10
Fermi Paradox

Fermi Paradox

Part of a series on Space. [View Related Entries]

Updated Oct 15, 2020 at 06:18AM EDT by ohmyjosh.

Added Oct 23, 2015 at 04:00PM EDT by Don.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

About

The Fermi Paradox refers to the conflict between the high statistical probability of intelligent extraterrestrial life in the universe and the failure of humans to find evidence of their existence. Many hypothetical explanations for the paradox have been proposed, including speculation that humans may be the first and only intelligent life in the universe, that space is too vast for extraterrestrials to traverse or that intelligent civilizations are destroyed prior to leaving their home world.

Origin

In 1950, the physicist Enrico Fermi famously questioned why humanity had failed to document any evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations if a multitude were likely to exist within the galaxy. In 1975, astrophysicist Michael H. Hart published a paper titled "Explanation for the Absence of Extraterrestrials on Earth," which provided an in-depth examination of the paradox.[6]

Drake Equation

In 1961, astrophysicist Frank Drake wrote an equation to estimate the probability of active extraterrestrial civilizations within the Milky Way galaxy. Due to a number of uncertainties, Drake estimated that there were likely between 1,000 and 100,000,000 intelligent civilizations in the Milky Way alone.

Spread

On September 18th, 2009, Xkcd[7] published a comic titled "The Search," in which a sentient ant colony calls off the search for intelligent life after failing to discover other pheromone trails (shown below).


WEVE SEARCHED DOZENS OF THESE FLOOR TILES FOR SEVERAL COMMON TYPES OF PHEROMONE TRAILS IF 꺼ERE WERE INTELLIGENT LIFE UP THERE, WE WOULD HAVE SEEN ITS MESSPGES BY NOW. 代 THE WORUDS FIRST ANT COLONY TO ACHIEVE SENTENCE ALS OFF 꺼E SEARCH FOR US.

On November 27th, 2012, a page for the Fermi paradox was created on TV Tropes.[2] On March 20th, 2013, the sci-fi blog io9[5] published a listicle titled "11 of the Weirdest Solutions to the Fermi Paradox." In May 2014, the educational blog Wait But Why[3] published an article on the Fermi paradox. On June 4th, Xkcd[8] posted a comic titled "Fish," which speculated that humans have yet to find evidence of extraterrestrials because they are invisible (shown below).


IMAGINE YOURE A THE FERMI PARADOX KEEP5 GETTING WORSE. SCUBA DVERLOOKING IF PLANETS ARE COMMON ATTHE CCEAN FLOOR. UHERE IS EVERYBODYOU KNOW THERES A AND LHAT WOULD THAT TELL YOU ABOUT THE ECOSYSTEM? FISH THERE, BUT YOUMAYBE THE FISH CANT 5EE IT LHY?LOOKS LIKE SAND YEAH

On April 25th, 2015, the astrophysics blog Quarks to Quasars[4] published an infographic containing various explanations for the Fermi paradox (shown below).


THE FERMI PARADOX There are 400 billion stars in our galaxy, astronomers estimate that each has 1.6 planets on average, bringing the total number of planets within the range of 660 billion; The number of potentially habitable worlds differs according to the source but most say the Milky Way may have over 60 billion habitable planets. As such, based on those numbers alone, it seems rather improbable that we are alone Therein lies Fermi's paradox: If other forms of intelligent life exist, why haven't we und any evidence yet? Here are ten possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox: DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE THEY ARE ALREADY HERE (A perk of being a wallflower) We haven't found evidence of extraterrestrials because r reality is an elaborate illusion. As in, we are living i computer šimulation created by our alien overlords, who It would be silly to presume that all life is similar to Earth Perhaps alien beings are so different, they would not register to us even if they were under our noses. Conversely, they may be make all the rules so similar, they are indistinguishable from humans, and can eási ly OUR WIRES ARE CROSSED THEY LIVE IN UNLIKELY PLACES (We don't know where to look) It's very possible that other intelligent life forms are activel sending transmissions into space, we simply don't use the same range of frequencies (radio waves, for instance) The search for life is largely conducted on other planets, but advanced civilization may not nee to be anchred to a rock perhaps evěryone is listening and no one's talking world. In fact, some astronómers suggest that, because of energý demands, aliens might lurk on the edge of the galaxy, maybe even in supermassive black holes themselves EARTH IS A FISHBOWL (Which makes us the fish) THEY USE TECH TO SPY In this scenario, alien civilizations know we exist, the simply watch our development from afar to let us evolvé withoút influence, ultimately forging our own path Regardless of how technologically advanced a civilization becomes, space exploration will always be long and fraught Instead of sending manned ships to explore the galaxy, aliens might dispatch self-replicating nanobots, like von Néumann robes, to do the work'for them DESTROY OR BE DESTROYED WE ARE THE ALIENS In Darwin's theory of evolution, a tenet says the strongest Perhaps aeons ago, some alien race visited Earth. After seeing all the earmarks of a habitable world, the creatures sowed the seeds of life with their own genetic material, before going along their merry way. We, in a sense, are their experiment species survives, A' similar tactic may be employed by alien beings; perhaps they stay silent, hoping that'hostile species aren't alerted, or theý strike before others destroy them first. SPACE IS TOO VAST (& Signals take too long) LIFE IS EXTREMELY RARE Space, simply put, is incredibly large. So large, if we beamed a transmission to the closest st the system. Say intelligent life did pick up one of our signals, it migh take years, if not decades, to get a response Perhaps, in the search for extraterrestral intelligence, the simpliest solution is the correct one. We haven't encountered signs of life either because it doesn't exist, or it's exceedingly rare. The prerequisites for complex life are nearly impossible tó ould taße 4 vears to reach replicate in their entirety elsewhere. Infographic by From Quarks to Quasars (Jaime Trosper)

On May 6th, the In a Nutshell YouTube channel uploaded a video titled "The Fermi Paradox – Where Are All the Aliens?", which described the hypothetical Dyson sphere technology and provided various hypothetical explanations for the paradox (shown below, left). On June 4th, a second video was uploaded which included additional explanations for the Fermi paradox (shown below, right).



On September 17th, Edward Snowden was interviewed by Neil deGrasse Tyson on the StarTalk podcast, where he proposed that the Fermi paradox could be explained by encryption techniques used by extraterrestrial civilizations (shown below).



Search Interest

External References

[1] Wikipedia – Fermi Paradox

[2] TV Tropes – Fermi Paradox

[3] Wait But Why – The Fermi Paradox

[4] FromQuarkstoQuasars – Ten Solutions to the Fermi Paradox

[5] io9 – 11 of the Weirdest Solutions to the Fermi Paradox

[6] Harvard.edu – Explanation for the Absence of Extraterrestrials on Earth

[7] Xkcd – The Search

[8] Xkcd – Fish

Related Entries 19 total


View All Related Entries

Recent Videos 6 total

   

Recent Images 6 total

   

Top Comments

Snickerway
Delete
NSFW
Snickerway

Personally, I think our issue is that we're looking for the wrong things. When looking for signs of extraterrestrial life, scientists tends to look for things like liquid water and carbon, since all Earth life is carbon-based and requires water to live. The problem arises when this standard is applied when searching for life not on Earth. We barely have any understanding of how life formed on Earth as is – how could we possibly know what creatures would evolve if life formed on a planet with totally different conditions? We're searching when we don't even totally understand what we're searching for.

+49
Reply
Blargity
Delete
NSFW
Blargity

But in space, we can only see into the past, never the present. If we look somewhere 11 billion light years away, we're looking into 11 billion years ago, and life takes billions of years to evolve. Everything will always be hidden behind the curtain of the past.
Someone who's 4 billion light years away and looking straight at Earth wouldn't see shit.

+42
Reply

+ Add a Comment

Comments (61)


Display Comments

Add a Comment


Word Up! You must login or signup first!