The aliens are out there and Earth had better watch out, at least according to Stephen Hawking. He has suggested that extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist ”” but that instead of seeking them out, humanity should be doing all it that can to avoid any contact.
The suggestions come in a new documentary series in which Hawking, one of the world’s leading scientists, will set out his latest thinking on some of the universe’s greatest mysteries.
Alien life, he will suggest, is almost certain to exist in many other parts of the universe: not just in planets, but perhaps in the centre of stars or even floating in interplanetary space.
It takes more faith for me to believe that there are aliens than it does for me to believe that God created the universe. For a profound wakeup call on this, I highly recommend the Reason’s to Believe Organization. http://www.reasons.org/whats-new
The universe is incredibly fine tuned for the possiblity of advanced life. http://www.reasons.org/fine-tuning-life-universe
Yet, our solar system is quite extraordinary. http://www.reasons.org/solar-system-special
And our moon is fantastically unique. http://www.reasons.org/solar-system-special
For an in-depth read on the problems with the idea of aliens there is this article: http://www.reasons.org/tcm-life-design/aliens-another-world-getting-here-there
Teaser quote: “…people may easily lose sight of two facts: (1) the laws and constants of physics set hard limits on any significant space travel by intelligent physical beings; and (2) no amount of technological capability can overcome such limits.”
The article concludes with the possibility that mankind might not be able to grasp all things. Could this be the end of the materialist rant? Or is it merely the admission of and hope for intelligence that surpasses the 2nd law of thermodynamics? Hmmmmm.
But it does look like fun!
Giordano Bruno was executed by the Counter-Reformation for, among other things, speculating on the possible theological consequences of extraterrestrial life. You can look up his story here and there on the Internet.
An over-simplified version would be this: By his time, it was increasingly acknowledged that the fixed stars were probably very much like our own sun, but very far away. That would make God’s Heaven (thought to be behind the stars) further away than had been imagined, but a great distance would be no problem for an almighty God.
The problem was that if there were so many stars, then presumably many of them had planets like our own. If so, then presumably each had its own Adam and Eve. (If not, why not?)
Did ALL of those Adams and Eves sin? If so, then then how could God be perfect and almighty, if he could never get it right? But if not, then there were sinless Adams and Eves out there, who would not be in need of Christ’s redemption.
You can see how that might irritate the Inquisition.
In the 1990s I was teaching Astronomy at a community college in California. I chose not to include the textbook’s chapter about the possibility of life elsewhere. But I asked the students (of various ethnicities, but no restaurant families) his question: Why is it that Chinese restaurants are not open for breakfast? I don’t mean a restaurant owned by Chinese persons, but rather one that was specifically a Chinese restaurant. I invited the students to ask at such a restaurant, and report back to me.
None did that. Why not? I asked, if you cannot go to a human and ask a simple question like that, how would you be able to discuss unimaginable things with alien life forms?
Incidentally, I more recently discovered that some Vietnamese restaurants ARE open for breakfast (meaning Pho, a soup).