Really Something To Think About. . . . . .

[DragaoDHJ]

The Fermi Paradox. . . .  

. . . and Bill Nye gives a possible answer.

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Bill Nye may be correct. However it is still something to think about. Imagine, what if intelligent life in the universe begins with us? 

[PartTimeBrewer]

Great Post!  I have always been fascinated by the Fermi Paradox.  My position has been that the "filters" discussed in the 1st video are so effective that life, at least life capable of searching for, and communicating with other life has probably been rare in the universe up to this point in time.  Nye says we must be patient because we haven't collected nearly enough data for a universe as big and old as ours seems to be.  Without introducing any metaphysical agenda, I am drawn to the idea that the universe. from the beginning has been evolving and has reached a stage where, taken holistically, it is just on the verge of blooming into a state of conscious self-awareness and that life on earth might just be at or near the beginning of that stage.  Therefore we may not be alone, but may be rare enough, at least at our state of development, to deter easy detection of others.

Of course the discovery of extraterrestrial life at any stage would be momentous and given that simpler life forms might be considerably more prevalent, they may be easier to identify even if they are not trying to communicate with us.

[PartTimeBrewer]

I am engrossed with the possibility of detecting the presence of self reproducing, extraterrestrial Von Neuman Machines. Although not mentioned specifically in the 1st video, the relatively rapid exploration of the galaxy by an advanced technological civilization would most likely utilize them.  Some futurists have said that we are within a century or two of being capable of producing our own.  Would we do it and turn them loose on the universe if we could? If so, wouldn't some other earlier civilization have already done so? Could we not detect them, or their influence if they are already out there? Given that they would surely be programmed with a drive for self-preservation as well as the capacity to reproduce, would they not evolve into new "life forms", perhaps with their own agenda?