When it comes to searching for intelligent alien life (Fermi Paradox) or even simple microbial life, we are left with just two, but equally terrifying possibilities. Its either we are alone in this universe, or we are not. Let me explain why.
You see, the thought of being alone in this universe is a bit unsettling. Meaning that our planet, “Earth” with its vast diversity of life forms, is the only place where intelligent life exists. Also implies that the emergence of life here, is an exceedingly rare event, and maybe even a kind of miraculous occurrence.
On the other hand, if alien life exists out there, it raises the question of their intentions and capabilities. Are they benevolent, or could they pose a kind of threat to our civilization? Are they more advanced than us, or are we the more advanced species? And where exactly can we find them?
Fermi Paradox
Many of you here are familiar with the concept of the “Fermi Paradox,” but in case you are not, you can watch my video about it “Here.” But let me explain it a bit here. What do you feel when you come out on a clear night sky and look at the infinite number of stars?
Despite all the stars you see, this view is just of our closest neighborhood. Far beyond the reach of our current best optical systems, There are still millions of other galaxies, stars, and planets. And get this: “There are as many galaxies in the universe as stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.”
With all the stars, galaxy, planets, and all there is, “WHERE IS EVERYBODY” or put another way, “WHERE ARE ALL THE ALIENS.” The questions and answers that arises from all of this is what we refer to as the Fermi Paradox.
Enrico Fermi, is whom this paradox is named after, because of his famous launch conversation, in Los Alamos. However, The Fermi Paradox was not initially posed by Enrico Fermi himself. The question has been implicitly mentioned earlier by “Konstantin Tsiolkovsky” in an unpublished manuscript from 1933. While this lack of evidence was not seen as a kind of paradox by many, it posed a paradox for Tsiolkovsky himself.
He speculated that higher beings, aware of mankind’s unpreparedness, or would I say “inattentiveness,” have chosen not to make contact with us at present.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. What we need now is an answer, or a potential solution to the Fermi Paradox.
The Universal Barrier, – “THE GREAT FILTER”
Robin Hanson, a professor of economics at George Mason University, first proposed this idea in an online essay titled “The Great Filter – Are We Almost Past It?“
The concept is a bit confusing at first, Suggesting that from the very beginning of life’s emergence on a planet, and all through the intricate stages of development, all the way up to achieving an advanced civilization (like what we have here on Earth, or a more advanced civilization) there exists a kind significant obstacle that obstructs the progress of life, making the existence of detectable extraterrestrial life rare. I’ll break this down in a bit, but I want us to look at something first.
You see, Hanson’s list, in his essay outlined a comprehensive “evolutionary path” which comprises nine crucial steps that could lead to the eventual colonization of the observable universe.
Which are:
- The right star system, (including organics and potentially habitable planets),
- Reproductive molecules, (e.g. RNA, DNA.),
- Simple prokaryotic single-cell life,
- Complex eukaryotic single-cell life,
- Sexual reproduction,
- Multi-cell life,
- Intelligent Creatures Employing Tools
- Pre-Colonization Advancement (A civilization advancing toward the potential for a colonization explosion)
- And, Colonization explosion. (Interstellar colonization)
According to the list developed by Hanson, This is the idea: One of the steps in the process of a civilization developing and expanding into the universe is very hard to achieve. If that difficult step happened a long time ago, it means our chances of reaching the final step, which is interstellar colonization, are not very very good. On the other hand, if the earlier steps are relatively easy, then there should be many civilizations like ours out there.
But we haven’t found any evidence of interstellar colonization in our galaxy, the Milky Way. So, step 9 (Interstellar colonization) might be the part that’s holding civilizations back. Possible reasons we can’t get to step 9 (Interstellar colonization) could include big disasters, War, or another reason. Or maybe they did not realize how important it is to keep advancing technologically, or they ran out of resources like energy.
If we discover multicellular life on Mars, it would be a bit discouraging because it would mean that steps 2 (Reproductive molecules) to 6 (Multi-cell life), are not that relatively hard to achieve. So, we would need to focus on steps 1 (The right star system), 7 (Intelligent Creatures Employing Tools), and 8 (Pre-Colonization Advancement), or maybe there’s an unknown step that’s really difficult.
Even though steps 1 (The right star system) to 8 (Pre-Colonization Advancement), have happened on Earth, they could still be unlikely. If those first seven steps are essential for estimating probabilities based on what we see on our own planet, then someone using the anthropic principle to understand things, can’t actually be sure about how likely these steps are in the universe as a whole.
And yeah, all I mentioned is complex, and you may not understand it fully let me break down the Great Filter in a way you’ll be able to understand.
Think of it like a kind of cosmic video game where you have to pass through various levels to get to the final level. And in this case, we have level 1 to 9. So we can say, the Great Filter, is a kind of game or level in the game; each civilization would have to pass and thrive, and it really hard.
Maybe it’s a technological challenge, like developing artificial intelligence (AI). Or maybe it’s a societal challenge, like catastrophic wars or dealing with problems like climate change, natural disasters, and more.
This solution to the Fermi Paradox is that numerous civilizations might not make it through the Great Filter or, would I say (Cosmic Video Game). They might get stuck at some point and become unable to progress any further. Maybe they didn’t even develop the technology they needed, or maybe they even destroyed themselves in the process before they got the chance. Sad btw.
You see, our planet has managed to overcome numerous challenges in the form of mass extinction events, serving as a kind of filter for the evolution of life.
Consider the Permian-Triassic extinction (Great Dying), which occurred about 250 million years ago. This event, nearly wiped out the entire life on earth, with approximately 96% of marine species and 70% of land creatures affected. While scientists are not actually sure of what exactly caused this extinction event to happen, some scientists think rising temperatures and falling oxygen levels played a pivotal part.
The thing is, past filters that occurred, like these natural extinction events, they were linked to our planet and solar system’s natural processes. From asteroids or comets, from climate change, from volcanic eruption, and others. But now, humanity,as a whole, is facing a different kind of filter, and guess what? This time, we are causing it by ourselves.
Nuclear conflicts, climate change, which we are causing, and other kinds of disasters, could slow down our progress and keep us from reaching the point where we can communicate with extraterrestrial life, or reach level 9 (Colonization explosion) in our cosmic video game.
So mmm, searching for alien life is a bit like playing cosmic hide and seek. We’re trying to find civilizations that have survived Great Filter, but we’re not sure how many have actually made it through the levels.
Cosmic Observation, – “THE ZOO HYPOTHESIS”
Take note of this “Hegemonic Power.” This is the simplest way it can be explained. It’s a kind of dominance and influence exerted by a civilization or entity over a significant portion of the galaxy. Implying that a particular civilization has achieved what I would call a kind of control and authority. And that level of control surpasses that of any other civilization within its sphere of influence.
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Aliens, for instance, may have specific conditions in mind before they choose to contact or interact with us. Maybe they are waiting for us to reach certain level in our technological, political, or ethical standards. Or they want us to go first and send a spacecraft to their planet. Or maybe contacting us is going to be risky for both ends, as it could bring more trouble than benefits. This last point is what we now refer to as “The Zoo Hypothesis,“
It’s a way of explaining why we haven’t found any evidence of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. Suggesting that these civilizations might be avoiding us intentionally, and treating Earth like a kind of zoo, observing us from far out, without making their presence known to us.
Central to all of this is “Hegemonic Power.” You can watch my video on how I explained it well “Here“
Consider this. The oldest civilization in our galaxy, had a head start of a 100 million years over any other civilization. Which means that they have a big say in what happens to newer civilization that arises around them. Meaning that they might watch over, guide, or isolate them in their area of control.
This is a bit like what happens on Earth, where different people are born into already existing family systems, different customs, traditions, and laws that were set up long before they were born. These are things they don’t have much control over.
So, Even if the first hegemonic civilization, which adopted the “non-interventionist” approach, has long vanished/died out, its influence could endure in the form of passed-down traditions or even in the form of an “artificial superintelligence” dedicated to upholding the principles of non-interference.
What this solution to the Fermi Paradox is trying to tell us is that a highly advanced civilization may deliberately choose to observe and study developing civilizations like ours without directly interfering with them.
This could be driven by an innate desire to allow natural evolution and development to take place, or out of a sense of non-interference ethics and the preservation of cosmic diversity.
Could There Be Any Other Plausible Solution
Maybe aliens might have a kind of super-advance-tech that blends seamlessly with their environment, making it really really hard for us to notice them. Even if we try our best.
Maybe alien life could be in forms we can’t even imagine. The truth is that we usually think of life, based on what we know, like biology, chemistry and all. But imagine a scenario where aliens are made of energy or live in entirely different places than we do?
Maybe intelligent life might be in a different dimension or universe, if we accept the “Multiverse Theory.” These places might be beyond our reach because we can’t see or understand them with our current fancy tools.
Maybe intelligent life is out there, but they’re waiting for us to get really advanced before they say hi. This means the universe could be whole of intelligent life, but they’re not talking to us until we grow up.
Maybe we haven’t looked in the right places yet. We all know the universe is huge, and our search for alien life has mainly focused on places like Earth. We’ll need to explore more spots than places that resemble earth.
Maybe the vastness of space is the big problem for contact. Even if there’s intelligent life out there somewhere, the vast gaps between stars make it really hard to talk or visit each other. So it’s possible that the quietness in space is just because of the big distances.
Maybe there’s intelligent life, and the vast distance is not the problem, but they’re just not interested in talking to us. They might have totally different ways of doing things or may have other priorities. So, our attempts to say hello might not work.
And, Maybe, we are the only life in the universe.
It’s kind of a sad idea and terrifying idea as I mentioned in the introduction of this write-up, but if we are going with this idea, then we have a big job to do. We’ll need to take care of life, not just on Earth, because it’s precious. And not cause a kind of extinction even upon ourselves.
Then we can now see our civilization, like a kind of candlelight in an empty dark space, we’ll have to do everything in our power to make sure that candle flame keeps burning.
And that wraps it up, I’m sure you liked it, you can subscribe to our channel to get interesting topics like this. Read more articles on our website.
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