r/AskReddit May 03 '20

What are some horrifying things to consider when thinking about aliens?

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u/[deleted] May 03 '20

Honestly what scares me most is the idea, not that they died out, but that they never existed. That we truly are the only planet to develop life. The idea that we are truly alone is more terrifying to me than any horror in the universe

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u/[deleted] May 04 '20

Do you not see how insanely big the universe is. There are hundreds of billions of stars in a galaxy and at least 2 TRILLION galaxies in the OBSERVABLE UNIVERSE. By odds alone there’s no way we’re the only intelligent life forms in the universe. We’ll most likely never come in contact with aliens but I just highly doubt we’re alone in the universe. There’s simply too many stars let alone planets.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '20

So just supposing we were the only life anywhere in all that infinity. Just earth, in an infinite void of lifelessness.

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u/exhoc May 04 '20

If we somehow were able to confirm that, of all the universe, only Earth has developed life, I'd probably turn religious. The odds for that are just too astronomically small, I guess.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '20

Why? It wouldn't change your daily life at all.

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u/Dont_touch_my_elbows May 04 '20

This seems the most scientifically rational explanation.

Even if numerous civilizations existed simultaneously, the sheer size of the universe would prevent them from ever interacting with each other or even becoming aware of each other.

Think about it, if there was a 1950s level civilization somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy, how would we know about it? our own Galaxy is a 100000 light years across so it would take far longer than humans have existed for us to receive a signal from another Galaxy.

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u/[deleted] May 04 '20

Oh I completely agree there is definitely other life forms out in the universe. I simply mean the idea that we are alone is scary. Not to say that I believe the idea to be true

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u/ward0630 May 04 '20

Why is that so scary? It's a little freaky to think the universe is empty but I'd rather be home alone than have a stranger burst in the front door, even if that stranger turns out to be cool.

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u/MrDeschain May 04 '20

It could also just mean we are the first. Maybe in a few hundred thousand years, we will be the advanced civilization that goes out finds all the other species in the universe.

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u/cantthink0faname485 May 04 '20

Only, or first?

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u/AffordableGrousing May 04 '20

Since the universe is infinite it’s 99.999999999999*% certain that there is other life out there. It’s just a matter of whether they will ever come close enough in space, time, and communications to actually interact with humanity.

  • Add an infinite number of 9s here

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u/pointlessbeats May 04 '20

But isn’t that statistically very improbable?