The Great Filter and Why We’re Alone (As Far As We Know) – IOTW Report

The Great Filter and Why We’re Alone (As Far As We Know)

The great physicist Enrico Fermi once postulated that with the size of the universe there should be thousands of other life forms that have formed an advanced civilization to the point that we can detect them, but so far we haven’t.

Called the Fermi paradox, one answer might be that there is a great filter that ends such great civilizations before they can achieve interstellar travel and that we have yet to reach it. Watch

 

 

 

33 Comments on The Great Filter and Why We’re Alone (As Far As We Know)

  1. Not a bad introductory video, but the series on the subject of the Fermi Paradox and solutions to same produced by Isaac Arthur are MUUUCH better. Just enter his name in You Tube.

  2. The very last thing we should be doing as inhabitants of this planet is to reach out and encourage other life forms and ET’s to contact us. Other than voting obama in for a 2nd term, or hillary for a 1st, I can’t think of anything stoopider

  3. Most of the world’s people live in sub standard conditions and half of Americans don’t seem to realize just how good we have it in comparison.
    The theory makes sense to me given the human race’s capacity for stupidity.

  4. Other life forms? Yes there here already. Liberals.black lives matter people.and anyone else that belives in ufo’s. When GOD created the heavens and the earth and then made man in his image i dont think he would have made the same mistake twice. 😀😎

  5. Another possibility that explains why we haven’t detected extraterrestrial life is that once a civilization achieves a particular level of maturity and understanding its members conclude that any interstellar cultural contact is overwhelmingly likely to have detrimental developmental effects on the lesser evolved species, and detrimental ethical effects on the more advanced one. The practical effect of that conclusion would be for any advanced civilization to make great efforts to avoid such contact, and even to prevent others from knowing they’re out there.

    This might change once human beings become sufficiently mature ethically and intellectually. Aliens might be monitoring to see when and if contact would be beneficial.

  6. I think the Aliens avoid contact with us for on or two reasons.
    One: We are as toxic to their civilization as the Left is to Western Civilization
    Two: If I want to mine in the side of some hill, I sure as hell ain’t contacting the ants to let them know I’ll be blasting in the area

  7. Consider the vast distances of space, let’s say we discover another civilization somewhere relatively near by in our own galaxy. How would we study them? When traveling near the speed of light is going to take years and years just to get there. Would we send humans or would we send some type of probe. Perhaps one that could fly through the atmosphere, hover over areas of interest and escape rapidly if ever observed. That last sentence should conjure up some recent images released last month.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RlbqOl_4NA

    The thing is, if we are being observed / studied by the probes of other life forms, how are the communicating their findings back to their home world?

  8. @Dr. Tar – For the civilization that sends the probe, there’s no getting around the elapsing of years and years to get equipment and even information from System A to System B and back. For any occupants of a transportation device, the apparent duration for them depends on how close to zero you can get tau.

    One simple idea that comes to mind for easiest transmission of data from the probe to the home planet/system is on the outbound trip drop of a series of info relay devices. A modest power signal from the probe at its destination could be picked up and relayed back at light speed minus latency with a minimum mass investment.

  9. I made it half way through this bullshit video. There are so many presumptions contained within that it is hard to know where to start so let’s start with the narrator with the English accent that is a manipulation to add credence to the bullshit he is espousing, namely evolution as “mainstream science” defines it. Well, kiddies, “mainstream science” doesn’t have a clue and at best is grasping at straws. They key to understanding the universe and our ability to perceive it as well as to survive is CONSCIOUSNESS, which, by the way, science cannot define nor grasp. Mainstream science still believes we will travel through the universe using technology. Their paradigm will fade. There are already humans who can travel throughout the universe using their MINDS which at present lie 99% (or more) dormant in today’s populace. The future does not belong to “mainstream science”. It belongs to those who are willing to seek spiritual advancement, including shedding all the bullshit that creates the matrix with which all people find themselves entangled. There are many leaps that one may take but for sure they do not include accepting the beliefs of those that made this video. If you were to question these people just on their political stances alone you would probably find them to be morons. False beliefs are a short circuit to wisdom.

  10. Uh-oh. I think my last post got auto-filtered. I tried a fair number of links to similar YouTube channels. But when trying again, the hosting service said I already posted that. That was 5 mins ago, yet still it doesn’t show. I’ve never run into this before, but also never tried posting a dozen links.

    Additionally, lots of 503 errors tonight.

  11. Previous post still not coming through. Trying again omitting proper links, but try the following YouTube channels:

    Love Kurzgesagt and Isaac Arthur. Also:
    Arzamas
    BrainCraft
    Brightstorm
    CGPGrey
    crashcourse
    HeadsqueezeTV
    grossscienceshow
    LookingGlassUniverse
    MinutePhysics
    Numberphile
    patrickJMT
    PBS SpaceTime
    PhysicsGirl
    sciencium
    sickscience
    sixtysymbols
    Smarter Every Day
    standupmaths
    thebrainscoop
    Veritasium
    https://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce

    …to name a few.

  12. I frequently fantasized while getting my chemistry degree that matter approaching C turns into light at C and (possibly) vice versa. The nearest star is four light years away. The human body cannot cope more than a few months without gravity. Ever tried to make a Kubric 2001 space station that revolves and produces gravity? Watch it wobble and spin away when one side becomes heavier from someone walking to the other side. We will never successfully travel to other stars. Otherwise, it will have to be robots and probes until the traveling speed can be blindingly increased in a craft duplicating earth-like gravity. In my lifetime, we will be prisoners of this beautiful Earth unless this puzzle can be solved. But, this Baby Boomer does not care! I love my garden and knowing we are unique and something special.

  13. They’re here. They’ve been here. We lack the capacity to understand what they are and how their “objects” can move so rapidly in our fluid medium of air, especially if physical life forms occupying its interior are subjected to the massive g-forces we see demonstrated in accounts.

    If their intent were malicious, there is nothing your or any government could do about it. That’s why it’s been kept secret.

    The first official disclosure came December 16-18, 2017 with Luis Elizondo and the 2004 SoCal “Tic Tac” F/A 18 footage. There is simply no disputing DOD’s veracity, the ATFLIR footage chain of custody or official witness depositions, the Nimitz and Aegis destroyer logs. It happened. It has happened and been documented secretly for 70 years.

    Be mature and patient about this. Just maybe all the compartmentalized DOD archives will be disclosed. In time we may begin to understand the physics underlying the phenomena.

  14. Well I guess the great one’s “paradox” makes sense if you believe that we’re just stardust and that life begins with just a mix of swamp soup and a lightning bolt.

    And if you believe the incredible companion bs that is spouted in our learning institutions as “science”, that is evolution. What a sad joke. a few minutes of thought is all it tales to utterly destroy that for the wishful thinking bs it is. The idea of irreducible complexity does for example. Never mind the straight up incredible complexity that is the eye and perception system, just for example. If you think that all formed by random mutations, and supported and funneled into existence by natural selection, you need to think a little deeper to put it kindly.

    Never mind that the fossil record shows 0 support for it either.

    Then yes, armed with these “facts”, it seems we could be surrounded by all kinds of life forms by now, huh.

  15. MJA – “You get 2 links here. That’s it until the alien overlords consider our pleas for Plugins that will run correctly on our platform. 🙂”

    Thanks. I’ll let them know immediately. *dons parabolic hat*

  16. “…if you believe that we’re just stardust and that life begins with just a mix of swamp soup and a lightning bolt.”

    A handy belief that, if adopted, can allow one to screw anything one pleases…If no One is watching, why not.

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