5 ms·

>The galaxy is insanely quiet, which worries me. Genuinely curious - why does that worry you?

crystalmeph 5y ago
I’m not the poster you’re asking this of, but the reasons why a seemingly empty universe are concerning basically all boil down to “it indicates that the universe is hostile to civilization specifically, or to life in general.” If the universe is neutral or friendly to civilizations, then we should expect to find someone out there in fairly short order. The universe is so large, even if there’s only a one in several billion chance of a particular solar system birthing a civilization, there should be a few others besides us already in the Milky Way. If there’s not anyone else, the best case is that we are simply the first (this is my personal bet). Worse scenarios include civilizations simply fail and die after some time, or that one “predator” civilization kills off any other civilizations it finds before they can become a threat.
- gpt5 5y ago
  > the best case is that we are simply the first (this is my personal bet) This would be odd given that 95% of the stars to ever be created in our universe have already been made. https://nautil.us/issue/104/harmony/the-universe-already-made-almost-all-the-stars-it-will-ever-make https://nautil.us/issue/104/harmony/the-universe-already-mad...
behnamoh 5y ago
As Arthur C. Clark said: Either we're alone or we're not. Both are equally scary. To think that with billions of stars, each with at least one planet, intelligent life only happened on one planet (the Earth) means intelligent life is super rare, even if life in general happens on many planets. This means if we get hit by an asteroid or don't get passed the Great Filter, the only ones who "think" about this universe and give a meaning to it will be gone forever.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  I suspect that intelligence is an inevitable evolutionary step once a nervous system is in place. Nearly all animals have evolved towards increasing intelligence.
Cyphase 5y ago
I assume it's a reference to the Great Filter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter The rough idea is that the galaxy seeming insanely quiet could potentially imply that it's rare for life to reach a level which we can easily detect; space-faring, multi-planetary, capable of astro-engineering, etc. If that is the case, it might be that there is a "Great Filter" which tends to knock these civilizations back into their stone age, or kill them outright. Maybe it's nuclear weapons, or grey goo, or biological experiments that break containment, or an AI that decides to kill its makers, or even just conventional wars that stunt their growth, etc. Generally, some kind of technological development or societal event that leads to that civilization going/staying dark to the galaxy. The potentially worrying question is: have we passed the Great Filter? Or is it still somewhere in our future? There are any number of things that might kill or stunt humanity in its crib, before we spread out far enough to be able to persist. And even then, how long is it going to be before a nuclear holocaust on Earth would no longer effectively cripple humanity, even if we've colonized the solar system and could nominally survive it? Or imagine AI-infused grey goo that spreads throughout the solar system. There may also be more than one Great Filter.
- causi 5y ago
  Yes, although there are more esoteric alternatives to the Great Filter. For example, the idea that our universe is a simulation and the number of sapient species is deliberately limited by the controllers to few or perhaps just us.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    The simulation idea has an awful lot in common with religions. It has the same problems: 1. it offers no testable predictions 2. it explains everything, yet explains nothing
    - simonh 5y ago
      They also both posit the existence of a supreme being. Either an all powerful god, or an all powerful sysadmin. I’d go further and say they require such a being, despite us having reason to believe such a being is not compatible with our understanding of how the universe actually works. Just as the existence of an all powerful eternal being doesn’t seem compatible with what we know about what’s possible in the universe, I have severe doubts that a simulation of the fidelity we observe in our existence is practical to build in our universe.
hulitu 5y ago
Not OP but my take is: the silence before the storm :).
monkeycantype 5y ago
Maybe there’s a better place with no entropy just a portal away

I’m not the poster you’re asking this of, but the reasons why a seemingly empty universe are concerning basically all boil down to “it indicates that the universe is hostile to civilization specifically, or to life in general.” If the universe is neutral or friendly to civilizations, then we should expect to find someone out there in fairly short order. The universe is so large, even if there’s only a one in several billion chance of a particular solar system birthing a civilization, there should be a few others besides us already in the Milky Way. If there’s not anyone else, the best case is that we are simply the first (this is my personal bet). Worse scenarios include civilizations simply fail and die after some time, or that one “predator” civilization kills off any other civilizations it finds before they can become a threat.

gpt5 5y ago
> the best case is that we are simply the first (this is my personal bet) This would be odd given that 95% of the stars to ever be created in our universe have already been made. https://nautil.us/issue/104/harmony/the-universe-already-made-almost-all-the-stars-it-will-ever-make https://nautil.us/issue/104/harmony/the-universe-already-mad...

behnamoh 5y ago

As Arthur C. Clark said: Either we're alone or we're not. Both are equally scary. To think that with billions of stars, each with at least one planet, intelligent life only happened on one planet (the Earth) means intelligent life is super rare, even if life in general happens on many planets. This means if we get hit by an asteroid or don't get passed the Great Filter, the only ones who "think" about this universe and give a meaning to it will be gone forever.

WalterBright 5y ago
I suspect that intelligence is an inevitable evolutionary step once a nervous system is in place. Nearly all animals have evolved towards increasing intelligence.

Cyphase 5y ago

I assume it's a reference to the Great Filter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Filter The rough idea is that the galaxy seeming insanely quiet could potentially imply that it's rare for life to reach a level which we can easily detect; space-faring, multi-planetary, capable of astro-engineering, etc. If that is the case, it might be that there is a "Great Filter" which tends to knock these civilizations back into their stone age, or kill them outright. Maybe it's nuclear weapons, or grey goo, or biological experiments that break containment, or an AI that decides to kill its makers, or even just conventional wars that stunt their growth, etc. Generally, some kind of technological development or societal event that leads to that civilization going/staying dark to the galaxy. The potentially worrying question is: have we passed the Great Filter? Or is it still somewhere in our future? There are any number of things that might kill or stunt humanity in its crib, before we spread out far enough to be able to persist. And even then, how long is it going to be before a nuclear holocaust on Earth would no longer effectively cripple humanity, even if we've colonized the solar system and could nominally survive it? Or imagine AI-infused grey goo that spreads throughout the solar system. There may also be more than one Great Filter.

causi 5y ago
Yes, although there are more esoteric alternatives to the Great Filter. For example, the idea that our universe is a simulation and the number of sapient species is deliberately limited by the controllers to few or perhaps just us.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  The simulation idea has an awful lot in common with religions. It has the same problems: 1. it offers no testable predictions 2. it explains everything, yet explains nothing
  - simonh 5y ago
    They also both posit the existence of a supreme being. Either an all powerful god, or an all powerful sysadmin. I’d go further and say they require such a being, despite us having reason to believe such a being is not compatible with our understanding of how the universe actually works. Just as the existence of an all powerful eternal being doesn’t seem compatible with what we know about what’s possible in the universe, I have severe doubts that a simulation of the fidelity we observe in our existence is practical to build in our universe.

hulitu 5y ago

Not OP but my take is: the silence before the storm :).

monkeycantype 5y ago

Maybe there’s a better place with no entropy just a portal away