[Shryke]

Isn't it also a little pretentious to "believe" that we aren't alone? It can go both ways.

Actually, no, it's not, based on probablities as well as ego. Saying "we are unique" is obviously alot more pretentious than saying "we are not unique" - the first sentence implies special status, the other does not. Additionally, believing in something is that is VERY VERY VERY probable, mathmatically, versus believing something very very VERY improbable is pretty much the opposite of pretention - it's common sense.

[Tom Bombadil]

But to say that 25 years will reveal the truth shows a little too much trust in one's own intellect. They don't know, and their statistics involve assumptions.