Comment 78 by Modesti- I disagree with your conclusion, but actually agree with a lot of the remainder of your post. I am interested in the question of whether there is life on other planets for the same kind of reason as I am interested in the nature of what dark matter is. It might seem abstract to you, but I've got to be honest, I for one would like to know some of this abstract detail of the nature of our universe.

You are right though that this planet is a remarkable place and that life in general is amazing. I guess the planet would be even more remarkable if we could show that we were alone in the Universe. On the other hand, I do have some sentimental attachment to the idea that we are not alone, and that there are all sorts of weird and wonderful entities out there. It could be viewed as a win, win in either direction.

I am not too sure that you have necessarily identified the reason why people care about the question of extraterrestrial life, it is not so much that they "don't want to be alone" (whatever that means) and more that they are excited to think about what alien life, alien biology and alien environments are really like.