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> The point of the Fermi Paradox is simple: according to our best knowledge, the sky should be full of alien civilization. It's not. But this statement isn't t
by Chathamization 9y ago
> The point of the Fermi Paradox is simple: according to our best knowledge, the sky should be full of alien civilization. It's not.
But this statement isn't true. We've looked at a tiny fraction of the galaxy for radio signals and didn't find any in that small area that looked like they came from an intelligent origin (actually, we found one, the Wow! signal). But from what I've read - using the equivalent of the Arecibo dish, even the closest star to earth wouldn't be able to pick up our general transmissions. So first we have to assume that civilizations use radio transmissions for a very, very long period of time, and don't replace it with some other tech (so the earth wasn't only receiving them from, say 200,000 BC to 150,000 BC or 1200 BC - 200 AD before the civilization moved on to gamma burst communication). Then we need to assume that these signals are much stronger than the ones we're currently emitting. And then hope we get lucky and look in the right spot for them.
So after a small amount of searching we haven't yet been able to find one specific type of civilization using one specific type of technology in a very particular way (not even in the way we use it). Even if the universe is teaming with life, there's nothing paradoxical about that.
- aaroninsf 9y agoThis. I have never found the 'paradox' convincing for exactly this reason. The presumptive extrapolation in its formalization is breathtaking. It is primarily useful IMO for posing an estimate to answer a different question from the one people believe it does, which is simply, 'what is the incidence of life, much as we know it...?' ...where 'as we know it' is extremely narrow and rests upon the equally narrow 'physics as we know it.' We are smart monkeys, but while we have learned a breathtaking amount in the last couple centuries, our overconfidence in what we think we know remains constant. You can hold most of the assumptions constant and still come up with many reasons for the 'silence' of the skies, none of which reflect upon the incidence of intelligent life or advanced civilization... :P
- ralfd 9y agoIt is not radio alone. We also didn't find any alien megastructures dimming stars. Though Tabby's star is strange. http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a26575/something-weird-is-happening-to-the-alien-megastructure-star/ http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/deep-space/a26575/some... Subreddit devoted to the star: https://www.reddit.com/r/KIC8462852/ https://www.reddit.com/r/KIC8462852/