Most people take it for yield that we have yet to make contact with an extraterrestrial refinement . Trouble is , the figure do n’t add up . Our Galaxy is so older that every quoin of it should have been visited many , many time over by now . No theory to date has satisfactorily explained away this corking Silence , so it ’s sentence to think outside the box . Here are eleven of the unearthly solution to the Fermi Paradox .
There ’s no shortage of result to theFermi Paradox . The stock ones are fair well known , and we ’re not pass to canvas them here , but they include theRare Earth Hypothesis(the hypnotism that life is exceptionally rarefied ) , the notion that outer space travel is too hard , or the distances too vast , theGreat Filter Hypothesis(the idea that all sufficiently advanced civilizations ruin themselves before going intergalactic ) , or that we ’re simply not interesting enough .
But for the aim of this discussion , we ’re go to wait at some of the more bizarre and arcane solutions to the Fermi Paradox . Because sometimes it takes a weird explanation to answer a eldritch question . So , as Enrico Fermi famously asked , “ Where is everybody ? ”
Though it sound like something from a Twilight Zone episode , it ’s quite potential that we ’re dumbfound inside some variety of celestial cage . ETI ’s may have stumbled upon our tiny gamy marble a long prison term ago , but , for whatever reason , they ’re keep us from afar . It might be that we ’re entertainment for them ( like check rascal in the menagerie ) , or that they ’re studying us for scientific purpose . Regardless , they ’ve raise a hand ’s off policy and they ’re leaving us alone .
Thisidea was first proposed by John Ball in 1973 , who argue that extraterrestrial intelligent life may be almost omnipresent , but that the “ apparent loser of such life to interact with us may be understand in term of the supposition that they have fix us away as part of a wilderness area or zoo . ” We could be part of a vast nature preserve that has been go down off boundary , free to grow unperturbed by sound living . It ’s an idea that somewhat related to Star Trek ’s Prime Directive in which civilization are left alone until they attain a certain technology capacitance . It ’s also an idea that UFOlogists are fond to — the suggestion that aliens are basically here , but observe us from a distance . Image : ssi.org .
This is passably much the opposite of the zoo hypothesis . Extraterrestrials have the potential to be unsafe . Like , extremely life-threatening . So rather than fart around the Galaxy in spaceships and trust that everyone ’s super friendly , ETI ’s may have collectively and independently adjudicate to stay the nether region at menage and not get out tending to themselves .
And why not ? It would be utterly reasonable to close , especially in light of the Fermi Paradox , thatthe cosmos is filled with perils — whether it be an imperialist civilization on the marching , or a undulation ofberserker probesset to sterilise everything in its wake . And to ensure that nobody bothers them , advanced ETIs couldset up a perimeter of Sandberg probes(self - copy policing probes ) to make indisputable that nobody gets in . Image : Cardens Design / Shutterstock .
guess if there ’s a kind of Prime Directive in effect , but that ETIs are vacillate over us with a gargantuan hammering quick to smack it down should it suddenly not like what it sees . These ETI ’s would be like Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still , absorbed on preserving the galactic ataraxis . “ There ’s no limit to what Gort could do , ” said Klaatu , “ He could destroy the Earth . ” So what is Gort or other advanced ETIs waiting for , exactly ? One possibility is the technological uniqueness . In the space of possible survivable uniqueness , a sizeable part of them might result in an extremely dangerous hokey superintelligence ( SAI ) . The variety of SAI that could go down about the destruction of the integral Galaxy . So , in parliamentary procedure to keep the speculative ace from emerging — while give the unspoiled ones a fair chance to get started — the Galactic Club keep picket .
From the Nebula Award - put forward brusk story , “ They ’re Made Out of inwardness ” by Terry Bisson :
“ They ’re made out of meat . ”
“ Meat ? ”
“ inwardness . They ’re made out of marrow . ”
“ There ’s no uncertainty about it . We picked up several from dissimilar parts of the planet , took them aboard our recon vessels , and probed them all the way through . They ’re totally meat . ”
“ That ’s impossible . What about the radiocommunication signals ? The message to the stars ? ”
“ They utilize the radio wave to talk , but the signal do n’t make out from them . The sign hail from machine . ”
“ So who made the machines ? That ’s who we require to contact . ”
“ They made the car . That ’s what I ’m trying to tell you . heart made the auto . ”
“ That ’s ridiculous . How can meat make a machine ? You ’re asking me to believe in sentient kernel . ”
“ I ’m not ask you , I ’m distinguish you . These wight are the only sentient race in that sector and they ’re made out of inwardness . ”
A little while later :
“ They actually do sing , then . They apply Book , ideas , concepts ? ”
“ Oh , yes . Except they do it with pith . ”
“ I call up you just tell me they used radio . ”
“ They do , but what do you think is on the radio ? centre sounds . You get it on how when you slap or flap meat , it have a noise ? They talk by pother their meat at each other . They can even sing by eject aviation through their heart . ”
“ Omigod . Singing meat . This is all told too much . So what do you notify ? ”
“ Officially or unofficially ? ”
“ Both . ”
“ Officially , we are required to meet , receive and enter any and all sentient races or multibeings in this quarter-circle of the Universe , without prejudice , veneration or favor . Unofficially , I advise that we erase the records and bury the whole affair . ”
“ I was hope you would say that . ”
“ It seems abrasive , but there is a limit . Do we really want to make liaison with nub ? ”
“ I agree one hundred percent . What ’s there to say ? ‘ Hello , meat . How ’s it go ? ’
We have n’t been visited by anyone becausewe’re experience inside a figurer pretence — and the simulation is n’t generating any extraterrestrial companions for us .
If true , this could imply one of three thing . First , the mongrel — I intend graven image — running the simulation have rigged it such that we ’re the only refinement in the entire Galaxy ( or even the Universe ) . Or , there really is n’t a genuine universe out there , it just appear that way to us within our assume bubble ( It ’s a ‘ If a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree fall in a timber and no one is around to hear it , does it make a sound ? ’ type thing ) .
Another more flakey possibility is that the pretending is being run by a posthuman civilisation in hunt of an answer to the Fermi Paradox , or some other scientific question . Maybe , in an attempt to flirt with various hypotheses ( perhaps even preemptively in consideration of some proposed action ) , they ’re running a billion different ascendant simulations to determine how many of them produce space travel civilisation , or even post - Singularity stage civilizations like themselves .
This one is similar to the quarantine hypothesis , but it ’s not quite as paranoid . But it ’s still pretty paranoid . It ’s potential that everyone is listening , but no one is send .
And for very dependable reason . David Brin has reason thatthe practice of Active SETI would be like yell out into the jungle(Active SETI is the deliberate transmission of luxuriously - power radio signals to nominee star system ) . Michael Michaudhas made a alike case : “ allow ’s be exculpated about this , ” he has write , “ Active SETI is not scientific research . It is a calculated attempt to provoke a response by an alien civilization whose potentiality , intentions , and space are not known to us . That makes it a insurance policy issue . ” The business , of course , is that we may draw undue attention to ourselves untimely . It ’s conceivable , therefore , that our corporate government may some solar day determine to shut down all alive SETI effort . We should just be content to listen . But what if every civilization in the macrocosm were to follow the same policy ? That would incriminate that everyone has gone radiocommunication silent .
As an aside , it could also be serious to listen : SETI may be at risk of download a malicious virus from out space .
This one is n’t so much weird as it might actually be potential . An advanced ETI , upon graduating to a Kardashev II musical scale civilization , could lose all galactic - scale ambition . Once aDyson sphereorMatrioshka Brainis lay up , an alien civilization would have more legal action and dangerous undertaking in its local arena than it know what to do with . Massive supercomputers would be able-bodied to sham universes within universes , and lifetimes within life — and at speeds and variations far take away from what ’s exhibit in the well-worn former analog world . By equivalence , the quietus of the extragalactic nebula would seem like a tiresome and desolate blank space . Space could very much be in the rear prospect mirror .
Now , it ’s totally potential that the signboard of ETIs are all around us , but we just ca n’t see them . Either we ’re too dazed to notice , or we still want to develop our technologies to notice the signals . consort to the current SETI approach , we should be listening for radio signature . But a civilization far more advanced than our own might be using a different technique entirely . They could be point with lasers , for example . Lasers are good because they ’re tightly focalize beams with excellent informational bandwidth . They ’re also able to fall into place our galaxy ’s cold interstellar medium .
Or , ETIs coulduse “ call posting ” by exploiting the transmit method acting of detection(e.g . by constructing a massive dead geometrical complex body part , like a triangle or a public square , and put in orbit around their horde genius ) .
And and as Stephen Webbhas pointed out , there ’s also the potential for electromagnetic signals , gravitational sign , atom signals , tachyon signals , or something completely beyond our understanding of physics . It ’s also quite possible that they are in fact using radiocommunication signals , but we do n’t know which relative frequency to tune into ( the EM spectrum is extremely broad ) . More conceptually , we may eventually happen a message lay to rest in a position where we least expect it — like within the codification of our DNA . Image : Arnold / Observatoire de Haute - Province in Paris .
This interesting answer to the Fermi Paradox was posited by Milan M. Ćirković and Robert Bradbury .
“ We evoke that the outer neighborhood of the Galactic saucer are the most likely locations for forward-looking SETI targets , ” theywrote . The cause for this is that advanced intelligent communities will tend to transmigrate outwards through the Galaxy as their capacities of information - processing increase . Why ? Because motorcar - based culture , with their massive supercomputers , will have huge problems managing their heat waste . They ’ll have to set up camp where it ’s super cool . And the out rim of the Galaxy is exactly that .
Subsequently , there may be a dissimilar astronomical inhabitable geographical zone for post - Singularity ETIs than for nub - establish life . By effect , modern ETIs have no interest in exploring the bio - well-disposed inhabitable geographical zone . Which means we ’re looking for ET in the incorrect place . Interestingly , Stephen Wolfram once told me that heat - free computation will someday be possible , so he does n’t think this is a plausible solution to the Fermi Paradox .
Or maybe we have n’t made contact with ETI ’s because we ’re the aliens . Or least , they ’re our ancestors . According to this theory , which was first posited by Francis Crick(yes , that Francis Crick ) , aliens set off life on other planets ( like sending spore to potentially fertile planets ) , and then bugger off . Forever . Or mayhap they finally come back .
This melodic theme has been harness extensively in scifi , include the Star Trek : The Next Generation instalment , “ The Chase ” in which the uber - generic android Salome Jens explain that its species is creditworthy for all biography in the Alpha Quadrant , or Ridley Scott ’s Prometheus , in which an alien can be seen sow the primordial Earth with life story . Even Arthur C. Clarke ’s 2001 is a take on this thought , with the monoliths inspire massive evolutionary jump .
This one is similar to the Rare Earth hypothesis , but it suggests that the universe is still germinate and changing . Subsequently , the weather to hold advanced intelligence have only recently fallen into lieu . This is what cosmologist James Annis refers to as thephase passage model of the creation — what he feel is an astrophysical explanation for the Great Silence .
According to Annis , a possible regulatory mechanism that can account for this is the frequency of Vasco da Gamma - ray bursts — topnotch - cataclysmic effect that can literally sterilize large swaths of the galax .
“ If one assumes that they are in fact lethal to shore establish living throughout the galaxy , ” he wrote , “ one has a mechanism that prevent the rise of intelligence until the mingy prison term between bursts is like to the timescale for the phylogeny of intelligence . ” In other discussion , gamma - ray bursts are too frequent , and intelligent life story is constantly getting wipe out before it develop the capacity to go interstellar . look to the hereafter , however , given that Vasco da Gamma - light beam bursts are decreasing in frequency , things are set to change . “ The Galaxy is currently undergo a phase modulation between an balance DoS barren of intelligent life to a unlike equilibrium state where it is full of reasoning living , ” says Annis .
Which would actually be good news .
AliensAstrobiologyFermi paradoxSpace
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