(Successor site to CoPhilosophy, 2011-2020)
A collaborative search for wisdom, at Middle Tennessee State University and beyond... "The pluralistic form takes for me a stronger hold on reality than any other philosophy I know of, being essentially a social philosophy, a philosophy of 'co'"-William James
As a species we are all inclined to ask many questions about the nature of the universe and of our own existence. Such questions like, "Does God exist?" "How did the universe begin?" "How will it end?" and one that is very important to our place in the universe and further making of science fiction media, "Do aliens exist?" This is the question that I'd like to hone in on for my blogpost today. I feel like most people, especially those with basic knowledge of the vastness of space, believe that aliens exist. I personally find it impossible for them not to exist. The universe is so vast and old that there simply HAS to be something else out there. But of course maybe that's wishful thinking from me. If there are aliens out there, where are they? Surely we would have seen or received something by now, but we have nothing. And to address this question, I will usher forward an idea brought about by Italian-American Physicist, Enrico Fermi: the Fermi Paradox.
Named for Fermi, the Fermi Paradox was an idea he put forward in 1950 as he was on a lunch break with some of his colleagues. He meant it as a passing remark, but he questioned that if there was any kind of advanced civilization with any sort of imperial incentive, they could easily go forth and conquer the Milky Way in a short amount of time (short on a galactic scale). So if they truly existed, where are they? Unfortunately for Fermi, he died just four years after in 1954, but his idea would later be published and popularized by other people. This brought forth further speculation of the whereabouts of alien civilizations, and more importantly, intelligent life. Truth be told, there is absolutely no evidence of life outside of Earth. Sure, we've discovered the likelihood of water on Mars and on the moons of the gas giants, but that still doesn't give concrete evidence that there could be other life in the universe. But what would stop an alien civilization from growing? Surely since the universe is so huge, there must be at least one space faring civilization by now.
To answer this, I'd like to bring forth Kurzgesagt once again because they are the reason I became aware of the Fermi Paradox in the first place and their videos are great ways to take in some very abstract scientific content with some great philosophical thoughts attached to them. They also have fun animations and plenty of "Kurzgesagt Birds." The links to their videos "The Fermi Paradox" parts one and two are below:
I mostly want to touch on the ideas of part one more than anything. Kurzgesagt introduces the Fermi Paradox, much like I have here, and they go on to elaborate on what could stop alien civilizations from growing. These are called "Great Filters," and hopefully that sounds dramatic because it's supposed to be. A Great Filter is, theoretically, a certain obstacle that a species needs to overcome in order to advance, and only few species are supposed to get through them. For example, the development of life could be extremely rare, even on a cosmic standpoint. For things to be perfect on a planet requires a lot of chance and probability. Then on, even the development of intelligent life and consciousness goes beyond that. We as humans are unique here on Earth, so who knows how infinitely rare it might be for other intelligent lifeforms to develop on alien worlds? And since there's yet to be any evidence whatsoever for alien life, who's to say that we're not the only ones in this universe? What if we are completely alone?
This sounds incredibly depressing and lonely. At least it does to me. I always thought it'd be the coolest thing to find alien life somewhere out there. Think of all the weird animals that live here on Earth. Jellyfish, axolotls, giraffes, literally anything living in the bottom of the ocean. That's not to mention animals that used to live here. *Ahem* the dinosaurs. Imagine what life could look like on some planet all the way across the galaxy on a planet totally different than Earth. It's exciting to imagine. However, all of this excitement gets quickly shot down if you were to believe that we were alone in the universe. Luckily, there is a bright side. At least if you choose to see it that way. Sure, we don't get to see any cool space giraffes, but that also means we get the whole universe all to our self. The (seemingly) infinite expanse of space is all ours to explore, so this means that we just have to explore it. All the wonderful sights of the universe (trust me, there's many), are all for our eyes.
One of my favorite song lyrics, from the song "Saturn" by Sleeping at Last, goes as follows: "...the universe was made just to be seen by my eyes." I think it's such a great verse (seriously, check out the song, it's on YouTube, Spotify, etc.). It's very freeing for me. If I choose to, I can believe the universe is all for me. Or on a bit of a broader scale, the universe is for all of us as humans. I see it as very unifying in this sense. The great scale of the universe makes the Earth small in comparison, and truthfully it is, so it's very bold and kind of selfish to say the universe is all ours. But then again, who's stopping us?
The answer to this is a little more depressing than hopeful.
So, maybe we're all alone. Maybe we're the only life that exists in this massive expanse that we call the Universe. That's why we have to "show off and show out." Going back on "Great Filters," we have one of our own lying ahead, and that's ourselves. Our own biggest obstacle is humanity itself. If we are the one spark in this Universe, how sad would it be to end up destroying ourselves before we ever got the chance to see the beauty of the Universe for our own eyes. These past two years have been unfriendly reminders of how easily we can all turn on each other, and this should be very worrisome. We have a right as people and as citizens to be kind to each other, because truth be told, we may be all we've got in the cosmos. Why waste time destroying each other, and why not better attempt to prosper together?
Fascinating topic, Thomas. Whether we're alone OR the universe teems with intelligent life, either alternative is astonishing. My own hunch is that many more civilizations make it to technological adolescence than survive it... but even so, as Frank Drake (of the Drake Equation) thought, the probability is for there being at least thousands of highly advanced civilizations out there. Something wonderful is waiting to be discovered, if not to announce itself. But maybe they're laying low,observing their version of the Prime Directive not to interfere with developing cultures. Or maybe they find us too violent. Maybe WE'RE the Klingons!
Fascinating topic, Thomas. Whether we're alone OR the universe teems with intelligent life, either alternative is astonishing. My own hunch is that many more civilizations make it to technological adolescence than survive it... but even so, as Frank Drake (of the Drake Equation) thought, the probability is for there being at least thousands of highly advanced civilizations out there. Something wonderful is waiting to be discovered, if not to announce itself. But maybe they're laying low,observing their version of the Prime Directive not to interfere with developing cultures. Or maybe they find us too violent. Maybe WE'RE the Klingons!
ReplyDeleteDOn't forget to add links...