Unsettling Theories About Potential Aliens (& Solutions to The Fermi Paradox)

this video is sponsored by the book summary service blinkist the first 100 people to use the link in the description will receive one free week of unlimited access and 25 off a full membership it is a strange moment in adolescence when you first start to truly comprehend the concept of where you are your position on a solitary planet in a vast seemingly unending space of some strange incomprehensibly immense thing we call universe around the same time we realized not only the absurdity of this bizarre condition but also despite our surroundings being so apparently massive potentially infinite rife with other stuff other galaxies other planets other stars and so on somehow we also appear to be potentially alone one can't help but question how this could be the case how could we be the only ones with the observable universe being about 90 billion light years in diameter roughly about 13.8 billion years old with likely around 10 to 12 billion years of stable conditions containing trillions of planets with inhabitable zones potentially suitable for life where it would really only have taken one early form of life to develop and evolve enough over just millions of years to have colonized an entire galaxy or more by now it is puzzling at the very least to consider that despite all of this the universe is not teeming with other intelligent life let alone no apparent confirmed signs at all the curious nature of this is what is known as the fermi paradox the fermi paradox essentially proposes that it is not merely ominous and mysterious in general that we appear to be alone but it is also logically and mathematically disjointed from what many physicists and other experts argue should be the case ever since and prior to the fermi paradox being conceived a number of theories have and continue to form that attempt to resolve it after all perhaps the premise of the paradox is wrong or perhaps it's standing on false information or perhaps the answer is an answer that doesn't seem like an answer when considered through our anthropocentric intuitions and rather must be considered from a more detached mode of thinking the following are seven hypotheses that attempt to do this some are original or at least attempt to be some are pre-existing and some are combinations it should also be noted that there is of course the separate possibility that we have knowingly seen other forms of life there have been many ufo sightings and claims of alien encounters over the years and more recently there have been even more intriguing sightings confirmed by the pentagon and other military and government officials however insofar as anyone knows anyone knows for sure all sightings are as best as we can tell unclear and so let's grant that we have not seen any other life forms and even if we have the question still remains why are they still so infrequent and unobvious why is the universe not densely packed with life some galactic or intergalactic colonies and civilizations why haven't there been more conclusive visitations or attempts to communicate why is the night sky not lit with the cosmic city instead of lifeless stars hypothesis one the fishbowl hypothesis an obvious question that arises when considering the possibility of a first contact with an extraterrestrial life form is what could we do if we did could we communicate with them in any meaningful way why should we assume so right now there are countless species on earth that we cannot communicate with in any meaningful way at all no matter how hard we try and so even in the best of cases in which another extraterrestrial life form was intelligent enough to communicate in a traditional sense the disparity between our forms of cognition evolutionary backgrounds and so forth could still be significant enough to make it so that there is not enough common ground to stand on to understand each other however more relevant to the fermi paradox here is taking this several steps further if it is possible if not likely that we would not be able to communicate with other beings is it not also possible that with sufficiently different biological backgrounds physical makeups states of nature conditions and dimensions in time and space and whatever else the disparity may be so great we might not even be able to perceive them or perhaps we can perceive them but not with any meaningful distinction or the mental framework to process that in fact we are many of the species we cannot communicate with on earth right now experience this with us a goldfish in a bowl in a child's bedroom does not and cannot know that it is in a human being's bedroom in a town or city made and filled with other human beings it does not know that it is fed and interacted with by a higher form of conscious intelligent life it does not meaningfully comprehend that there is a human in the room with it nor what the human is saying if they talk to it or why they are doing anything when they do something the fish is confined by the upper limits of its cognition is it not possible that this could be the case for us where we are like lower animals to some other species that we cannot see or comprehend the nature of perhaps even in the room with us right now two the containment hypotheses following a similar line of thinking it's also possible that we are not even in the universe in the way we think we are at all it might be the case not that we are incapable of perceiving some other nearby alien life forms but that we are intentionally isolated by them in some sort of structure physical digital or otherwise disconnected and removed from reality outside of it one version of this is argued for by a hypothesis known as the planetarium hypothesis proposed by science fiction author stephen baxter in 2001 which speculates that when we look out into space we are actually observing an artificial or virtual rendering created by a more advanced civilization engineered in such a way to give off the illusion that we are alone this parallels with the ever increasing popular theories surrounding the simulation hypothesis which argues that all of existence as we know it is a computer simulation engineered by some advanced species the forms and reasons for some sort of contained state are endless something as simple as entertainment or research for other beings or something more sinister like being imprisoned or quarantined or of course something else so complex we cannot even begin to imagine three the island hypothesis still continuing down a similar train of thought it could be the case that we are not contained in any removed artificial structure or thing nor are we incapable of perceiving some other nearby alien life forms around us but rather we are left alone in space on purpose if there was an island in the middle of the ocean that if any humans went anywhere near it they would inevitably and horribly be infected by whatever species lived on it we would all avoid it likewise if there was a species that lived on the island that was capable of outmatching and killing large quantities of humans or requiring humans to kill all of them in defense we would also avoid it perhaps it is the case that to other more advanced life forms we are that species and that island is earth another existing iteration of this is the hypothesis known as the zoo hypothesis which suggests that we could be contained in some sort of cosmic wilderness preserve or zoo protected by some galactic government ordinance intentionally left alone in order to preserve our natural development or perhaps similar to the containment hypotheses we are left alone for entertainment or research purposes in which we are observed from a distance this particular hypothesis category along with some versions of the containment hypotheses could also explain some amount of ufo sightings in which there are sort of check-ins or accidental and illegal fly-throughs four the remote isolation hypotheses perhaps a consequence of the universe's size in relation to the potentially low odds of life forming the odds are also such that any life that does form is bound to be extremely spread out thus civilizations may just never and likely will never come in contact no matter how smart or relatively extended past their home planets they become or perhaps there are some other civilizations who have already crossed paths and coexist in some sort of galactic colony or organization but we just happened by chance to be one that was birthed too far out in the remote woods of the cosmos there might be no reason for others to go into these cosmic woods except for perhaps very rare circumstances like occasional hikers in remote sections of the woods who quickly move on when they noticed a nest of another species leaving us with no way out extending off that is number five the predator hypotheses taking a slightly darker turn on the woods analogy one version of a predator hypotheses is known as the dark forest hypothesis initially thought of by science fiction writer xi xin liu which suggests that perhaps the reason other species don't go out exploring into the remote areas of the cosmos is not because of indifference but because they are aware of how dangerous it is how risky it is to let your existence be known haphazardly send out signals and run about the cosmos perhaps there is unyielding danger lurking just around the corners that we are not yet aware of more specifically perhaps there is some particular entity or entity group that was first to successfully evolve in the universe or is just the most dangerous one that has and it now controls and monitors the universe if this were the case it would likely be in this species interests and nature to want to maintain its control and seeing as how it would likely have needed to develop very aggressive and powerful abilities to make it into such a spot it would likely possess unmatched aggression and power thus the species might find it both essential and easy to destroy any life that it determines has developed enough to be a potential threat which we have just not reached yet this would then eliminate all new incoming intelligent life rendering the cosmos apparently desolate while this predator generally maintains stealthy concealment alternatively perhaps it's the exact opposite in number six what we'll call the evolutionary revolution hypotheses it is also possible that the more intelligent a species gets the more passive and less interested in colonization or outward physical activity it becomes if a species is evolved enough technologically or otherwise it is reasonable to assume a higher likeliness that such a species has developed a high degree of efficiency and effectiveness and thus has an abundance of available time and resources this could then reduce if not entirely eliminate the majority of its competitive tendencies need or desire for violence unethical and deceitful behaviors interest in broader physical ownership and perhaps desire as a whole this could then lead to a number of outcomes one perhaps being something that might appear to us to be a sort of reversal of evolution in which the life form as it continues forward in time and space and becomes more intelligent its efforts and behaviors appear to return to that of complete passivity like an amoeba or paramecium or gas-like substance there's no obvious reason to assume that the ultimate path of evolution is a straight line forward in any particular direction it very well could be more of a loop if this were true this would then mean that all life once it becomes theoretically smart and capable enough to reach other beings it doesn't because it simply doesn't care to another potential form of an evolutionary revolution that fits with our more traditional assumptions of evolution would be a case in which all intelligent species realize at a certain point of their advancement that the outside physical universe is of lesser value and interest than artificial states of existence that they can create through technology this is suggested by the transcension hypothesis created by futurist john smart where the endgame of all intelligent life is inevitable self-isolation into something like a supercomputer megastructure like a dyson sphere a theoretical technology structure that wraps around and is fueled by an entire star in the same way a human right now may choose to stay at home and watch tv play video games or use their computer or phone as opposed to going out into the physical world this could be the case time some unfathomable multiple across entire civilizations of higher intelligent life forms thus also in this case any species that was technologically capable of reaching out into the universe would just never want to last in this category is what we'll call the self-extinction hypothesis in this case once intelligent beings reach a certain level of higher awareness they inevitably and inescapably realize that sentient existence is fundamentally negative and thus determine it unethical to continue birthing more of themselves all species in this case would then eventually universally cease reproduction or terminate by some other means until they run themselves out and never extend much past their home planets last on the list is number seven what is known as the rare earth hypothesis ultimately the conclusion of this hypothesis is that the fermi paradox isn't really that paradoxical the math might simply suggest that once one accounts for all the variables and all the things that need to go exactly right in exactly the right order for a long enough stretch of time without any major break in the chain life forming especially intelligent conscious life is simply very very unlikely to exist and so it would then make perfect sense that it doesn't and that we appear to be alone because we are we could simply be the firstborn child of the universe or perhaps we could be one of the only surviving children after all more than 99 of all species that have ever lived on earth have died out we are currently of that one percent one could apply those same odds to life in the cosmos where almost all life dies out and only one percent survives at least this far and we might currently be the one percent of that one percent destined to hit a layer of zero percent life might just be extremely rare to start and it might just get increasingly rare the longer it sticks around of course any of these in other unmentioned hypotheses could be combined with each other in various ways and also of course it could be none and something else entirely if you've ever explored this subject you've almost certainly heard the arthur c clarke quote two possibilities exist either we are alone in the universe or we are not both are equally terrifying it's almost a cliche at this point but this quote really deserves its frequent usage it so powerfully and succinctly summarizes the crux of this issue our condition in the cosmos there may be a way out of the fermi paradox there may be an explanation one way or the other but there is no way out of the terror and wonder that all solutions leave us with no matter what the case whether we are alone or not to ponder such terrifying yet awe-inspiring possibilities to knowingly carry the faberge egg of existence through the chaotic mysterious turbulence of the cosmos it's perhaps insofar as we can tell for now a once in a universe opportunity this video was sponsored by blinkist given what we can suppose is true about the universe assuming we are not in some simulation or contained state even in its basic physical form the universe is an utterly perplexing place how did it even begin in the first place most scientists agree that it was through the big bang but how did this occur and why his time appeared as a function of this seemingly only going forward confining everything within it all of this and more are discussed in stephen hawking's book a brief history of time which you can find a brief summary of and save some of your time while you still have it using the book summary app blinkist perhaps you're interested in learning about these sorts of questions but don't have the initial interest to read the full 250 page book and or perhaps this is the case for other books by condensing complete books down into around 15-minute summaries blinkist allows you to explore topics and books more easily and conveniently without sacrificing much additional time this also allows you to better determine which books you are interested in reading in full before spending the time to do so the blinkist summaries can either be read or listened to and can be accessed even while you're offline and better yet blinkist now also has complete audiobooks of select titles as well as podcast summaries from popular podcasts so you can dive completely into the books and topics you want to all in the same place blinkist has 27 categories with 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Channel: Pursuit of Wonder

Views: 671,238

Rating: 4.9282699 out of 5

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Id: LkSvtN25nFU

Length: 17min 42sec (1062 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 15 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/arnfden0]

I'd like to raise a point here: We cannot directly communicate with other animals at the point where we would be able to carry a conversation. To have an intricate exchange of ideas. True fact.

HOWEVER, one can't disregard the fact that there is also communication with animals up to a certain level. For instance, pets respond to commands or when they are called by their given name. They can howl or meow to their owners when hungry or they need to evacuate. Simply because they can understand that we humans directly communicate orally. There's also pets feeling shame when they did something wrong and were confronted with it. Also, pets can sense when their owners are emotionally unstable and can offer comfort without being directly asked for it. We've done experiments with dolphins where they can press a button which they associate with food. Chimps who are taught sign language. ETC.

Since there is no fundamental need for us to directly communicate with other animals on this planet, science doesn't bother to venture into this field. If we humans, most advanced on this planet, are capable of achieving some form of communication with domesticated animals. Who's to say that a more advanced intelligence wouldn't be capable of figuring out a way to communicate with us. If they are open to interact and aren't blinded by hubris. In other words, a more advanced intelligence would be willing to figure out a means by which to communicate with another species which they do not look down upon.

Last, on the USS Nimitz encounter. The pilled shaped craft which interacted with Fravor, noticed the hornet upon descend and proceeded to mirror the maneuver by going upwards in a circular motion counter to that of the hornet. This denotes intelligence. Later, when it moved at hypersonic speed away from those coordinates. The craft appeared at the CAP point. One could interpret this as a way to communicate something along the lines of "We are watching you."

[u/atrde]

There is a 99% chance it is the remote theory tbh.

FTL travel could very likely be impossible. Wormholes likely won't work as you can't go in and out one side without deconstructing.

The universe is huge but it really could be a case of 1 intelligent species per galaxy, and 1/10 intelligent species will ever leave their planet.

Just look at our current understanding of exoplanets. 99% of what we find isn't habitable. Most stars we find can't support life. Even Sun-like stars we find end up giving off too much energy/ radiation to support life.

Maybe the preconditions for life are a perfect star, a Moon for tides, a rotation somewhat close to what Earth's is, a good mix of water and land, dozens of mass extinctions to create oil, being pollinated by the right elements, and more.

For example Venus should be able to support life, however unlike Earth it didn't collide with another planet to speed up its rotation and also give it a perfect moon. Because of this the planet eventually started a runaway Greenhouse Gas effect and sealed its fate. Venus a perfectly habitable planet can't support life... because it didn't collide with another planet. So what are the fucking chances of life in our universe if that has to happen to every life supporting planet?

We are very likely alone.

[u/jcarletto27]

If you like this kind of content check out SFIA on YouTube. Isaac Arthur presents all sorts of great videos on the various Fermi paradox solutions as well as other futurology topics.

[u/Ton86]

The problem with the Fermi Paradox is that not many accept the circumstantial evidence and governments would likely try to suppress the good stuff to reverse engineer it for an advantage over adversaries or to catch up to potential alien threats. Viewed from another perspective it's actually an argument for some of the claimed evidence for alien life being legit.