Why haven’t we detected a signal from intelligent aliens yet?

@Cypress

What the world looked like millions of years ago. You can extrapolate a bit between 100M years ago and now to see what it would have looked like 50M years ago.


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Why haven’t we detected a signal from intelligent aliens yet?​


  • Long ago, Enrico Fermi posed a simple question just by gazing at the stars: “Where is everybody?”
  • Known today as the Fermi Paradox, there are many possible solutions, but some explanations are far simpler than others: namely, that there isn’t anyone else.
  • Still, the most common way of estimating who’s out there, the Drake equation, should never be used. Here’s the science of how to do it right.
Before we even start asking questions about longevity, colonization, or machine-based life, we should admit — with a non-negligible probability — the most obvious resolution to the Fermi Paradox: The reason we haven’t made first contact with intelligent, technologically advanced, and spacefaring alien civilizations is because there are none. In all the galaxy, and perhaps even in all the Universe, we really may be alone.

Without evidence to the contrary, we have every reason to keep looking and searching, but still no reason other than our own preferences to believe that other creatures, similar to humans, exist out there. While it may be incredibly fun to theorize a myriad of possible explanations as to why intelligent extraterrestrials might remain hidden from us, the simplest possibility — that they just aren’t out there — should be the default hypothesis until proven otherwise.

full article:


Because physics.

Make believe is fun. Reality is is there is intelligent life, we will never meet them. Star Trek is fantasy. Even if an intelligent alien received a signal from us and could decipher it, it would take thousands of years for them to get here. Would the human race still exist? And why would intelligent life want to spend thousands of years to investigate.

Reality is not Luke Skywalker.
 
Because physics.

Make believe is fun. Reality is is there is intelligent life, we will never meet them. Star Trek is fantasy. Even if an intelligent alien received a signal from us and could decipher it, it would take thousands of years for them to get here. Would the human race still exist? And why would intelligent life want to spend thousands of years to investigate.

Reality is not Luke Skywalker.
We are driving for WW3 where we all roast.....or wish we had...

We are not all that bright.
 
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Since you always prefer the "agnostic" position to the 'default hypothesis" (which is really just a fancy way of saying the Null Hypothesis), I am curious if you find that bit from the article to be difficult to accept. You excoriated me right and left for taking the "default hypothesis" with regards to other unknown questions.

Also I'm always fascinated that it's either/or. Either the alien life is out there but mysteriously hasn't developed a signal OR there is no alien life out there.

Or, physics.

Let's say alien life 30 light years away receives a message from Earth. So it starts that the message is from 30 years in the past. Then the trouble of figuring out what it says - then the 30 more years it takes to send it back.

See the problem yet?

The VAST majority of the human experience on earth would have left ZERO electromagnetic signature. Yet we did some pretty amazing things. But as far as the aliens were concerned we simply weren't there. How could they have known about our thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years of advancement that preceeded the development of things which generate an EM signature?

And why would they recognize our EM signature? If they did, why would they think it was meaningful?
 
Nonsense.

We are entering the Muslim/Communist vs. Civilization era. The wars will be mostly terrorist, and entirely conventional weapons.
We have a very shit conventional force....we will very fast get to escalate to nuclear or admit defeat.....and Ukraine shows clearly how that will go.

Drink the best wines now is my advice.
 
Most likely:

1. They've died off.
2. They'll just waiting for us to really screw our selves, then take over.
3. They've realized that we've fucked up the planet and our genetic code, so they don't bother us as much.
4. They're just studying us as usual and realize that general exposure is not good for whatever the hell it is they're planning/doing.
5. All couched in the fact that major industrial countries around the world are keeping things under wraps .... God only knows what for.
 
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