3 possibilities
We are First
-We like to think of ourselves as special, so I can see this being a common thought. There is a concept known as the great filter, which explains the Fermi Paradox "Where is everybody?" There are 100 earth like planets for every grain of sand on every beach on earth. Think about that for a second.
The Great Filter theory says that at some point from pre-life to Type III intelligence, there’s a wall that all or nearly all attempts at life hit. There’s some stage in that long evolutionary process that is extremely unlikely or impossible for life to get beyond. That stage is The Great Filter. If we are first, then the great filter is behind us.
We're Fucked
-This concept basically says the great filter is ahead of us. It could be nuclear war, global warming, or an asteroid killing us all, but this possibility means our days are numbered. When people talk about life on mars I tend to think it would be the WORST possible news ever. And finding somewhat complex life forms is even worse. This would point to evidence that the great filter is ahead of us, and not behind us, which is not great news. (something rare should never happen twice on two planets next to each other. To find simple life on mars would suggest that life forming is common, and therefore not a great filter event.)
Civilizations are out there, and there are logical reasons we have no heard from us
-Maybe they visited in the past. Scared the shit out of a few ducks before humans even existed. Even our writing system only goes back 6,000 year. An alien visit before then would likely be lost in history. A visit after our writing system existed would likely be attributed to God, and possibly the source of some myths today.
-Maybe we are in some remote area. Keep in mind, there are still tribes on earth largely un-contacted.
-Colonization seems like a odd idea to an advanced civilization. They could build their own utopia and have no desire to explore.
-Advanced predator civilizations exist, and most civilizations are smart enough not to advertise their location.
Carl Segan said “the newest children in a strange and uncertain cosmos should listen quietly for a long time, patiently learning about the universe and comparing notes, before shouting into an unknown jungle that we do not understand.”
-An advanced predator civilization is the only superpower, and they keep everybody else in check. Its not worth their time to wipe out a primitive civilization, but once society gets advanced enough to be a threat, they wipe them out.
-There is plenty of noise, but we are not listening properly. I could walk into a skyscraper in New York, get on a walkie talkie, ask if anybody is there. When all I hear is silence, I declare the building empty. There are plenty of people in the building, but they are on cell phones.
-The government is hiding evidence. Somebody had to suggest it.
They are observing us from a distance-Prime Directive
-We are too primate to understand them. "Lets say we have an ant hill in the middle of the forest. And right next to the ant hill, they’re building a ten-lane super-highway. And the question is “Would the ants be able to understand what a ten-lane super-highway is? Would the ants be able to understand the technology and the intentions of the beings building the highway next to them?"-Micheal Kaku
---------------------------------------
I tend to believe we are the first and unique. Perhaps is human to think you are special. I think there is most certainly other life forms, but I think in this galaxy, there are no super aliens. Perhaps some equal to us, or maybe still developing fire, but I think most civilizations will kill themselves off before they reach a type 2 or 3 civilization (Type 2 or 3 refers to the Kardashev scale). I believe that if there are advanced civilizations we will be contacted first. Our radio waves have traveled about 200 light years (this is even optimistic, since 200 years ago, radio waves were not powerful, and they were not pointing up.
Take a look
Its much more likely that we would pick up radio waves from a civilization that existed thousands, or millions of years ago. Plus, given the distance, even if they find us first, if they can not travel to us, we won't even know they found us.
Let say they receive our signal from 200 years ago. Realize its coming from earth, and transmit back. It will be another 200 years before we receive it.
That said, I do agree with the others that physical travel to far distances is impossible, but I think self replicating robots will be possible in the future. If I could build a robot, to head to Mars, take 500 years, and produce two new robots using the raw materials on Mars, I could colonize the whole galaxy in under 4 million years. To us, 4 million years seems like a long time, but there are planets 4 billion years older than ours. (For reference, 3.5 billion years ago, the T-Rex was roaming the earth.)
Edit history
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
= new reply since forum marked as read