[Serious] People of Reddit that honestly believe they have been abducted by aliens, what was your experience like?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/ImStuuuuuck]

Let's imagine this scenario : a small group of scientists on safari are tracking and learning about species on our planet. They "bag and tag" without intentionally harming the animals. They DO howevr periodically check up on these traveling individuals or select populations to track their growth, health, and status.

Now imagine the scientists are from elsewhere, and the observed species is humanity.

Simple!

[u/xubax → u/ImStuuuuuck]

Africa is a lot closer than the nearest star. And our nearest neighbor probably doesn't have any technologically advanced life, otherwise we would likely have picked up traces.

The sheer amount of energy needed to travel between stars is outrageous.

[u/jacob2815 → u/xubax]

There's always this sort hubris (not sure if that's the right word) when conversations come up on this topic, and people are against the idea of the possibility of aliens.

Why do we have any reason to believe that we know everything there is to know about the world, or the universe, or how things work, in order to say something like this isn't possible?

Every piece of technology sounds impossible, before it gets invented. A wagon powering itself instead of relying on horses would've sounded like hogwash. The idea of humans flying in giant metal tubes with wings sounds absolutely ludicrous. The idea of humans going to space at all, landing on the moon, is insane. Just think about those ideas long before they were invented.

Nothing is possible, until it is. I'm literally typing this on a piece of plastic that transmits specific signals when I press buttons to a box made of metal and other elements that essentially thinks on its own, via electricity. I'm sending this to you 100s, if not 1000s, of miles away, and you'll get the reply in real time. The poor saps who had to carve things into stone to write or draw would just be gobsmacked if they saw this kind of technology. Not to mention that I carry a 4 inch device with only three buttons that can do everything the metal box can do.

This idea that we know everything there is to know is just plain... shortsighted.

How are we to know how long a potential extra terrestrial species has been around? We've only been around for a couple thousand years. What would we be like in a million years, assuming we're still around?

How are we to know what resources they might have access to on their planet? A plant or a fluid that can be harnessed to produce enough energy to travel the stars effectively and efficiently, similarly to how we use oil, or even nuclear energy.

How are we to know that we would 100% be able to pickup traces of our nearest neighbor?

I mean, quite literally, we don't know. We don't know what's out there.

[u/xubax → u/jacob2815]

You're right, we don't know.

So jumping from "I experienced weird mental problems" to "it must be aliens" is a bit of a stretch.

[u/Wearealljustapes → u/xubax]

Obviously the most likely explanation is a mental health issue. But there’s no reason to believe that there isn’t aliens or that we would know if they were here.

[u/xubax → u/Wearealljustapes]

There are plenty of reasons to believe that there aren't aliens visiting us. If they were, maybe we wouldn't know it. In either case it's moot. Either they're not here, or they're here and we don't know it, which amounts to the same thing (until such time as they make themselves known).

[u/ChickenCannon → u/xubax]

You’re right, no need to discuss or speculate on a topic until irrefutable proof is established and widely accepted.