posted on Jul, 20 2011 @ 11:12 AM
reply to post by sosesose60
Ok, I've seen this argument over and over again: "It's stupid to think we're alone in the universe. Therefore there is life elsewhere. Ergo, UFOs
are aliens. Anyone who disagrees is closeminded."
This is bunk. I'm sorry, but it's just really terrible thinking at every step of the argument.
We have exactly 1 (one) data point regarding the ability of life to arise in the universe: Earth. We know it is possible for life to exist. One can
make anthropic arguments about the size of the universe to say "Life probably exists elsewhere" but that's still speculative and probabilistic. We
similarly cannot speak to the likelihood of the existence of other sapient, tool-using, technological civilizations. We may be the only minds in the
universe.
But fine, let's accept, for argument's sake, that life is ubiquitous and mind is an inevitable consequence of evolution over a sufficient
time-span....
SO WHAT?! That has _nothing_, nothing at ALL, to do with UFOs. Not a smidge. Not an iota. It has absolutely zero relevance to the question of "What
the heck are those things in the sky?". Our best evidence says that faster than light travel is impossible. If that turns out to be correct, then
there is virtually zero chance that _any_, let alone many, UFOs are piloted by alien beings.
"But what if FTL _is_ possible?"
Well, then, if life is common in the universe, and if mind is common amongst ecosystems, and if we are wrong about one of the best tested and most
important principles we've discovered about the physical world, then UFOs might be aliens. It's still a straight-up non-sequitor to jump from "may
be the case, if a large number of unevidenced assumptions are made" to "you're closeminded if you think it's not the case".