4 ms·

Sounds like an answer to the Fermi Paradox if I ever heard one. It's not an answer I like. But then, that's probably true for most potential answers to that p

Sounds like an answer to the Fermi Paradox if I ever heard one. It's not an answer I like. But then, that's probably true for most potential answers to that particular question.

SerpentJoe 12y ago
Manifold: Space by Stephen Baxter covers this conjecture, for anyone interested in a fictional treatment.
- bashinator 12y ago
  One of his best novels, in my opinion. Fantastically huge ideas, and yet has pretty well developed characters for an SF novel. The ending is incredibly poignant. Diaspora by Greg Egan also has a first-hand depiction of a gamma-ray burst hitting the Earth.
  - Florin_Andrei 12y ago
    If you're interested in Physics and Cosmology, Baxter is a very, very fascinating author. I just find his style a bit dry. But it's worth it for the mind-bending ideas.
- declan 12y ago
  And Jack McDevitt's The Devil's Eye also has a fictional treatment of gamma ray bursts, if I recall properly: http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Alex-Benedict-Novel/dp/0441017851/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/175-2388621-6954410 http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Alex-Benedict-Novel/dp/0441...
- nitid_name 12y ago
  The whole Manifold series is interesting. Each Manifold book stands in its own universe, but uses the same cast of characters with a different set of answers to Fermi. I got on a Baxter kick after powering through his Long Earth books (ostensibly coauthored with Terry Pratchett, though Pratchett's fingerprints are rather non-existent after first book). As long as you're ok with Baxter's strong dislike of organized religion, he seems to be one of the better modern science fiction writers.
Florin_Andrei 12y ago
"If you look at our current technology level, something strange has to happen to civilisations, and I mean strange in a bad way." - Elon Musk
- riffraff 12y ago
  that is generally known as "the great filter" theory, methinks, in the case of "the great filter is still in front of us".
lukifer 12y ago
A possible answer to Fermi that I don't hear often: that there's plenty of life in the universe, but it's long-lived, and very, very slow. If you assume that intelligence inevitably separates from its physical substrate into some form of persistent data, this is the logical way to get around the light-speed limit: you go dormant and simply wait the thousand years it takes to get a reply, or the hundred-thousand years it takes to arrive at a new solar system. Such intelligences would only interested in speaking to other "Space Ents" (anything else must seem like a fruit fly in comparison), and it's prohibitively expensive to saturate the galaxy with signal, so maybe you send targeted pings at promising worlds every few thousand years. Maybe that's the Wow! signal [1]. Or maybe we just haven't been around long enough to get our first hello. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  Or maybe all signals are encrypted and compressed, and look like noise. Like most of our signals currently do.
  - daveloyall 12y ago
    Yes. I'd use pulsars as a carrier. ..Simply surround a few with a bunch of micro satellites make a sort of shutter... Of course, for a long time we were simply unaware of radio signals. Maybe we're currently unaware of foo signals.
deciplex 12y ago
Is it? Even accounting for this, you'd still expect the galaxy to be teeming with life, even with pessimistic values for the various other parameters.

Sounds like an answer to the Fermi Paradox if I ever heard one. It's not an answer I like. But then, that's probably true for most potential answers to that particular question.

SerpentJoe 12y ago

Manifold: Space by Stephen Baxter covers this conjecture, for anyone interested in a fictional treatment.

bashinator 12y ago
One of his best novels, in my opinion. Fantastically huge ideas, and yet has pretty well developed characters for an SF novel. The ending is incredibly poignant. Diaspora by Greg Egan also has a first-hand depiction of a gamma-ray burst hitting the Earth.
- Florin_Andrei 12y ago
  If you're interested in Physics and Cosmology, Baxter is a very, very fascinating author. I just find his style a bit dry. But it's worth it for the mind-bending ideas.
declan 12y ago
And Jack McDevitt's The Devil's Eye also has a fictional treatment of gamma ray bursts, if I recall properly: http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Alex-Benedict-Novel/dp/0441017851/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top/175-2388621-6954410 http://www.amazon.com/The-Devils-Alex-Benedict-Novel/dp/0441...
nitid_name 12y ago
The whole Manifold series is interesting. Each Manifold book stands in its own universe, but uses the same cast of characters with a different set of answers to Fermi. I got on a Baxter kick after powering through his Long Earth books (ostensibly coauthored with Terry Pratchett, though Pratchett's fingerprints are rather non-existent after first book). As long as you're ok with Baxter's strong dislike of organized religion, he seems to be one of the better modern science fiction writers.

Florin_Andrei 12y ago

"If you look at our current technology level, something strange has to happen to civilisations, and I mean strange in a bad way." - Elon Musk

riffraff 12y ago
that is generally known as "the great filter" theory, methinks, in the case of "the great filter is still in front of us".

lukifer 12y ago

A possible answer to Fermi that I don't hear often: that there's plenty of life in the universe, but it's long-lived, and very, very slow. If you assume that intelligence inevitably separates from its physical substrate into some form of persistent data, this is the logical way to get around the light-speed limit: you go dormant and simply wait the thousand years it takes to get a reply, or the hundred-thousand years it takes to arrive at a new solar system. Such intelligences would only interested in speaking to other "Space Ents" (anything else must seem like a fruit fly in comparison), and it's prohibitively expensive to saturate the galaxy with signal, so maybe you send targeted pings at promising worlds every few thousand years. Maybe that's the Wow! signal [1]. Or maybe we just haven't been around long enough to get our first hello. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
Or maybe all signals are encrypted and compressed, and look like noise. Like most of our signals currently do.
- daveloyall 12y ago
  Yes. I'd use pulsars as a carrier. ..Simply surround a few with a bunch of micro satellites make a sort of shutter... Of course, for a long time we were simply unaware of radio signals. Maybe we're currently unaware of foo signals.

deciplex 12y ago

Is it? Even accounting for this, you'd still expect the galaxy to be teeming with life, even with pessimistic values for the various other parameters.