It would really, really suck if we're alone in the universe. Like, I can't think of something that would suck more.
I hope aliens exist.

I think the most likely explanation that we haven’t seen aliens is either the dark forest hypothesis or that interstellar space travel is impossibly hard.

@Lensflare There‘s a third explanation: They wanted to get in contact with us, but watched us first. After that they decided to leave again and mark our solar system as a no-go-zone.

@Framstag obviously there are countless options. I just listed 2 of which I think are the most likely ones.

I 100 percent believe there’s life at least as smart as us out there. We aren’t special creatures chosen by the gods

@Lensflare if space travel at a reasonable speed between stars is possible at all, it is nevertheless, under any regime, likely going to be massively expensive, and therefore in all likelihood mainly military or scientific in nature.

Under those circumstances theres every reason to believe any visits amount to cataloging who and what is here and then moving on with minimal interference.

A common example thats discussed is the possibility that superluminal travel is likely impossible, and therefore any species out there would have to develop 1. biological or electronic drones, 2. some sort of suspension or cryo tech for 'hypersleep'.

The second version is very frequent, and the implications are actually glossed over pretty badly.

A technology that lets us 'skip ahead' by sleeping or hibernating would fundamentally change an entire civilization utterly and completely. Space travel in this context is probably least interesting implication of indefinite life extension.

like imagine if leadership (good and bad) never got replaced by dying? Leaders might lead for centuries or millenia, instead of years or decades.

CEOS and executives might run organizations for centuries.

How would the ideas of lineage, legacy, and the importance of leadership change in the face of this? What would scientific progress look like if scientists could run long-term experiments and wake up to see their results 'quickly?'

How would a civilization's conception of time itself and their environment, change if time was not a factor?

I think I speak for everyone when I ask: if there are aliens, can we fuck them?