Are Aliens Among Us?
Aliens have always been a major source of discussion. While there are multiple theories regarding aliens, none of them answer the big question. Are we truly alone in the universe?
In 2021, readers of the New York Post responded to an article discussing the search for intelligent life in the universe. All three responders bring various arguments to discuss the possibility of there being intelligent life, but is there any truth to their arguments?
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What Are The Chances?
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The first reader, Art Cornell, discusses how unlikely it is that aliens have evolved on other planets, stating that the odds of aliens evolving like humans are very low. Let's take a look at those odds. In general, it took Earth 4.5 billion years to evolve to the point it can sustain life. According to scientists, the sweet spot for a planet to sustain life is 5 to 8 billion years. Another thing to consider is scientists believe that younger suns are better at supporting potentially habitable worlds. Our sun is considered to be middle-aged and is actually not that great at supporting the Earth. If humanity was able to evolve despite those low odds, who can say other species did not?
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Evolution And Studying Their Remains
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The second reader, Heather Remoff, brings up the argument that there is little chance that aliens evolved to the point they developed complex symbolic language, and that the original creators are dead. In her first argument, she brings up the point that homo sapiens were the only species to develop complex symbolic language, however, this may not be true. As discovered by scientists, other species of humans may have developed complex languages. While the Neanderthals may not have been able to, it is believed that the Homo erectus, possibly the first-ever human sub-species to evolve, developing their own complex language. Also based on different discoveries on islands, it is also believed that the Homo erectus people were able to build their own seafaring technology, way before Homo sapiens ever came into existence! Homo sapiens are simply the only remaining Homo species. If Earth can be home to several species that can develop complex language then surely other worlds have done the same!
Heather's second argument is that the original civilizations would be dead and all we would have is their remains. Even if all we had to study were their remains, it's still proof that there was intelligent life. The burden of proof that scientists have is to prove aliens ever existed. Discovering the remains of civilization proves we were never alone, we just didn't know.
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Potential Threats?
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The third reader, Michael Cohon, brings up the argument that just because there is an intelligent civilization in the universe, they may not have peaceful intentions. This is an understandable concern. Alien invasions are a common trope in science fiction but say we do meet a violent civilization. This is a question that the government has also thought about. In 2019, Space Force was created by President Trump and is currently the smallest service in the American military. Trump was not the first president to have this idea, however. President Reagan also tried to assemble his own military service to combat potential space threats with the Strategic Defense Initiative. This plan was scrapped because very few people took it seriously, to the point where the media dubbed the Initiative as "Star Wars" and often drew cartoons of Reagan acting as though he was in the Star Wars or Star Trek movies. Even in 2019, Space Force is not taken as seriously as the other armed forces. Despite this though, it may be a good idea to have something in place, just in case something bad does come our way.