re: What in your opinion are "*belief* systems".
You are right, I should have clarified myself further. I take the word belief being used in the context I described earlier as similar to faith, meaning to accept something without needing or wanting scientific evidence for its reality.
I think there is life beyond Earth based on the current evidence presented by various fields of science. But I am also scientific enough not to say that there is extraterrestrial life without scientific proof.