Introduction
In today’s society there is this ongoing debate on whether extraterrestrial life exists, even though there has been no concrete evidence supporting that there is life elsewhere outside of earth. This paper will address whether extraterrestrial life exists in the Universe. To this day, whether there is life present on other planets is still unknown. Some may consider extraterrestrial life to be similar to humans, like aliens in science fiction films or animals on earth. However, others may think of it as bacteria growing on a faraway planet. This paper will propose different theories about alien life including whether or not it exists, and if so, why we have not found it. There are many specific conditions that must be met in order for alien life to exist. It is up for debate whether it is likely that these conditions could exist outside of Earth. It is also up for debate whether the cause of life is something that is a relatively common occurrence, or if it is something so inexplicable and unimaginable that it only happened once.
Where is everyone: Fermi Paradox?
The Dark Forest Theory states that the reason we are not encountering aliens is because of the fact that everyone feels as if they are hunted rather than hunters. An example is the threat of a more technically advanced civilization outside of earth. This leads to the next topic of The Great Filter Theory which suggests that before a civilization gets very advanced, they go through a filter which prevents all civilizations from getting past a certain point. An example of this Ancient Egypt falling. These theories present the Fermi Paradox. The whole concept of the Fermi Paradox is simply questioning why we haven’t encountered any extraterrestrial life.
Society over the years has come to build their own theories to answer some of these commonly asked questions surrounding extraterrestrial life. These recurring questions were addressed in the article titled “8 Alien Theories That Explain Why We Haven’t Encountered Extraterrestrials” where the author Sherrie Hurd gave some of her personal insight on extraterrestrial life before proceeding to look at numerous possibilities that could explain our current relationship with extraterrestrial and if they even do exist. We are thousands of years into the evolution of the human race and we still have yet to have had any encounters with anything that could possibly be living elsewhere in this universe or even a completely different universe. It is widely believed that aliens are already here and living amongst us and are just going through life the same way we would. There was even a trilogy of movies made about this conspiracy theory called Men in Black, the plot of these movies goes hand and hand with this conspiracy theory. Throughout the plot of the movie they form a secret agency called MiB that is tasked with all surveillance related to extraterrestrial life. After watching a movie of such, it is common for one to start questioning the integrity of the human race and if aliens are really living among us. These conspiracy theories over the years have accumulated to a loss of trust in the government because of the belief they are hiding secrets from the majority of society. Hurd states “There have been tales of government cover-ups and abductions which could explain why we’re not seeing many of them up there…they could be regular visitors advising our military and leaders about politics or warfare.” This lack of trust between society and the government can’t be repaired until the government displays full honesty when it comes to extraterrestrials instead of just relaying the message that it is national security and can’t be disclosed.
The Dark Forest Theory: Could we have put a target on our planet?
The Dark Forest Theory states that the reason we are not encountering aliens is because of the fact that everyone feels as if they are hunted rather than hunters. Hurd states “Since there are 200 billion stars in the galaxy, a large forest indeed, it’s possible that life forms could exist in many forms and simply wary of each other. Beings could be silently hunting us or afraid of being located by certain “prey” of the universe.” This theory gives a different type of insight by stating that there could very well be more advanced civilization out there elsewhere in the universe. In this distinct search for extraterrestrial life, planet earth has sent all types of technology out in space to search for any signs of life as well as send signals coming from earth for anyone out there to interpret. According to the Dark theory, we could have put a target on planet earth by sending signals out into space which lets anyone out there know we are here on planet earth. This is very scary to think about because we truly have no idea what is observing and waiting on us from a distance. We essentially have no idea who or what we are signaling too which can be scary though, especially considering that most people believe there is advanced civilization elsewhere. What would happen if they were to come approach us? Would they attempt to help us build up our civilization? Would they think we are too far gone and completely destroy the human race? There are so many possible answers to this question that we may never get the answer to.
Planet Earth Captured by Aliens?
As mentioned earlier it is widely believed by many Americans that aliens from outer space have visited Earth and are living amongst us, journalist Joel Achenbach reported in his book Captured by Aliens. Jeff Minerd states in his article Aliens: A social phenomenon that “The percentage of people who respond ‘yes’ on a survey to the question of alien visitation can be 22%, 47%, or even 57%, depending on how the question is phrased.” This belief has grown expeditiously over the past half-century despite the lack of concrete evidence. The notion of alien visitation is fueled by UFO sightings, conspiracy theories, and accounts of alien abductions. Author Joel Achenbach explores the reasons for this enduring fascination with extraterrestrial life, including the desire to feel significant in the universe, the promise of aliens teaching us how to be happy, the search for spiritual meaning, and the hope for extraterrestrial assistance with social and environmental problems.
Conclusion
In my opinion, extraterrestrial life is non-existent. From a young age, I’ve always been brought up on strong religious beliefs such as there is only one God in existence and God created man as well woman. These beliefs which I hold dearly influence my thoughts and opinions on extraterrestrial life. Group discussions and observations are always interesting based on differences in opinions. An example of this is that a few members of my group believe extraterrestrial life can be microscopic life. It was a eye opening to see how others interpret things differently from me because it brings me great joy educating and learning from others, in my eyes this is ow society is supposed to work. It was always intended for people within society to have tough and meaningful conversations so we can further more push for brighter days ahead.