How could anyone with an ounce of common sense really believe only planet Earth has life?

My own personal belief is that the universe is teaming with life. I would go as far as to say we will at some point discover life on "many" bodies in our own solar system let alone the wider cosmos. A lot of it may well be a basic single cell organisms/small bacteria or maybe not but either way I simply cannot comprehend why some people believe only planet Earth has life or has ever had life.
So out of curiosity I started looking at the numbers involved when thinking about how many stars & planets there could be in the entire universe to try and put into context these staggering numbers and the (In my opinion) absurd thinking of some that we are alone.

I have put some number comparisons below, which highlight the incomprehensible numbers we are looking at.

Lets start from the bottom…

1 = You

65,000,000 or 65 Million = roughly the population of the UK

7,000,000,000 or 7 Billion or 7,000 Million = Roughly the human population on Earth

200,000,000,000 or 200 Billion or 200,000 Million = Estimated stars in the Milky Way galaxy

1,000,000,000,000 or 1 Trillion or 1 Thousand Billion or 1 Million Million = Estimated stars in our nearest major galaxy the Andromeda galaxy

100,000,000,000,000 or 100 Trillion or 100,000 Billion or 100 Million Million = Estimated stars in IC1101 the largest Galaxy Known (to date).

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 1 Septillion or 1 Million Million Million Million = Estimated number of stars in the “observable” universe

Current estimates/ratios suggest that for each star in the Milky Way there are 1.6 planets and as more exoplanets are discovered this average is expected to rise. This number does not even consider small bodies like moons etc.

So using this ratio there are at least 1.6 Septillion or 1.6 million million million million planets in the observable universe going by todays (likely underestimate) of planets to stars ratio.

OR to put that number into context…

For EVERY SECOND there has been since the birth of the universe (using 13.7 billion years as the guide) to this day the number of seconds would not even be anywhere near 1.6 septillion.

If fact 1.6 Septillion is around 3.7 MILLION times bigger than the number of seconds there has been since the universe began!!!

So for one final “let me put that into context” ratio/stat that means…

For EVERY ONE SECOND since time began there are roughly 3.7 MILLION PLANETS

This is just in the “observable” Universe and these stats don’t even include other small bodies such as moons & asteroids etc.

But hey guess what, according to some, life only happened on planet Earth apparently.


Planets to Stars ratio 1.6 est

Age of the universe

I agree

I ust don't understand how people can be THAT selfish to think we are the only living beings in the Universe.

But then again...common sense went away a long time ago.

I did work with a Christian woman who once during working nights while talking about the size of the universe said to me "Only life exists on planet earth because God only made it here" while I couldn't say she was 100% wrong (not yet) I said well if the rest of the universe has none whats the point of such a huge universe? then she started going on that it is all a lie how big the universe is.....

It isn't a lack of sense to believe that life is only on Earth, it's an overabundance of ego. Man is insignificant compared to the wonders of the universe. And if it was God, or a god, that made us, I hardly think we were His/Her crowning achievement.

/TOA

reply to post by mblahnikluver
Common sense actually existed at some point in human history?All joking aside scientists are finding life in the most desolate and hostile environments on earth alone. I'm not saying it is irrefutable that life exists beyond this planet. I am am however saying that life seems to find a way regardless of conditions. A force so powerful, we are just beginning to understand its resilience.A couple hundred years ago common knowledge said the earth was flat. Just imagine what we'll know in another thousand. S&F to OP

and i bet out of all the planets out there..we are the only ones that have to pay for the planet we live on..

fun times..

A woman I used to work with told me that she was absolutely sure that the only planet with life was this one .. 'because if there were life elsewhere the bible would have said so'. I told her to go back and read her bible .. about the nephilim .. but she just looked at me like a deer in the headlights ...

reply to post by welshreduk



You can spew all the numbers you like , but that doesn't prove anything , but high probability . The select few who do believe earth is only one with life is justified with that belief , with the lack of evidence brought forth by the other side of the argument. I don't just mean statistical numbers, But actual tangable evidence to show life in other planets. Not traces of life , not building blocks , not hypothosis , but actual life. Untill then i see no problem with the their thinking.

They are reacting to what they see . Its a natural reaction . and makes them feel more special , their is no harm in that .

Thousands of ufo sightings a year , and we can't seem to catch one , to see who is inside ? lol . Come on now . So much life out there but they are great at hiding kinda like god .

Common sense , is just the general agreement at a period of time. No need to hate on them for it , but just understand why they see it that way . Now once you show them actual evidence , you will see many of them toot a different horn ...

but till then , you should send letters to your government asking them to support space exploration to find it , instead of having our greatest minds building the next weapon of mass destruction .

Its more productive then trying to bash those who believe life is only on earth no ? It kills two birds with one stone...

Where does this perception come from to assert that it is people's belief (outside of maybe some staunch religions)? I don't recall anyone believing life is earth exclusive.

I will say that there is insufficient evidence that any intelligent extraterrestrial life has visited earth though, distances and the ToR make that scenario very unlikely.

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
I agree

I ust don't understand how people can be THAT selfish to think we are the only living beings in the Universe.

But then again...common sense went away a long time ago.

I don't think that is being selfish, I think that is being brainwashed into that way of thinking. If you take a child, and pound it into their little head that Earth is the only life bearing planet in the Universe, the child will grow up believing that as a fact. I too have knowledge of other worlds that bear life. And other life, lots of it.

Generally the same people that worship the Bible and are "certain" that God exists.

reply to post by welshreduk


The problem with using numbers like those is that we start without enough data to extrapolate for all other planets/stars/galaxies.

If you find a rock with moss on it, does it mean that all rocks on Earth have moss?

PS: I think it's highly likely that life exists elsewhere in the universe.

Although the odds of life occurring elsewhere are high, it is by no means certain.
Please see the the inverese gamebler's fallacy

It is the fallacy of concluding, on the basis of an unlikely outcome of a random process, that the process is likely to have occurred many times before.

reply to post by welshreduk


It's stupid to contend that only earth can hold life. How do we know?
But it's illogical to use that tired old assertion that 'the universe is so big, there MUST be life'. 'Possible', perhaps 'highly likely' but by no means 'definite'.

The only reasonable conclusion is 'maybe'.

Hehe

If you have never seen a being from another planet then I guess it is common sense to say that you are the only life in the universe. What's crazy is to say that there is life out there, just for the simple fact that you haven't ever seen it or experienced it.

I will certainly give you the fact that there is probably life -- what do you think the odds of any 2 of those life forms stumbling across each other.

Hard to keep bacteria down. I'm sure the universe is teaming with it.

IMO, at least science makes an effort to try and find answers, rather than blindly having "faith" in an invisible entity and not even looking for proof. I'm pretty sure if there were a God, he wouldn't make a Universe so large that his/her creations would be the only ones living in it. This all adds in to the control of mainstream religion, if your God says "have faith that I exist" rather than "believe in me, but make an effort to search for me" then people are going to be under the influence of blindly following orders.

There is also the very distinct possibility that your planet was the FIRST planet in the universe
to have had life evolve into intelligent forms,
You may very well be the earliest intelligent species in the universe.
After all, this has to happen to 1 species, who is to say that this isnt your species?