The Fermi Paradox

It's debatable.

How likely is it really to find intelligent lifeforms like humans in the universe?

A closer look at home should provide an answer. We know, given the correct conditions life can form and thrive. We need four basic elements to allow life to procreate - these are nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen and carbon.

Now, some point in the earths history, a single celled life, a prokaryote gave life to all earth. Today, these conditions has given life a sucessful flux into the thriving world we see today... but humans are superbly unique.

On the scale of intelligence, we are actually very quite rare. There is nothing which shouldn't suggest the universe is teeming with life - it most probably is. Question is, is intelligent life something which is a rare phenomena, or something which is quite frequent? Studying this planet, it seems to be quite rare... and considering how quiet spacetime is, it's rare universally as well.

I meant to also state... there are intelligent lifeforms on the planet beside us, such as Dolphins, but even our intelligence scales far above theirs.

Everything degenerated by design even for the Ancient Masters...

Space travel is too hazardous in a virtual reality, you may run out of space, literally

http://www.digitalcosmology.com/Articles/Harokopos1103t.pdf

I like the biocentric explanation: that our observed universe is specific to our particular biological lineage, and that any other causally unrelated lineage would necessarily observe and dwell in a different universe:

http://www.biocentricity.net

This view also solves the bizarre anomaly of CMB anisotropy, where the largest features of the universe seem to be correlated with the motion and orientation of the Earth around the Sun, in apparent violation of the Copernican principle:

http://cerncourier.com/cws/article/cern/29210

Ever watch Star Trek? Advanced civilizations might have some variation of the non-interference directive that prohibits contact with the inhabitants of planets. Considering the behavior of humans during the last century, other civilizations might prefer not to have contact with us in our current stage of development.

On the other hand there is evidence that can be interpreted as visits by other civilizations. The best evidence involves the stories of the Dogon people in Africa whose ancestors may have been visited by E.T's who gave them knowledge of the Sirius star system including knowledge of Sirius B and its relationship with Sirius A. http://www.crystalinks.com/sirius.html

Visits by E.T. might well be described as visits by gods considering the way the Aztecs initially viewed the Spanish conquistadores.

I'm doubtful about alien abductions, but recognize that an E.T. wanting to examine us scientifically might try to find subjects whose claims would be ignored.

I am reminded of an episode of "Cosmos" where Sagan talks about old theories about life on Venus: It's an obscure white blob, it must be covered with clouds, therefore it must be wet and steamy, wet and steamy means swamps, and if there are swamps there must be swamp creatures, like dinosaurs. "Observation: Can't see a thing. Conclusion: Dinosaurs!"

In this case, it's: Observation, can't see a thing. Conclusion: Intelligent complex beings watching us, hiding themselves from us, and only experimenting on individuals who won't blow their cover.

It's amazing how people's own minds and desires lead them so easily to bizarre conclusions.

Hi,

I am hoping to get commentary and criticism on my web site which defines the complexity of the universe.

It is really simple, and I hope someone can give me some pointers on how to explain it better.

The basic idea is that the complexity of the universe is equal to the information content of the universe. The information content of the universe is equivalent to the objective probability of a state.

A more complex state == more informed state == less probable state.

I am really looking for good questions which then I can respond to to help clarify the ideas.

Markov Chain Universe

Life is somewhat rare, but intelligent life that has managed to survive any local catastrophic events and build the means for space exploration is much rarer still.

I think we can safely assume that there is no time travel or faster than light space travel, since in that case we would be overrun by alien life forms and would not be wondering where they were. If that is true, then suppose that an intelligent alien civilization can travel for thousands of years to reach us, and that it would. The journey would need to be worthwhile for such a massive expenditure of resources. How would it decide to use its resources to visit Earth, specifically? It would have to have seen us with very powerful telescopes that could actually discern that our planet has life on it. It would need to observe that life doing something intelligent-looking, like building a civilization, etc., because it would be a waste of time to visit a planet of grazing herbivores, right? That is, unless it was just looking to colonize and/or take the resources.

If that all makes sense, then Earth creatures have only looked intelligent for a few thousand years, which makes the time in which we could have been discovered, an expedition to us mounted, and to have gotten here very short by interstellar travel standards. The alien civilization would have to be very close (within a few thousand light years, assuming near-light speeds are possible), would have to have been looking right at us at the dawn of "civilization," AND not be distracted by something more interesting or closer.

So, I think intelligent life just hasn't arrived yet, and it may be awhile. Hopefully, we'll still be here then.

How would you do on a hypothetical dolphin constructed intelligence test without any technological aid? Bearing in mind you don't have personal sonar and they do ( giving them "x ray like" vision as well as normal sight.) Unfair test you may cry.

As a species we have been able to construct ever more complex tools due to our hands with -opposable thumbs-! Our species has technology that most people do not understand and could not construct for themselves and can not control. Many have forgotten how to survive as mere human beings and have become like utterly dependent domestic pets. Our technology destroys our natural life support system, and lets us temporarily forget about the harsh realities of population dynamics, be comfortable and entertained. How intelligent is that really? Should we hope to meet creatures as "intelligent" as us?

has anyone considered the possibility that while intelligence may not be rare, The evolutionary necessity to build tools is very rare. example: Dolphins often show signs of very high intellects(syntax understanding, communication, learning) and have no evolutionary need to build tools.

Alien life? Radio? Here they are!

Sesame street aliens discover Dub step.

Next Steps in Mans Évolution

Before the sun goes down for the last time Mankind must have already found the means ( not in small tin boxes) to leave the earth en mass but to prosper in other environments or artificial one of planetary scales

Before that Mankind must learn to connect/fuse intellectual activites since there is no time for the individual brain to develop the capacity required

Forget the maths for a moment and consider a future where Mankind populates the universe. How can we/must we change to achieve this and to do so in harmony and plenty?

Answers please?

Within the next ten years, when the most advance astronomical instrument being design and built will get into service, we will be to observe planets in the hospitable zone around other stars in our galactic neighborhood. We will then be able to indirectly detect the presence of life on these planet by the detection of the spectra of oxygen in the atmosphere or of other atmospheric substance or even the presence of large forest.

In the following decades the radius of astronomical observation will increase to 500 million light years, a radius that include our Galaxy group and will multiply the reliability of our method to assert the presence of life and even intelligent life within that radius. This means that the presence of life on earth is known to all advance civilizations within this radius.

We are the only form of intelligent civilization that we know. Life evolved 300 million years after earth formation, 4 billion years ago. Base on the cycle of stable star such as the sun, earth like planet exist for about 5 billion years; life in microbial forms exist for about 4 billion years; so a civilization can live on a given planet at most for 1 billion years on a given planet. Intelligence civilization only exist since the neolithic which is 12 000 years ago. So we are just entering this phase of intelligent life.

If traveling to other habitable planets would be a logical phase of an advance civilization, then earth would have been colonized million of years ago. It is more likely that the next frontier for us or for any other advance civilization is not territorial but it is about what was inscribed in the pronaos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi : "Know Thyself"

We may soon discover ways to communicate instantly across the visible universe. Maybe there is a cosmic cyberspace where million of civilizations are currently communicating in real time. We might not be far from discovering the new physics which allow us to tune in to the cosmic cyberspace.

But we just on the threshold of the one billion period of civilized life on this planet. It is evolving at an accelaring rate. Assuming the civilization evolution is as much in the order of things as the evolution of life, then we could ask the question of its direction.

Through the evolution since the Neolithic of gradually more advance form of communications , we are gradualing thinking more and more collectively. So there might be a threshold of collective thinking that will be reached where this planet will have a consciousness, will have a being. If this is the order of things in the cosmos, then it likely that the next order of being in the universe is an order of planet beings which together will gradually reach a level of cooperations which will eventually lead to the participation into to even higher order of beings.

Louis, Alaric,

I agree we're about to enter a phase of intelligent life. If we can escape backward science. But has a critical mass been reached where enough students are indoctrinated for the 'rut' to be inescapable?

Alaric it's a shame nobody responded to your question. It is important. We have information overload now going ballistic but communication hasn't improved. Our brains and intellectual power will evolve too slowly. I've developed a model on big projects where specialisation is tiered, and even 'multi helical' from a management and communication viewpoint. It has possibilities.

However. I suspect the Fermi principle may be resolved by the cyclic model of both galaxy and universal eternal re-ionization and reiteration. We seem to have only perhaps another 5bn years max locally. Can we get to a younger galaxy in time? The evidence is the chances are against us, but hey, why not go for it anyway?

Peter

I reject the Dogon as having contact also. A good eye, staring for some time at a point can produce up to 0.5 Mag. more detection.

The slightly modified Copernican principle tells us there is nothing special about us. Why would an intelligent species want to visit our home? We want to get off this death trap that is going to explode.

Space near suns is a dangerous place. There are all kinds of rocks, radiation, strong fields, etc.

I think a species capable of going beyond an Oort type cloud for a generation would want and be able to stay out of the danger zone.

Think about it. If you are standing beside an isolated atom and you think atoms are a natural consequence of laws of our universe you'd wonder why you can't see another atom near, as if it is a violation of Principle of homogeneity. But if you look out on a grander scale you'd see there are other atoms and they are (on appropriate scale) spread homogeneously. Of course as intelligent, conscious, technological civilization has evolved on Earth, it should also have done on other planets by now. I think the problem is we are seeing on a smaller scale just around our planet. Biological systems are a natural consequence of our set of laws of Nature. When we have the appropriate technology we will find that life has indeed formed all over our universe.

The elegant resolution of the Fermi Paradox is to reject the Principle of Homogeneity, specifically the modern version of the Copernican Principle. I have posted an informal proof that "people have a privileged position as observers of the universe" on the "A Physicist and a Science Writer Walk Into a Bar" thread. See "Testing for an Isomorphism between Mathematics and the Physical Universe" dated Nov. 28, 2014 @ 10:23 GMT. It is part of a discussion thread starting with Steve Agnew's comment on Nov. 21, 2014.

I thought that there was too much philosophical speculation about how to make definitions that would be useful for all of physics, so I choose a piece small enough on which to construct an informal proof. It shows how to describe the motions of the Sun and the Moon as seen from the Earth using pure mathematics. The extreme improbability (p