Do you believe in Aliens from a different planet?

Originally posted by amannion
But so what?
Why does it matter how many planets there are?
One, ten, a million, five gazillion.
Sheer weight of numbers proves nothing.

There are over 6 billion humans on this planet. How could there only be one me? I mean there must be other mes right. Other people in other parts of the world that are also me.
That's non-sensical of course.

So is your argument.

Your analogy makes no sense in reference to what I was saying. Besides, matching DNA has probabilities too. And given enough people, e.g. one million times the denominator of the probability of matching DNA, then yeah, there would statistically be multiple "yous". We will not venture into the debate of whether the multiple amannions share one personality as I never really wanted to argue your analogy anyway, but did.

And anyway, I think it does matter how many planets there are. Imagine if our solar system had only our planet; how different do you think our astronomical research/science would be if all our famous but now dead astronomers based all their findings on the fact that we were the only planet in the solar system. Gallileo would not have discovered we were not the centre of the universe, etc. This is assuming of course we would still be here if Earth was the only planet in our solar system.

The volume of numbers proves nothing, you are right, but it changes peoples opinions; and that's all I was expressing.

Originally posted by Sicilian Smaug
Number of superclusters within 15 billion light years = 10 million
Number of galaxy groups within 15 billion light years = 25 billion
Number of large galaxies within 15 billion light years = 350 billion
Number of dwarf galaxies within 15 billion light years =3,500 billion
Number of stars within 15 billion light years = 30 billion trillion

The v ...[text shortened]... of the distances, I think that different life forms meeting each other is comparatively rare.

Big numbers will not prove the existence of ET life.
'Must' and 'of course' will not prove it either.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not suggesting a supernatural creation of life. I'm an atheist.
But simply suggesting that because the universe is so big that there MUST be life elsewhere doesn't cut it. You need to do better than that.