# What do you believe firmly with zero evidence? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2022, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129 "2022-02-26T00:42:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/41 "2022-02-26T23:08:16Z")
I think that with the technological base Taiwan has, it would be relatively trivial for them to have ginned up a few gun-type bombs over the years. The one hurdle would be getting and purifying the fissile material, be it uranium or plutonium. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/42 "2022-02-26T23:28:48Z")
_Something_ crashed near Roswell, NM, in 1947 but nobody knows exactly what and the government has been engaged in a cover-up for so long that they’ve forgotten what they’re supposed to be covering up. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/43 "2022-02-27T00:22:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > It’s 9:30 Friday night. I firmly believe I’ll have another. With zero evidence? I’m guessing if you examined the past many Friday nights at 9:30, you’ll find the evidence you need. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/44 "2022-02-27T00:47:49Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Not only is there life out there, but the universe is TEEMING with life. This is my belief as well. I believe life will exist where it can exist, and is incredibly robust and resilient. As a result, there are tens of millions of planets in our galaxy alone where life is present. And, of those, there are several million where a species has evolved sentience such that they have developed their world akin to how humans have done here on earth. I also firmly believe that the sheer size and scope of the universe will prevent any of these civilizations from interacting. But, if you could easily traverse the stars, you’d realize how full of life it is. (And if we could go back in time a few billion years, Mars had an earth like atmosphere, oceans, and a flourishing ecosystem. It’s now a “dead planet”, but it wasn’t always that way). … I also have a personal pet theory (which is also not only without evidence, but also illogical) that our universe exists inside a black hole. The Big Bang, and the concept of an expanding universe, reflect that perspective - it actually exists inside another universe. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/45 "2022-02-27T00:50:08Z")
COVID has driven almost half of the US crazy. I feel for the folks that where already trying to balance work and life with children. I really do. I know folks that WANT to go back to the office. Gaia, the Greek goddess of earth is just getting pissed off. And so far, in the US, nearly 1,000,000 have died. I’m not a religious person at all, but the earth is saying “enough” I back the earths position on this. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/46 "2022-02-27T00:54:01Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > How can anyone look at the Hubble Deep Filed, with its at least 3000 galaxies, each with probably 100 billion stars, and think there is NO life there at all. Time could be a critical dimension, possibly a deal breaker. Although I’m not at all a Star Wars fan, I really like that idea that “long ago (and far away)” this story happened with technology we haven’t created yet on Earth. Maybe there will soon be advanced life elsewhere, or maybe it happened already and we missed it. But it could happen again and we won’t be here to see it or have the technology to detect it. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/47 "2022-02-27T01:04:13Z")
I believe that the people who insist every person should be employed based purely on merit, were in fact not employed themselves based on merit. Instead they got it through cronyism, nepotism, luck, headhunting, or the corporate ladder. Of course, they aren’t aware of how the system really works, they just benefit from it, so their opinion is just pure ignorance, and therefore can be dismissed. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/48 "2022-02-27T04:12:22Z")
Chemicals in the environment, particularly hormone analogs, play a large part in the obesity epidemic. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/49 "2022-02-27T04:37:18Z")
The massive usage of plastics as food containers leads to higher rates of cancer. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/50 "2022-02-27T04:48:01Z")
There is a committee whose purpose is to see what I like buying at the grocery store and then stop making those products. The contrails are spraying something that makes people stupid. Though there IS evidence for that re: trump was president. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/51 "2022-02-27T05:08:05Z")
I believe most people are atheists. They just don’t admit it because of Pascal’s wager or the social stigma associated with it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/52 "2022-02-27T11:34:00Z")
My wife’s parents where pretty religious (one a Catholic, one Presbyterian). My wife is pretty much an atheist. But she could tell her parents truthfully that yes she believed in a higher power. She does believe there is some intelligent life out there somewhere that way surpasses humans. It’s a bit of a dodge, but it’s honest. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/53 "2022-02-27T12:00:24Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I agree with you. And I am reminded of a quote I heard(I forget who said it.): > > “Either we are alone in the universe or we are NOT. Both are equally frightening.” I don’t know who came up with it but it was stated once by a character in the _Pogo_ comic strip. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/54 "2022-02-27T14:04:05Z")
I’m not stocking up for the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse. Not because I don’t believe it will happen, but because I’m never lucky at anything. I’ll be one of the zombies. Think about it; in the movies, about 10 people out of 10,000 remain human. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/55 "2022-02-27T14:09:40Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > The massive usage of plastics as food containers leads to higher rates of cancer. There was something on NPR years ago about plastics causing health problems. IIRC part of it is the consumer **misuse** of plastics. For instance they get a frozen entree on a plastic plate. They microwave it, eat it…and keep the plate. But the directions clearly state not to reuse the plate. That’s because there are different types of plastics and some are ok to reheat repeatedly and some are not. > **[What Do Recycling Symbols Mean?](https://www.liveabout.com/what-recycling-symbols-mean-4126251)** > > What do the plastic recycling symbols mean? These symbols are part of the Resin Identification Code or RIC, designed to help promote recycling. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/56 "2022-02-27T14:20:32Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > There is a worldwide conspiracy that involves people whose only purpose in life is to get in front of me and then drive or walk as slowly as possible. Checkout lanes! Mine is always the slowest. Couldn’t be me, though; I have no proof for that…ummm, hang on a sec… Dan ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/57 "2022-02-27T14:55:54Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I also have a personal pet theory (which is also not only without evidence, but also illogical) that our universe exists inside a black hole. The Big Bang, and the concept of an expanding universe, reflect that perspective - it actually exists inside another universe. There is another theory out there that entire universe exists in a false vacuum state and could collapse back into a more stable state destroying everything in it. > **[False vacuum | Implications](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_vacuum_decay#Implications)** > > If our universe is in a false vacuum state rather than a true vacuum state, then the decay from the less stable false vacuum to the more stable true vacuum (called false vacuum decay) could have dramatic consequences. The effects could range from complete cessation of existing fundamental forces, elementary particles and structures comprising them, to subtle change in some cosmological parameters, mostly depending on the potential difference between true and false vacuum. Some false vacuum A pap... ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/58 "2022-02-27T18:49:01Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I believe life will exist where it can exist, and is incredibly robust and resilient. > > As a result, there are tens of millions of planets in our galaxy alone where life is present. Since this is a thread about what we each believe without evidence, I agree with this as stated. There are many, many planets in each galaxy which can support life, and on a reasonably high fraction of those, life has emerged. In most cases it is very basic life, unicellular or perhaps even non-cellular in nature. I believe this without evidence, because ( even though we’ve been looking really hard) we haven’t seen any good evidence yet. > [@](#): > > And, of those, there are several million where a species has evolved sentience such that they have developed their world akin to how humans have done here on earth. I can’t agree with this, however. If there were millions of sentient species up there, l’d expect them to have established some kind of ‘Interstellar Internet’ by now - they would probably be deliberately targeting our world with invitations to log-on, and I don’t see that happening. It seems likely that sentient life is rare, probably vanishingly so. In this case, I believe this because of the absence of evidence, not despite it. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/59 "2022-02-27T19:14:43Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > If there were millions of sentient species up there, l’d expect them to have established some kind of ‘Interstellar Internet’ by now - they would probably be deliberately targeting our world with invitations to log-on, and I don’t see that happening. The problem with that is the universe is vast enough that if they were a million sentient speices out there the distances involved would make communication almost impossible. Remember the nearest large galaxy to Earth is the Andromeda galaxy 2.5 million light years away. That means it would take 2.5 million years for any message to reach this. SO there could be an intelligent species comparable to our own in Andromeda right NOW but we would NOT know it for another 2.5 millions years. And other major galaxies are even more distant. A galaxy we are seeing that is 1 billion light years away we are seeing as it was 1 billions years ago. Who knows what it is like right NOW. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2022, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129/60 "2022-02-27T19:29:15Z")
My apologies; I did not may myself clear. I was responding to Moriarty’s position, that there are millions of sentient species in our galaxy alone. That would imply that there would be very roughly one sentient species per 100 thousand stars. A cube with sides 736 light years long would contain on average one civilisation. Not quite the same as one civilisation per galaxy, and much more opportunity for contact, although still a major undertaking. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-believe-firmly-with-zero-evidence/960129.md?page=4)