Oh look, it’s no aliens. No aliens there. No aliens there. And just over here, a distinct lack of aliens. In any case there are three fairly good reasons
why they probably still haven’t said hello yet yet. And they are as follows. The first is technology. Lots of scientists are searching the skies
for messages from aliens in the form of radio waves. We've had radio waves for about a century. Our species has been around for about 1.5 million
years so that's about 0.005 % of how long we’ve been on the planet or you know, this. Just here. Yeah, that’s you and.... your pathetic life. Radio is the best we've got at the moment,
but do you really want to bet it's the best mode of communication we'll always have forever? What if, in say, a thousand years, just here,
we discover another mode of communication? Imagine you're an ape living in the forest
and one day you decide there must be other, smarter apes out there so you start trying
to communicate with them. What would you do? Probably everything you know how to. Shout a bit. Throw shit. Give up. Much like my recent experiences with the Bulgarian
immigration office. And all that time, you're going to be missing
the fact that there are smarter hairless apes out there, billions of them, flying right
over you in big metal birds, and transmitting magic waves straight through your body without
you ever knowing. Because, frankly, the idea is just too far
out for your little ape brain right now So, we're about here, with technology we've
had for this long, and we're expecting all aliens to be here too. In reality, if they've probably been around
for longer than we have, they might be here, using technology we can’t even imagine right
now. The second problem is smarts and it's even
harder to get around. Every time we send out a Hi? Into the cosmos it assumes aliens would even
give a shit about talking to us in the first place. We'd like to think they would. I mean look at all of our fascinating culture. Look at all of our noble accomplishments. Look at the wonderful feats we're capable
of. Look at all of the fantastic things we have to boast about. The thing is, and I've covered this one before
in a video about AI, how much of shit do we give about species on our own planet less
intelligent than us? We're certainly not trying to teach them how
to do calculus or play the accordion. Why? Because you're lovely, Charles Bonobo ape,
congratulations on evolving this far, Mr. Johnny Crow face, but you’re both going to suck
as a wingman. You don’t even have an alphabet or pornography
yet. No offense but evolve a bit then we’ll chat
yeah? Likewise, if you're some smart arse alien
civilisation who has discovered antigravity and hangover free alcohol, how much would you really
have to say to primitive warring monkeys who still haven't even cracked immortality? Sup. How's war and social media and still using
toilet paper working out for you? Yeah, let's chat again when you’re not still
total idiots, eh? Ciao. And that's also ignoring the problem that
their brains might not even be wired remotely like ours. If they have brains. Their language – if they have a language
– might be so difficult to speak – if it's spoken – that we can't even reply – if
they write to us in the first place. Just look at the diversity of life on Earth. Anyone speak dolphin? No? I’ve got a GCSE in Spanish if that helps. That's the second problem, intelligence, and
it relies on us finding other species who are at almost exactly the same point in development
as us. That is, slightly above flinging our own faeces,
but still trying to blow each other up. The final problem, my personal favourite,
is extinction and this is kind of the one to worry about. One answer to: if the universe is so big,
where be aliens though? Is, well... 70 years ago or so we discovered nuclear weapons. There are now around 15,000 warheads on the
planet, capable of obliterating life a few times over. This has happened in 7 decades. In the entire history of technology we went
from a bit mouthy but most harmless to could wipe themselves and everything else out in
just under an hour . And that's just one technology we've discovered. Do you wanna bet we're not going to find more? Doesn't even have to be weaponry. There might be something built into physics
for example where species accidentally create black holes or some other deadly event, or
incurable superbugs, or that giant Yellowstone tit thing going off, not to forget all the
methane under the ocean, solar flares that could roast our entire civilisations with
only a few minutes warning, or just another asteroid like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs
or just anything along those lines. If other species are out there, they’re
probably facing, or have faced, the same threats. It might be that only 1% of civilisations
get through that window and evolve into peace-loving-tech-monkeys at the other end. Or it might be 0% explaining why no one's
out there returning our calls. So, that's the happy haps. Where be aliens? Probably dead/too evolved/too
far away/busy playing civ 6. Steam handle exurb1a by the way. Because to even get a reply back we might
need to be at exactly the right point in technological development, sending messages that actually
appear smart enough, to civilisations who haven't already fucking wiped themselves out. If it makes you feel any better, keep in mind
we’re the smartest, most intellectual, sophisticated, and sentient, creatures we’ve found in the
entire universe so far. Then again you also began life as an orgasm Stay humble Bye.
We just need better wifi.
Evolve harder, bitches
For those who want to know more, this whole idea is known as the Fermi Paradox. Very interesting stuff, and every logical solution to the paradox has immense implications about life, the universe, and everything.
I love this guy Check out 3:28. There is a hierarchy of accomplishments with "considers installing Linux" just above mastering time travel.
Huh, he used one of my pictures at 4:16. Not something you stumble over everyday.
would've been nice if he didn't ignore the creative commons license though. is asking for credit really too much?
Or maybe it's because we've only been looking within an area equivalent in size to the galaxy's pinky toe nail.
I fucking lost it when I saw "No Man's Sky" in one of the biggest human fuck ups slideshow.
The not intelligent enough to speak to argument glosses over the differing levels of self awareness in intelligent species. To me, it seems that language has unlocked such a cascade in increasing self awareness, that humanity has truly crossed a line into a different kind of self awareness.
I think it's possible that crossing this line means we should be able to communicate with other species more advanced than us in a way that we cannot communicate with dolphins. But whether or not this is true is unknowable until we can test it.
Pasting something I've posted before.
What if we're the first intelligent life form in the universe?
The universe is 13 billion years old? In the grand scheme of things that's quite young. Maybe a few star cycles.
The first stars possibly wouldn't have supported life due to a lack of heavy elements which are created through their deaths.
Our solar system took 5 billion years to develop intelligent life. Maybe we're some of or even the first / most intelligent beings in the universe.