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Out of millions of species that have appeared on this planet, only 1 made it to space. It could be most aliens never make it to space.

contravariant 8y ago
Although compared to reaching space it's relatively simple to prevent other species from ever reaching space, as the Homo Sapiens may well have done.
joe_the_user 8y ago
Every single slightly habitable planet in the galaxy could harbor a species that has gone to it's nearest moons and planets, and we wouldn't be able to tell. Every transmission our species has made is indistinguishable from quantum noise at the distance of Alpha Centauri. In the sense of the Fermi Paradox, zero species on this star have "made it to space".
- JohnJamesRambo 8y ago
  But one of the tenets of the paradox is so much time has passed you shouldn’t have to work hard to detect alien life, they should have already colonized everywhere. >Even at the slow pace of currently envisioned interstellar travel, the Milky Way galaxy could be completely traversed in a few million years.
  - TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
    Which assumes that we know what "colonised" looks like. The entire premise is rather bizarre. "Let's send out probes that make probes that send out more probes until we've covered the galaxy!" "But... why would anyone do that?" It seems obvious until you think about it - and then it stops being obvious. So you cover your galaxy with probes that keep sending probes back and forth. So what? What have you actually achieved? If you assume massively superhuman intelligence, what are the odds there are more interesting goals for a civilisation to aim for?
    - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
      But a civilization doesn't have to 'aim for' that. If you can create the first probe, it does the rest. The right question is, what are the chances that nobody in any civilization ever, thought to create that first probe? If we can think of it (and here we are, thinking of it) then why wouldn't any other civilization contain a member that thinks of it? Because humans are the greatest smartest species in the galaxy? Now that would be a far-fetched idea.
    - Loughla 8y ago
      >Which assumes that we know what "colonised" looks like. 100% my problem with this. We're applying a human-centric lens to this. Remember that these theories are based on a life-form that evolved completely separate from anything we have ever known. That doesn't just mean separate body structures, but an entirely novel and completely unknowable circumstance. This is why these theories all upset me - they should all say things like "we should have seen (an alien species that is similar to us) in this amount of time. Because fuck only knows what an alien who evolved in a system based on helium or some other gas would think. We certainly can't try to figure it out. The most creative minds in this area are those writing hard sci-fi, I would argue. And most of them only treat that subject with a hand-waving and 'we can never know those mysterious aliens' sort of thing.
      - whatshisface 8y ago
        The Fermi paradox isn't that there are no aliens, it's that there aren't billions of them, and if there are billions of them not a single one is as expansionist as humanity.
        maze-le 8y ago
        Humanity is not expansionist on a galactic level. Once we are in a position we could make it to the stars, maybe we wouln't do it either, since it might take too much resources that can be spent more efficiently in ensuring our own survival here in this system.
D-Coder 8y ago
"Out of millions of species that have appeared on this planet, only 1 made it to space." So far. In another ten million years, several more might make it.
basementcat 8y ago
More than 1 species. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_in_outer_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_...

contravariant 8y ago

Although compared to reaching space it's relatively simple to prevent other species from ever reaching space, as the Homo Sapiens may well have done.

joe_the_user 8y ago

Every single slightly habitable planet in the galaxy could harbor a species that has gone to it's nearest moons and planets, and we wouldn't be able to tell. Every transmission our species has made is indistinguishable from quantum noise at the distance of Alpha Centauri. In the sense of the Fermi Paradox, zero species on this star have "made it to space".

JohnJamesRambo 8y ago
But one of the tenets of the paradox is so much time has passed you shouldn’t have to work hard to detect alien life, they should have already colonized everywhere. >Even at the slow pace of currently envisioned interstellar travel, the Milky Way galaxy could be completely traversed in a few million years.
- TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
  Which assumes that we know what "colonised" looks like. The entire premise is rather bizarre. "Let's send out probes that make probes that send out more probes until we've covered the galaxy!" "But... why would anyone do that?" It seems obvious until you think about it - and then it stops being obvious. So you cover your galaxy with probes that keep sending probes back and forth. So what? What have you actually achieved? If you assume massively superhuman intelligence, what are the odds there are more interesting goals for a civilisation to aim for?
  - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
    But a civilization doesn't have to 'aim for' that. If you can create the first probe, it does the rest. The right question is, what are the chances that nobody in any civilization ever, thought to create that first probe? If we can think of it (and here we are, thinking of it) then why wouldn't any other civilization contain a member that thinks of it? Because humans are the greatest smartest species in the galaxy? Now that would be a far-fetched idea.
  - Loughla 8y ago
    >Which assumes that we know what "colonised" looks like. 100% my problem with this. We're applying a human-centric lens to this. Remember that these theories are based on a life-form that evolved completely separate from anything we have ever known. That doesn't just mean separate body structures, but an entirely novel and completely unknowable circumstance. This is why these theories all upset me - they should all say things like "we should have seen (an alien species that is similar to us) in this amount of time. Because fuck only knows what an alien who evolved in a system based on helium or some other gas would think. We certainly can't try to figure it out. The most creative minds in this area are those writing hard sci-fi, I would argue. And most of them only treat that subject with a hand-waving and 'we can never know those mysterious aliens' sort of thing.
    - whatshisface 8y ago
      The Fermi paradox isn't that there are no aliens, it's that there aren't billions of them, and if there are billions of them not a single one is as expansionist as humanity.
      - maze-le 8y ago
        Humanity is not expansionist on a galactic level. Once we are in a position we could make it to the stars, maybe we wouln't do it either, since it might take too much resources that can be spent more efficiently in ensuring our own survival here in this system.

D-Coder 8y ago

"Out of millions of species that have appeared on this planet, only 1 made it to space." So far. In another ten million years, several more might make it.

basementcat 8y ago

More than 1 species. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_in_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_in_outer_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_microorganisms_tested_...