is even one dissenter in a group other than the participant, conformity drops dramatically. If the participant is in face-to-face contact with the group, he or she is more likely to conform. And finally, the more ambiguous the solution to the problem, the more likely the participant is to conform to others’ opinions (McLeod,