Cosmotheoros: Spiritual Corollaries to the Rare Earth Solution to Fermi's Paradox (original) (raw)
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If the Earth has not occupied a distinguished place in the universe in both physical and biochemical senses of the term, then why did half of a century of search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) result in no detection of incoming signals from our extraterrestrial analogues, let alone those from an alien colonization of the galaxy? When Italian physicist Enrico Fermi raised, in an informal discussion, one of the earliest versions of this question, the response was a general laughter; yet the question soon made its way into the academic discussions as an interesting puzzle and continued to challenge our conjectures over the possibilities involved with the rather weird concept of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI). In this essay, after presenting a brief history of the main hypotheses proposed thus far in order to explain the nature of ETI in both historical and the modern senses of the term, the author has made a thorough survey of the main presumptions giving rise to Fermi's question, and shows, by drawing on the logical extension of the so-called mediocrity principle to some certain cases of epistemological importance, that Fermi's question would actually lead to a misarticulated tautology rather than a paradox; yet a tautology with significant implications for our understanding of intelligence in general. Our discussion is thus drawn on such various forms of reasoning as those involved in archeology, ethology, and economics, but with the same aim of outlining what a radically other being is supposed to behave if it was to convey an intelligible, mediocre form of consciousness.
Where will they be: hidden implications of solutions to the Fermi paradox
2022
Solutions to the Fermi paradox either deny the existence of extraterrestrials or offer alternative reasons to explain the non-occurrence of a first contact. While the latter, more optimistic approaches generally assume the existence of extraterrestrials, they simultaneously hint to limited future detectability. If solutions to the Fermi paradox are accepted as true, they must be evaluated in terms of how they affect the likelihood of success of future SETI efforts. Some solutions may lead to the so-called Fermi constraint: in order to explain why there has not been any contact so far, optimistic solutions to the Fermi paradox have to accept assumptions that, if the solution is assumed to be correct, indicate a very low probability of future contact. In other words: they are not here, and that is why they may never appear. Contents Introduction 1 Hidden and future implications 2 Adjusting search strategies 3 Conclusion 4
The Fatal Absence of Extraterrestrial Intelligence and its Consequence for Humanity.
SocArXiv Papers, 2023
The lack of any radio signals or other astronomical evidence supportive of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life possessed of technology of sufficient sophistication to bring itself to our attention here on Earth is not, per se, evidence of an absence of life, or even intelligent life, in the cosmos itself, but it does indicate that any such advanced societies, if they have come into existence at all, may be extremely rare and comparatively short-lived, destroyed by the very technology that might have brought them to our notice. This, it will be suggested, is the solution to Fermi's famous 'paradox', and the reason no SETI signals have been detected. The lessons we should learn are that life like that on our planet is very rare and precious, and we must not risk destroying it.
Astrobiology and SETI: the possible solution of the Fermi paradox
Basing on the new physical approach in description of the characteristics of live matter, the author obtained a numerical values for mass of living matter in the Universe, quantity of biospheres in the Universe (N bio ~3.3·10 18), quantity of biospheres in the Galaxy (N~5·10 7). The calculated average distance between biospheres in the Galaxy is l ≤ 40 light years. However, the probability of disclosure of an extra-terrestrial civilization, analogous to Earth one, is too small, P~10 -5 . It is shown, that a paradigm of the expansive and extensive development of the modern technological civilization in the bounds of SETI is useless principally, as for planetary civilization exist demographic, power, destructive and genetic-adaptive natural barriers, and limits of continuous growth and cosmic expansion. A strategy of intensive growth of civilization using the low-energy quantum technologies is more realistic. In that case, the radiation of civilization becomes low and it is very diffi...
The Search For Extraterrestrial Life: Epistemology, Ethics, and Worldviews
2009
"The search for and discovery of extraterrestrial life, especially an independent origin of life, raise interesting philosophical issues (most or all of which can be connected to important practical issues), in at least three interrelated areas: (1) epistemology, (2) value theory (especially ethics), and (3) worldviews. This chapter samples of a variety of views in these areas, touching slightly on some policy and theological connections, both of which are covered more extensively elsewhere in this volume. The first section will explore epistemological areas such as (a) dealing with the limitation of knowing only one kind of biology, (b) challenges of discerning an independent origin of life, and (c) challenges for assessing the biological status of a region or entire planet. The ethical considerations of the second section will explore (a) the role of an independent origin of life vs. interplanetary transport, (b) ethical views ranging from anthropocentric to cosmological, and (c) potential policy implications. The third section will touch briefly on basic worldviews that revolve around (a) randomness and chance (an “accidental” universe), (b) purpose and meaning (a deliberate universe), and (c) a “bootstrapped” universe in which meaning and purpose emerge in the universe through valuing cultural beings (a “cultural cosmos”)."