Does Extraterrestrial Life Exist? Here’s What Scientists Really Think
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Summary
A survey conducted by the University of Birmingham found that 86.6% of the responding astrobiologists agreed that basic extraterrestrial life exists, while 12% remained neutral and only 2% disagreed.
The study also revealed that the broader scientific community had an 88.4% agreement rate, demonstrating that non-astrobiologists are not more likely to disagree with the idea.
When considering more advanced forms of alien life, the agreement ratings were 67.4% for complex life and 58.2% for intelligent life.
Researchers concluded that there was a solid consensus that some form of extraterrestrial life exists, with only 10.2% of surveyors disagreeing.
The survey also found that optimists and pessimists would likely agree with the statement, with the most pessimistic respondents being those who chose to vote neutrally.
The authors believe that their results should be presented with both figures, one including neutrals and one without, to provide a balanced viewpoint.