People who believed in high existential risk were more likely to believe in global warming, more likely to believe they had a higher IQ than average, and more likely to believe in aliens (I found that same result last time, and it puzzled me then too.)
Why does it puzzle you?
I assume because higher existential risk would seem to generalize to lower chances of aliens existing (because they had the same or similar existential risk as us).
A more subtle interpretation, and one that I expect accounts for at least some of the people in this category, is that high existential risk makes it more likely that relatively nearby aliens exist but will never reach the point where they can contact us.
I assume because higher existential risk would seem to generalize to lower chances of aliens existing (because they had the same or similar existential risk as us).
A more subtle interpretation, and one that I expect accounts for at least some of the people in this category, is that high existential risk makes it more likely that relatively nearby aliens exist but will never reach the point where they can contact us.