Quote Originally Posted by JohnnyZ
Consider this. The probability of life existing somewhere else in the cosmos is next to zero. However, the sample space that we are taking the information from is infinite. This means that although the probability is impossibly small, it still exists because of the infinite nature of the space itself.
Ok, that makes sense. The only negative aspect to this idea though is that it can be stretched to prove the existance of anything and everything.

I see it like this, if the universe is really infinite, like is commonly accepted then everything that you can imagine is true because you are bound to eventually come across that extremely rare case with infinite trials. Lets say the odds of a pig born with wings is 1/100000000000000000000000. If you have infinite trials you will eventually find that pig born with wings. This is the same for any other probability. What is the probability you will win the lottery on Wednesday if you have infinity lottery tickets? I would say you have a 100% chance of winning.

If you are willing to accept that aliens exist because there are infinite possibilities for them to exist, you are basically saying nothing more than "anything is possible". In a sense that is what everyone who replied to this thread is saying in one way or another, including me, but I guess I choose to camp with the alien skeptics instead of alien enthusiasts.

My point is basically that our minds cannot fathom exactly what infinity is, and our mathematics will reflect that. I admit that there is a chance for life to exist out there, but I still think it is astronomically low.