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> If there is nonhuman intelligence in our solar system, it's orders of magnitude smarter than us, and I'd also wager it's probably by design impossible for us

> If there is nonhuman intelligence in our solar system, it's orders of magnitude smarter than us, and I'd also wager it's probably by design impossible for us detect. Likely in the galaxy, seems unlikely there is advanced nonhuman intelligence hiding in our solar system.

echelon 5y ago
> seems unlikely there is advanced nonhuman intelligence hiding in our solar system Maybe. I did some Googling, and apparently the human race has produced between 1 and 2 billion cars in the last 100 years [1]. That's an incredible feat! Assuming a post-biology intelligence has started space manufacturing, they probably have the capacity to produce an incredible volume of intelligent probes. Wikipedia claims that the Milky Way galaxy is composed of 100 - 400 billion stars. [2] This figure isn't far out of the ballpark for the number of cars we've made in 100 years. Creating a single space probe to reach a star is probably within their capability, and I'd wager they can match and exceed our industrial capacity for vehicle production. It's not hard to imagine they could send at least one probe to every star. They have a lot of time to do it, too. Important factors I'm not accounting for are time of travel and interstellar expansion, but I don't think that changes the fact that an advanced race could manufacture and send a lot of probes in all directions. Maybe they've already made it here. Maybe before we even arrived. [1] https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/how-many-cars-are-there-in-the-world-70629 https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/how-many-cars-are-th... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way
- nescioquid 5y ago
  What are the time-scales involved in system formation, the evolution of a technologically sophisticated culture capable of doing what you say, sending probes out (at sub-luminal speeds) and reporting back? Isn't that reason enough to estimate that while there may be such advanced alien societies, we will never have the possibility of contact? Or through a vanishingly small chance, happen to find ourselves in a system relatively near one of those 100-400 billion stars around which such an advance civilization had earlier arisen?
  - King-Aaron 5y ago
    I can't help but wonder that if a non-human post-biology entity has had an extra billion years to develop, they may have solved the distance problem already in ways that we couldn't fathom yet.

echelon 5y ago

> seems unlikely there is advanced nonhuman intelligence hiding in our solar system Maybe. I did some Googling, and apparently the human race has produced between 1 and 2 billion cars in the last 100 years [1]. That's an incredible feat! Assuming a post-biology intelligence has started space manufacturing, they probably have the capacity to produce an incredible volume of intelligent probes. Wikipedia claims that the Milky Way galaxy is composed of 100 - 400 billion stars. [2] This figure isn't far out of the ballpark for the number of cars we've made in 100 years. Creating a single space probe to reach a star is probably within their capability, and I'd wager they can match and exceed our industrial capacity for vehicle production. It's not hard to imagine they could send at least one probe to every star. They have a lot of time to do it, too. Important factors I'm not accounting for are time of travel and interstellar expansion, but I don't think that changes the fact that an advanced race could manufacture and send a lot of probes in all directions. Maybe they've already made it here. Maybe before we even arrived. [1] https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/how-many-cars-are-there-in-the-world-70629 https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/how-many-cars-are-th... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way

nescioquid 5y ago
What are the time-scales involved in system formation, the evolution of a technologically sophisticated culture capable of doing what you say, sending probes out (at sub-luminal speeds) and reporting back? Isn't that reason enough to estimate that while there may be such advanced alien societies, we will never have the possibility of contact? Or through a vanishingly small chance, happen to find ourselves in a system relatively near one of those 100-400 billion stars around which such an advance civilization had earlier arisen?
- King-Aaron 5y ago
  I can't help but wonder that if a non-human post-biology entity has had an extra billion years to develop, they may have solved the distance problem already in ways that we couldn't fathom yet.