There Is More Than Earthly Existence
Being located in a galaxy that is so vast and, arguably, immeasurable, I often ponder the thought of whether or not extraterrestrial life does exist. How can we be the only ones to vacate the universe? To me, there has got to be more than earthly existence. A peculiar belief that I have is that aliens do exist; however, others in the United States disagree. Pettinico (2011) examines the connection of religion and the belief of extraterrestrial life in deciphering whether or not there are considerable polarities by religiosity. The author presents that Americans who associate themselves as more religious – measured by religious attendance – are “twice as likely to reject the notion of life on other planets. Only 45 percent of Americans who regularly attend religious services believe in extraterrestrial life, versus 70 percent of those who rarely attend or never attend services”. This finding suggests that people who are more religious will find this peculiar belief odd in regard to the belief in extraterrestrial life. Along with the fact that certain religious groups, such as Christianity, believe that the world is solely for human existence.
I was speaking to a friend from home, and we discussed whether or not we believe if there are other intelligent life forms in the galaxy. From our conversation, we found that we disagreed on the debate. At first, she thought my claim was laughable and then fell into disbelief. She really could not believe that I would even entertain the thought of there being other intelligent life forms. During this moment, I felt judged because she was dismissive of my claims without giving them much consideration. I tried to rationalize with her and even provided a thorough explanation as to why I think there are extraterrestrial beings. She then provided me the reason as to why she never believed in the possibility. My friend found this belief to be peculiar because of the fact that she practices Islam and in Islam, they do not believe that there are extraterrestrial life forms. Also, there is no mention in the Quran of other life, hence why she thinks this belief is so odd to her. She has only been taught to believe this way and therefore, she accepts the idea of there being no other intelligent life. Muslims only believe in the sole creation of humans and Jinn, which is the western equivalent to spirits and ghosts. Once she gave me her explanation as to why, I felt indifferent because her belief stemmed from religious reasons. This did not impact our relationship because we eventually understood the context and justification of our original claims
A social factor that has influenced my belief in extraterrestrial life are the continuous alien research that has been occurring over the last few decades because of encounters such as UFO sightings i. e. The Lights Above the New Jersey Turnpike (2001) and The USS Nimitz Encounter (2004). In Furnham, Haubner, Stieger, Swami, and Voracek’s (2010) article “The Truth Is Out There: The Structure of Beliefs About Extraterrestrial Life Among Austrian and British Respondents,” they examine as to why the rise of extraterrestrial life has grown popular despite the lack of empirical evidence. Furnham et al. (2010) reviewed five additional studies that were conducted in 2000, 1997, 2001, and 1991 and found that “number of surveys have shown that large sections of society (up to 50%, at least in the West) believe that extraterrestrial life exists and that UFOs are evidence of extraterrestrial life”. The authors also stated, “Extraterrestrial beliefs have grown dramatically in number since modern alien research first blossomed in the early 1960s. ”
This means that as research and sightings on intelligent life forms has increased, people are more inclined in believing that there are aliens. Another social factor that has influenced my belief Charles Darwin’s theory on the origin of species and evolution by natural selection. Considering the recent discoveries of planets who have livable conditions, if given the right amount of time, intelligent life forms could evolve. Populations could and/or will accumulate and eventually adapt to their environment. Davies (1995) stated that, “Simplest known life form is incredibly complex, and could not conceivably spring into existence fully-formed by chance alone, biological determinism supposes that there is a prebiotic stage where chemistry favors the formation of those molecules that are biologically relevant”. Referring to the laws of science that favorably lean to the creation of life elsewhere.
I will continue to hold this belief in the future because I find it difficult to understand how we are the only planets to develop life when the universe is so vast. I acknowledge we have laws such as physics, which dictates the universe, but potentially we have not discovered intelligent life forms yet. Life may very well develop under the right circumstances like Earth. In addition, we have discovered other planets that, in theory, could support life, so who is to say they do not already exist. I maintain that this belief is beneficial for me in the long-run because it gives me hope that there are other beings exploring the universe, and could continue to, even if all humans are gone.
Through the progression of mankind, we have seen humans evolve from a hunting and gathering society to a fast-paced environment where almost anything can now be easily attainable. While we have not discovered other life forms, it does not mean that there is not a possibility they exist. To dismiss the notion that they could exist would be abysmal because it deters the advancement of biological continuation. Sure, I might have come across someone who thinks my view is peculiar - or simply just crazy, but how could you not even consider the thought of other life?
