In life, science and everything, there are the big questions… and then the really big questions. In
that second group are things like; What’s real? What happens before you’re born or after you
die? And, is it possible to travel in time? In today’s video, though, we’re pitching two of the
greatest and most fundamental questions against one another. Do aliens exist, and does God exist?
This is Unveiled, and today we’re taking a closer look at the ultimate head-to-head:
God vs. aliens: which has more proof?
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It might be argued that the human quest to truly understand the universe has led
us down two distinct paths: the spiritual journey in search of evidence for God and
the scientific exploration of the potential for extraterrestrial life. In both cases,
what we’re really doing is trying to find something more than just life as we know it,
on planet Earth. These parallel pursuits not only shape our understanding of physical existence,
then, but also of how we think about ourselves and our place in the world, and reality.
Coming up, we delve into the historical perspectives on proof of God, the intricate
intersection between faith and science, and the compelling, modern day search for
extraterrestrial life… always aiming to answer the question: God vs Aliens: Which has more proof?
So, let’s start with God. And, importantly, we’re not imagining any one particular god. Here,
“god” is a catch-all term for any believed-to-be higher being that might be watching, guiding,
creating or judging us. The search for evidence of God has pretty much been a constant throughout
most of human history. Although the beliefs themselves have differed, and the stories
about God are often at odds with each other, every major civilization we know of has,
at some point, sought answers. Through scripture, philosophical debates, through prayer, worship,
by focussing on certain seemingly sacred locations, and via the celebration of any
number of mystical experiences. However, while religious belief (or Faith) often transcends the
need for empirical proof of anything, there are some historical examples that provide glimpses
into humanity’s attempts to definitively validate the existence of a higher power.
In medieval times, the teleological argument, often associated with Saint Thomas Aquinas,
posited that the complexity and orderliness of the natural world were evidence enough of
a divine creator. The rich mechanisms of life, from the varied beauty of biological organisms
to the endless precision of celestial movements, were seen as manifestations
of God's design. Although that explanation is still a little wooly to most modern minds,
it did mark the beginnings of a move away from the even vaguer ideas on God being unknowable,
or on God working in mysterious ways. It also bred the often-cited “watchmaker analogy”,
first put forward by the British clergyman William Paley in 1802, wherein God is pitched as the
watchmaker of the universe. Clearly, though, just calling something “God’s design” or just
rebranding God as some kind of master technician does little to actually prove that God exists.
It was during the enlightenment and the scientific revolution that things started
to change. Particularly as many who were leading the scientific charge were also
dedicated believers in God. Figures like Sir Isaac Newton, a devout Christian, famously made
major contributions to physics. Newton's laws of motion and universal gravitation - which
essentially explained why and how everything moves as it does - were seen by some as revealing the
underlying order imposed by a divine architect. I.e., by God. On the other hand, however,
and despite any religious views he may have held, Newton’s work was such a milestone because it
encouraged others to probe deeper and deeper into the universe around them. Which, in turn,
led many to doubt the religious systems that had until then been unquestioned.
Arguably the most famous episode of apparent conflict between both modes of thought came
a couple hundred years later with Charles Darwin, who’s said to have struggled between his religious
beliefs and his realization regarding the Theory of Evolution. Meanwhile, in the contemporary era,
we’ve seen prominent theistic evolutionists, such as Francis Collins, the former director
of the National Institutes of Health in the US, and a leading geneticist. During his career,
he has consistently been seen as a high-ranking example of someone who reconciles science with
religion - once describing himself as a “serious Christian”. On the one hand,
Collins is a key figure in the history of the Human Genome Project. On the other, he founded
the BioLogos Foundation, a group dedicated to the belief in evolutionary creation - which,
among other things, argues that God is directly involved with (or responsible for) evolution.
Over the years, we’ve seen similar apparent crossovers across almost all
fields of science. The German astronomer Johannes Kepler believed that he was only
ever contemplating the universe after God had created it, as a way to share in his
thoughts. The British mathematician and father of the computer, Charles Babbage,
mentioned in his writing a belief in Divine energy, as well as in miracles and, in general,
the creator God. The astrophysicist Carl Sagan famously discussed the cosmos from
the perspective of Hinduism, suggesting that perhaps it - above all other religions - got
it most right, once describing Hindu teachings as a “premonition of modern astronomical ideas”.
But still, it remains that almost all of the above amounts to interpretation only. Some
viewpoints cater for God and science, others don’t. Many influential figures have either had
religious beliefs or spoken about a religious view, but no one (so far) has been able to
offer up absolute proof that God is real. Of course, Faith is a deeply personal and
subjective experience. It just doesn't adhere to the rigor of the scientific method. And perhaps,
if a god were proved, then religions would fall because of it. Or that god would no
longer especially qualify as a god; more just another part of the physical world.
So, let’s now switch to aliens. And, to some degree, the search for extraterrestrial life
might currently be pitched as science’s religion, to begin with. Scientists are constantly looking
for proof of something that they so far haven’t found. As the Fermi Paradox famously encapsulates,
there’s an apparent contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial civilizations
existing and the lack of tangible evidence for, or contact with, those civilizations. Believers
in God may well argue in a similar vein although, here, with the hunt for aliens, we are wholly
rooted in the principles of observation, data analysis, and the scientific method.
The ET search involves a combination of disciplines, including astrobiology,
astronomy, and planetary science. There’s also the Drake Equation to measure by.
Formulated by the astrophysicist Frank Drake, it attempts to estimate the number of advanced
civilizations in our galaxy by considering factors such as the rate of star formation,
the fraction of stars with planets, and the likelihood of life emerging on suitable planets.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (or SETI) then involves scanning the cosmos
for signals that may indicate the presence of intelligent beings. The use of radio telescopes
and other advanced technologies allows scientists to sift through vast amounts
of data in the hope of detecting artificial signals amid the cosmic background noise.
Recent advancements in astrobiology provide additional food for thought. The discovery of
extremophiles on Earth, organisms that thrive in extreme environments, has expanded our
understanding of potential habitable zones beyond Earth. The identification of exoplanets in the
habitable zone around their star, where conditions might allow for liquid water and, potentially,
life, adds fuel to the belief that the universe could be teeming with diverse life forms. And,
of course, with alien life as opposed to God, we do at least have one seemingly
comparable example to go by; us. While it’s true that alien life, if and when we find it,
may be nothing quite so humanoid as ourselves… it’s also true that we do at least know that
things can be alive, seeing as we have a whole planet, Earth, to demonstrate just that.
Nevertheless, and despite our best efforts, the so-called Great Silence persists. Aliens,
as with God, are yet to reveal themselves to us. The discovery of potentially habitable exoplanets,
like Kepler-452b, may have fueled optimism about the prevalence of life beyond our solar system…
but the leap from potential habitability to the actual presence of life is still huge. Similarly,
the detection in recent times of methane and organic salts on Mars certainly has
sparked excitement about the possibility of past or even current microbial life there.
The confirmation of liquid water beneath the icy surface of moons like Europa and
Enceladus has had us further picturing new life comparatively close by. But, again,
while it may feel as though we’re forever on the brink of a major discovery… we
still have to actually make that discovery before it can be said that we have proof.
So, what’s your verdict? In comparing the proof of God and aliens, one thing that is clear is
that these goals are found on different planes. Religious belief relies on faith,
as well as personal experience, scripture, and philosophical reasoning. In contrast,
the search for extraterrestrial life is outwardly scientific from the start,
always demanding proof as standard. It may be common to ask “do you believe in aliens?” but,
for the scientists who are fronting the search, belief actually has nothing
to do with it. They’re simply testing hypotheses to deliver results. Science
doesn’t have faith that aliens are there, it just increasingly strongly suspects that they are.
So, on the face of it, it might be said that aliens have more proof because we now have
plenty in terms of potential planets they could live on, potential vehicles they could pilot,
and potential means by which they might survive. But still, in terms of undeniable evidence,
we’re ultimately at the same stage with aliens as we are with God. There’s nothing. Perhaps
what the debate serves to highlight most of all is the multifaceted nature of the human
quest for meaning - whether that’s within the depths of our souls or far out among the stars.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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