The word alien comes from the Latin word ‘aliēnus’, which means “not one’s own, of others, foreign, strange”. It is derived from the Latin word alius, which means “other”. The concept of aliens has been around for a long time with each school of philosophy having different views on them. The very first speculations about a life existing beyond the Earth can be found in the discussions amongst Epicurean philosophers in ancient Greece and their Roman disciples. In his book De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), Roman Epicurean poet Lucretius writes, “Nothing in the universe is unique and alone and therefore in other regions there must be other earth’s inhabited by different tribes of men and breeds of beasts.”
The idea was received well and soon his contemporaries too began discussing the implication of such a possibility. While the concept of aliens was looked at with a scientific approach as of yet, Medieval scholars had accommodated the concept well enough with their religious beliefs. Today aliens are a hot cultural topic, and they are being taken more seriously, with the Pentagon establishing a dedicated office, Congress conducting hearings, and
NASA joining the investigation efforts. Despite the growing attention and importance placed on confirming the existence of extraterrestrial life, there is nothing substantial we know about them. Let us explore why even after no substantial evidence, the concept of aliens is still a relevant debate.
