Philosophy - Thinking Woman's Diary

Is That All There Is?

Written: 23rd May 2004 | Last Updated: 23rd May 2004

Don’t you think if there really were aliens out there we would have found out by now? I mean, after thousands of years of human history - including dangerous, expensive unmanned and manned probes into space - all we've got are cheaply set up, badly manipulated, amateur fuzzy photographs of Frisbees...a few of those “signs from the sky” type videos (only $29.95!) and the sworn testimonies of sort of unusual, excitable folks living on the fringes of society. I’m not even going to enter into discussion about the major alien conspiracy theories like Roswell, the Phoenix Light Incident, crop circles, alien abductions, Scientology and so on. Let’s be logical - if what they push were true, we would ALL know.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against earthlings who believe in UFO’s and extraterrestrials and aliens coming down and taking human hostages. Go for it, guys! I guess, for you, it’s thrilling, imaginative and loads of fun. It gives you a good reason to get up at night and stare at the stars. So, please - keep putting your “conspiracies of the week” on quirky, phantasmagorical websites. Doesn’t bother me.

But what do concern me are two even bigger questions than the old philosophical chestnut do aliens exist. They’re potentially much scarier...and more wonderful, too, I suppose. (And, no, this dissertation isn’t religiously driven!)

Question #1 is: why DON’T aliens exist? And if there are no aliens, no populated other planets, no spaceships with colonies of extraterrestrials hovering above us, no hidden worlds beyond our imagination...and if the Earth, its creatures and we humans are all there is...then...and here’s question #2: why ARE we alone?

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