The non-existence of alien is a far more disturbing idea than the idea of their existence.
-Bernard Werber
Introduction
There is approximately 10 planets per star, nearly 200.000.000.000 stars per galaxy and also nearly 200.000.000.000 galaxies in the entire universe.
So there is about the same number of grain of sand in earth as stars in the universe, and 10 times more planets.
Life as we actually know based on water and formed by autonomous individuals, can only appears on a very little percentage of these planets, Drake's formula, permit to estimate the potential number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy considering a lot of parameters such as the percentage of rock material based planet, the percentage of needed material based planets, the average duration of an intelligent civilization and much more.
(Data estimated by kepler)
Considering most pessimist variables in these formula's, their would be nearly 100 intelligent civilization per galaxy, so nearly 20.000.000.000.000 civilizations in the universe.
This represent approximately 10 intelligent civilizations per grain of sand cube meter in earth.
Considering average parameters, theses results can be multiplied by 30 and more.
Our solar system is relatively young and most of potential civilization could have been failed at passing the nuclear technology level or something else and/or more evolved. So potential extraterrestrial civilizations would be certainly much more evolved than ours.
So if there could be as much as extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations as described above, why does nobody have been visited us or why does we do not see past traces of ancient visit ?
This question is the Fermi paradox, many hypothesis classed in three categories have been formulated to try solve it.
#1 Hypothesis
Extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations do not exist
This would be due to unique earth conditions in universe and the non-existent other form of life would be explained by the way that the universe has been only created for human soul. This is the theory is often supported by recent forms of religions, however it would suffice that we discover any kind of life in our galaxy to prove this theory wrong.
#2 Hypothesis
Extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations exist but have never enter in contact with us
Some sub-hypothesis have been formulated:
- Because no other extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations have reached a enough evolved technology level to create the contact.
- Because they would have reach a transcendent existent level.
- Because they are biologically or technologically too different to create a contact.
- Because there time dimension is too different from ours.
- Because there is not an extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations that have been capable to reach an advanced technology and understanding level, because of war, lack of resources, ecological disaster and more before have reached a sufficient maturity.
- Because there is no one extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations that are expansionist, a bit (~50%) like ours and hopefully, because if a colonialist civilization like ours but in more evolved reached us, we would relatively soon be reduced to enslavement before been capable of noticing it. In any case, we would probably do that, we would extract their resources and energy and leave out by letting our trash, like how we actually do on our own planet inside our specie.
- Because it was a very very long time ago, they came took interesting resources, that could explain Mendeleev missing elements haha.
- Because they have a fear of us, because of our incredible capacity to massively invest in army and bombs, this could be judged as a bit silly, but personally if i would see all these bomb waves at the surfaces of our planet, i wouldn't go visit them.
- Because they have nothing to care about us, a bit like when we pass at the side of an anthill and prefer spend their time and energy at extracting resources and energy that could explain infrared emitting between mars and Jupiter that is abundant in metals.
#3 Hypothesis
Extraterrestrial intelligent civilizations exist and are/have been in contact with us
- They have been visited our planet and visit it regularly.
- A precursors form of life present in outer space or an other specie sowed life a long time ago, and we would be in fact an extraterrestrial specie, it is the Panspermia called theory.
- They study us at distance without revealed themselves, it is the "cosmological zoo" called theory.
- Earth would be in a dedicated zone that is unreachable or not allowed to interact by other extraterrestrial civilizations in reason of a cosmological pact, it is the cosmological apartheid called theory, no contact would be possible before acquiring a defined level of technology with avoiding self-destruction.
- Earth would be in a powerful "virtual" simulation that would hide extraterritorial traces at the solar system level, it the the called planetarium theory.
- They are within us and/or around us, but they can stay invisible at our eyes and/or take other form due to their god-like advanced level of technologies and are able to modify religious statement and/or even create new one.
In conclusion their is a lot of hypothesis that goes around E.T. forms of life and we don't know the truth. But what is sure is that the truth can be even more incredible and even exceed our theory and/or imaginations.
But if we want to know more about our galaxy, it would be great to unit our power and make some changes, because if we analyse our story, fulfilled of inner conflict and our ability to deplete natural resources while putting dangerous trash in our environment, we could believe that the self destruction can be the most seem to be the most probable explanation of the Fermi paradox, however it's never too late, it would need/suffice to define a strategy to channel the awesome knowledge, inventions and technological improvement made from some years from now to converge to a durable, sustainable and more intelligent (see more respectful of human and nature in general) way of working together in the way to evolve and maybe in some years be able to explore some new solar system. But it will inevitably passing by a questioning about actual establishment in order to be able to think differently and target a better level of understanding and technology.
So for that, we can to stay lucid and take the time to think an share about that :)
Image source
Huge thank's to "Mouton lucide", in particular for his video "These sh*thead aliens" that is a very good french YouTube video creator where this article was mainly written from.
We are the aliens!
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Absolutely ! (from an extra-terrestrial point of view or not)
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When you really break it down you need....
A star about the size of ours (there are millions maybe billions?) with a planet about the same distance as earth, that has water on it.
.......... Thinking there is no other life out there is just ridiculous
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Let's think about this idea.
Earth is billions of years old.
Anything that man has made will turn to dust within 1 million years, yes dust, sand gone from its molded existence.
So let's pretend 500 million years ago when the dinosaurs roamed an alien spaceship crashed here. Maybe they survived here for hundreds of years or maybe it was a smoldering wreck with no survivors. Eventually they all died off. Their ship and what structures they built after the next million years would be dust. Not a single trace.
Possible? I think it is possible even if unlikely.
Earth could have evolved a race with superior technology to what we have today millions and millions of years ago. Then it disappeared, turned to dust some how, without leaving a trace.
The oldest things man made on earth today are about 200,000 years old. All those artifacts were found in caves or buried protected from the environment somehow. Even the Sphynx in Egypt stands today because it was buried under sand for long.
Just my thoughts. I do think aliens have been here maybe still are. Maybe they are looking at us wondering how long it would take them to get here.
Nice post. upped and followed.
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Why not ? Everything is possible, i think trace would have been let unless time or some events would have erase them.
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of course it's possible. I think it is more likely they arrived and disappeared rather than never have arrived.
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In hypothesis 2 you touch upon it but dont go into detail.
What if the speed of light is just that. A barrier that cannot be breached and our fancy theories of getting round it by warping space or wormholes etc are just that. Fancy theories. We would potentially be so far apart that they could never get here.
You could argue that they could have sent a probe millions of years ago but to where. The universe os vast. It is probably to assume that life if it exists elsewhere is not a common thing. So where would they aim?
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We need to open our mind, if there are other civilizations, they would probably destruct themselves or reach a very much more advanced technology/knowledge level.
With actual knowledge and technologies, we consider that we can't go faster than light only because we haven't observed yet something that go faster. Quantum physics do not prove this wrong but tell us that we are far from understanding how the things works, in fact we know nearly nothing and more we understand about quantum physics more this let us to open others questions and see that physics is WTF and sometime nearly not logic.
Personally, i can't imagine that time is not spending the same way depending the mass and speed of the space part and not more than trying to tell me that E-MC2, energy = mass*speedlight2.
Back to 100 years i think they would be even more surprised than me about knowing that. So i know that i don't know and i could be very surprised.
But if this stay true even in the future, this do not mean that it's impossible to travel, maybe they can do teleportation, sub-space traveling, maybe there is hidden spaces dimensions or something else how could we know ?
Comparing to our knowledge and technology level it's a bit like asking or trying to explain to an ant or a even a plant how do we went to the moon or how to run a nuclear reactor, maybe we're just not enough evolved to receive this knowledge or just image how this could be possible.
Maybe their exist univers guardian that that create, sow, observe and regulate life.
Everything is possible, imagination can be used, maybe reality exceeds fiction, however back to earth from a logical point of view, we only know that we don't know how it could be possible and this let us many possibility to think about it.
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Don't get me wrong. I am hopeful that in future we will overcome the limitations of the speed of light be it whatever way that is.
What I am saying is a potential answer to the fermi paradox being that maybe it just isn't possible.
What you are saying is that I am basing this upon our current knowledge. I am fully aware that with strides there may be ways around distant travel to the stars
but
Perhaps there isn't. Perhaps that is why we have never heard.
I believe life exists out there but whether we will ever get to know if it I am not so sure. Technologies undreamt of by us may be possible. Perhaps the emergence of AI will circumvent many of these things by calculating ways for us. Perhaps using quantum teleportation we can send artificial life out there at speeds or through methods which would kill non mechanical life.
There is a world of possibilty but there is also that possibilty that we may never know.
Over a period of billions of years we might have missed them. They may have come and gone as you say. Destroyed themselves. Civilisations rise and fall. They might not exist yet. We might just be in an awkward time frame of in between.
In fact what if they exist but on a dimension or in a form that we do not recognise as life?
Another very large possibility is that we are looking at the issue from a human perspective. We seek evidence of life out there. Why would another sentient race do the same it feel the same need?
A very thought provoking article. I could talk about it for days on end ;0)
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Yes possibly, everything is possible or can be true unless we prove it right (if it is possible) unless we prove it false (if possible too) so this might be the answer.
I personally think that maybe our knowledge do not permit us to understand a way to travel but not by the way we think about. Maybe we can access to a sub-space or something like that simply would make take us a shorter path a bit like when we say that to go at the opposide side of the earth it take 22'000 km, but if we pass trough the heart of the earth it only takes ~14000 km however we do not what is under-earth and how to do that.
This but at an other scale (of thought not distance).
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I like to think of it as under space ;0)
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If you prefer, i'm not a native speaker i don't always hold the right term, tank's for correction
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there are some youtube videos that are sure convincing lol
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Introduction section data is scientifically certified and hypothesis are hypothesis
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didnt we find life on mars before? isnt that alien? I may be mistaking.
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I don't know, i think so
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we have yet to find life there or even traces/fossils of past life. It would be top News if we found that; unless Kanye had mental episode that same day. lol
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lmao
I must of been thinking of this, http://www.astrobio.net/mars/potential-signs-ancient-life-mars-rover-photos/
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I am pretty much on board with all that article you shared had to say. Mars is incredibly similar in many ways to earth. Based on current public info; I have no scientific choice but to assume life,has yet, on Mars existed. Though that is compelling evidence, really, i am still skeptical.
When they find Tardigras or similar fossil/life i will be a believer.
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