With the help of technology, mankind has realized the dream of going out of the earth and exploring the universe in the last century. Only when we truly get out of the earth can we understand the meaning of the word vast and how small the earth is.
In front of the vast universe, not only the earth is small, but even the solar system where we live, the Milky Way is also as small as dust. After seeing an exaggerated cosmic space, a question lingers in people’s minds: Does alien civilization exist?
The search for alien civilizations began at the moment humans left the earth, but after more than half a century of hard work, we haven’t found anything yet. People are very confused about this phenomenon, and they have raised a question: What happened to the alien civilization? Where are they?
Scientists have also conducted various discussions regarding the inability to find alien civilizations and put forward a variety of conjectures. One conjecture is very famous. I believe many of my friends have heard of it, and that is the “Fermi Paradox.”
Fermi’s paradox is a conjecture put forward by the famous astronomer Fermi when discussing the topic of aliens. Based on the vast universe and its age, Fermi speculated that there should be planets of life in the universe, and there should be an intelligent civilization like human beings. And according to the age of the universe, in theory, some civilizations should have become advanced civilizations long ago, possessing the ability of interstellar navigation.
Let’s take the Milky Way as an example. Its diameter is at least 100,000 light-years. Within this range, there are at least 100 billion planets based on current observations, and as many as thousands of planets have been discovered near the solar system. Some of them are more than 70% similar to the earth. Through these observational data, we can see that a small Milky Way does not lack an ecological planet like the Earth.
The earth can give birth to life and civilization, so terrestrial planets very similar to the earth also theoretically have the conditions to become a life planet. Moreover, the Milky Way was formed 10 billion years ago. If the early civilization has been developed to the present, then in theory it should be born hundreds of millions of years or even billions of years earlier than human beings.
Human beings can develop to the current stage of scientific and technological civilization in just a few hundred years, so we can’t imagine how powerful the scientific and technological strength of an alien civilization has been hundreds of millions of years longer than that of human beings. Such a civilization may already be an advanced civilization with the ability of interstellar navigation. Just imagine, if humans now have the ability to navigate interstellar and become a powerful interstellar civilization, we will still shrink on a small earth, a small solar system. ? of course not.
After becoming an interstellar civilization, mankind will step out of the solar system and begin colonization. I believe it will not be long before the entire galaxy is full of human habitation planets, and there are traces of mankind everywhere. After human beings develop into an interstellar civilization, they will leave a large number of traces in the Milky Way, and these traces are easily found by other civilizations out of the planet.
Since there should be some powerful interstellar civilizations in the Milky Way in theory, there should be a lot of traces left. Whether it is an object or a signal, it is impossible not to be undetected. Such a galaxy will be very lively. However, through long-term observation and exploration of mankind, I was disappointed that no signs of alien civilization existed.
Humans can now observe hundreds of light-years away planets. They have been monitoring radio signals specifically for alien civilizations for many years, but they have made no progress. The entire universe is deadly silent.
In theory, the Milky Way should be very lively, but in reality, there is a total silence. Where is the alien civilization? This is the greatness of Fermi’s paradox. It makes humans have a certain fear of the alien civilization that mysteriously disappears from the universe. Since the alien civilization has not appeared, the reason behind it may not be that simple.
For the explanation of Fermi’s paradox, some scientists have put forward the “big filter hypothesis”. This hypothesis believes that there may be some unknown factors in the universe that have been restricting civilization from embarking on the path of interstellar travel. Perhaps there are a large number of planets suitable for the birth of life in the universe, but there are very few that can actually develop to the stage of civilization, and the technology to master planet travel is even rarer or even until now.
That is to say, in the process of the development and evolution of life or civilization, there is an invisible big sieve. This big sieve keeps a large number of lives being eliminated. Even if the lucky ones finally embark on the road of science and technology, the final screen is still Unable to leapfrog the past and develop to the stage of interstellar civilization.
Unable to develop to the stage of interstellar travel, no civilization can escape the fate of extinction. We must know that within a limited scope, resources are limited, and the more developed civilizations have higher demand for resources, they must go out to survive and continue. If you cannot break through and become an interstellar civilization, you will be extinct without knowing it.
Perhaps in 10 billion years, many intelligent civilizations appeared in the galaxy, but the alien civilization was extinct by an invisible shackle before it evolved into an advanced civilization. Therefore, the Fermi Paradox may reveal the truth of civilization, and send a certain hint to human beings that all advanced civilizations may be extinct.
Perhaps in all corners of the current universe, there are also many scientific and technological civilizations that have gone out of their home planets. They may also put forward conjectures like Fermi’s paradox like humans, and they are also thinking about why the universe should be very lively in theory, in reality. But in the midst of silence? What do the friends think about this? Welcome everyone to leave a comment below to discuss.