Are we alone in the universe?
Or better yet, how are we alone in the universe?
These questions are known as the Fermi Paradox, and if you join us, we aim to show you some
solutions to these questions.
9.
What Is The Fermi Paradox?
Despite its very scientific name, the Fermi Paradox is as its core, a question, and more
importantly, a very simple question.
A question that actually happened in the most casual of places, a conversation between friends.
Physicist Enrico Fermi was with his friends (who were fellow physicists themselves) and
had lunch with them during a particular day in the Summer of 1950.
Nothing strange about this at all.
As they began to chat with one another on the way to lunch, the topic of UFOs came at.
During the late 40's and early 1950's, there were many UFO "sightings" all over America,
and even the world at some points.
This created a hysteria of sorts as to whether we were really alone in the universe.
But, naturally, most governments and logical people felt that these aliens were hoaxes,
and many were proven to be just that.
However, as these physicists talked about the possibility of alien life, a question
came to Fermi.
And while the exact question is actually lost to history, the basic concept of it is, "Where
are they?"
"Where are whom?" you ask?
The aliens, that's what Fermi was asking.
Because based on his reasoning, and his very true logic of the universe as a whole, there
honestly shouldn't be a reason that we haven't met aliens of some kind.
Or, at the very least, haven't discovered that there is alien life out there in the
universe right now.
This may seem like one in a long line of far-fetched theories, but this paradox is one that has
taken root in the culture of the world.
Because it's a question, and a paradox, that can't easily be dismissed.
And because of the question itself, but rather, the science that is inherently behind it.
8.
The Science Of The Stars Let's start at the beginning.
Depending on what you believe, the universe was either created by a massive explosion
of energy (known as the Big Bang), or it was created by a deity that sought to make life
like itself (the basis of many religions).
For this case, let's focus on the Big Bang.
A massive expansion of energy burst forth into the universe and created planets, solar
systems, galaxies, etc.
And on one planet that happened to be the third rock from the sun, life was born.
This is the planet Earth.
If you look at the position of Earth in comparison to our sun and the other planets around it,
you'll notice something rather interesting.
Mainly, that our planet is quite literally perfectly placed to support life.
We're just far enough away from the sun to not burn up (like Venus and Mercury), yet
aren't far enough to not feel its effects (like Mars and Pluto).
What's more, our planet doesn't intersect with anything that could be potentially dangerous
to us.
We have a perfect orbit that is undisturbed, and has been for billions of years.
But, that brings us back to the question of the paradox.
Mainly, while Earth is indeed lucky in how it all came to be, what's to say that there
wasn't another planet out there in our galaxy, or in the greater universe, that didn't have
the same luck?
As NASA and other astronomers have noted to the world at large, there are many stars out
there that are the same size and intensity as our own.
What's more, we know that there are Class-M planets out there.
Class-M refers to planets that are indeed able to sustain life in potentia.
In fact, there's one sect of planets that not only has a star like ours, but is said
to have seven planets that are very much like Earth, including having water.
So as you can see, there are planets out there that COULD sustain life.
But despite all of our satellites, and telescopes and recording data, we haven't found anything.
Doesn't that sound odd to you?
It certainly did to Fermi.
And that wasn't the only thing he noted was odd.
7.
The Science Of Life So, now that we've established that there
is a logical basis for life to exist on other planets potentially, let's talk about what
would happen to those planets should life be born on them.
Naturally, like Earth's population, it would grow and evolve over the course of billions
of years (again following the belief that the Big Bang was the cause of our creation).
Going back to Earth for a sec, the planet didn't just "start" with life.
It had to grow it naturally over the course of millions of years.
To that end, when life did start to form, it wasn't human-like.
It was actually the smallest of organism.
Single-celled organisms to be exact, and then from there they became multi-celled, and then
small creatures, bigger creatures, and then humans came along.
Once humanity was born, they too involved in intelligence until you have the modern
societies that we enjoy today.
Now, if we were to apply that same logic to the other potential planets that have potential
life, the Fermi Paradox becomes all the more intriguing.
Because if they had the same evolutionary growth, and found a way to make somewhat similar
technologies to us, that would most definitely mean that we should've ran into them sooner
rather than later.
What's more, science shows that some parts of the universe are far older than our Earth.
So that means that technically speaking, there could be a place of life out there in the
universe that is far more advanced that humanity is right now.
Which could potentially mean space travel as Fermi speculated in his paradox.
6.
To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before On Earth right now, the idea of traveling
to other planets is not widely believed in terms of us just hopping on a craft and going
to a place like Mars.
Mainly because we're still building towards it in our own technologies.
However, if the Fermi Paradox is true, there could be aliens out there with the power to
travel across the stars, and depending on when they got this technology, it could mean
that they have been to the Milky Way Galaxy and have paid a visit to Earth.
And yet...that doesn't seem to have happened just yet.
Now, obviously, there are plenty of explanations as to why we haven't met aliens, or even just
to narrow the focus, why they don't have space travel just yet.
Humanity has only unlocked the very basics of space travel, and that has only taken us
as far as the moon in regards to manned missions.
Our satellites have gone farther of course, much farther even, but it's not the same.
Our culture has fantasized about traveling through space on a dime for decades, including
fan-favorite series like Star Trek and Star Wars, but the fact of the matter is that those
methods of going through space are very much science-fiction...here are Earth anyway.
But could another planet have a resource that allowed them to unlock the mysteries of space
travel?
It's possible, and that's what Fermi speculated.
Just because we can't think of something doesn't mean other races can't either.
And when you add that all up, you get the possibility that there are races out there
that are traveling the stars right now.
But that brings us back to the question...
5.
Where Are They?
That is the question, isn't it?
Because when you think about the prospect of life out there in the universe in a logical
and objective way, there should actually be no reason why there isn't contact with other
races in space.
Whether it's via them coming here, or our satellites picking up signs of life in some
capacity (and our satellites have detected a lot of things in space for the record).
And yet despite all of that, we're here in the universe...alone.
Or at least, that's what we keep telling ourselves.
Which makes the Fermi Paradox all the more important a question to answer.
And over the years, many people have stepped up to try and solve the paradox.
With a variety of very unique answers to the question of "Where are they?"
Here are a few of our favorites that definitely merit discussion.
4.
Solution A: Aliens Have Already Been Here and Left
No, I'm not referring to all of the "sightings" that have been "documented" about alien crafts
and flying saucers that have "appeared" on Earth in the last 80+ years or so, I'm actually
talking about the billions of years before humanity was even before.
As noted, Earth was not always a place full of life.
To that end, if other civilizations came to space travel before humanity was born, they
may have already reached Earth and tried to colonize it.
But they ran into several problems.
Not the least of which was several high-level extinction events that nearly wiped out all
life on Earth.
To that end, if they were caught up in said extinction events, they would've been wiped
out and very few traces of them would've been left, if any at all.
While this may not seem possible, think of it like this.
We're still discovering species of animals that lived in the ages before humanity, and
fossils are the only reason we know about certain creatures that lived back then.
So if these creatures didn't make it on this planet, and didn't leave any bones or signs
of technology, how are we to know we weren't populated beforehand?
We don't, and that's intriguing part of this "solution".
3.
Solution B: They Are Out There, We Just Can't Hear Them
A very basic, and very logical answer to the Fermi Paradox is that it's entirely possible
that alien life is out there, it's just that we don't know how to communicate with them.
This is a solution that humanity itself can certainly relate to, because if you don't
speak the same language as someone from another country, you're not going to understand each
other.
Plus, there are some humans that talk via Sign Language, and thus don't use vocal means
of communication.
Humanity only has an understanding of things that we know and study.
So, if there was life out there that had a unique way of communication, one that couldn't
be picked up by satellites in their current configuration, that would mean that we aren't
able to hear them, and if we can't hear them, we can't communicate with them.
This obviously raises a unique problem though, because how do you try and communicate with
those who may have a way of communication that is about our current understanding?
In truth, the answer is that you get lucky and hopefully find something that helps break
the language barrier.
But that can take time.
In truth, this is one of the more plausible answers to the Fermi Paradox, because communication
is the basis of all life in many ways.
So without being able to communicate in the right way, we could be flying past planets
with life and not even realize it.
2.
Solution C: They Know To Leave Us Alone If you pay attention to various sci-fi movies
and TV shows, you'll know that many times the aliens of the universe are designed to
be either very friendly, or very aggressive.
Classic stories of our culture have aliens invading Earth and humanity has to "fight
back" to reclaim the planet in any way that matters.
It's often a long slow struggle, but humanity almost always wins in the end.
But that's the twist in this particular solution.
What if the aliens that are out there aren't aggressive...but rather...are cautious.
For whatever reason, be it natural design or their own beliefs on life, they actually
did find Earth, and then upon their research they decided that the planet just wasn't worth
the risk of contacting.
It may sound odd, but given all that is going on in our culture nowadays, is it really that
far-fetched?
Plus, it's also possible that while we aren't as advanced as them, they may not understand
all the technology that we have (or claim we have via shows) and they just decide that
it's not worth the risk of communication because they don't know how we'll react.
Discretion is the better part of valor, right?
1.
The Final Solution: They're Already Here Ok, now let's get into full-on conspiracy
theory mode.
For many decades now, much of the population has believed that there are aliens among us
in some capacity.
And more importantly, they believe that the government (either the American government
or the world's leaders) are hiding aliens and trying to learn more about them in order
to prepare for what they feel is coming.
True, much of this is just fear and wild speculation, but the notion can't be ignored.
Mainly because over the course of history, there have been many "sightings" of aliens.
And some go back hundreds and thousands of years.
There are legendary paintings that seem to have flying saucers.
There are Native American cave drawings that depict beings coming from the sky, and so
on and so forth.
It's incredibly possible that humanity is actually living amongst aliens right now and
just don't know it yet.
Not unlike the movie Men In Black.
So why haven't they revealed themselves if they are here?
It's hard to say.
But if they do decide to unveil themselves, it would definitely change the world, and
solve the paradox.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of the Fermi Paradox?
Does it give you a new insight into the potential for alien life?
Do you think we're alone in the universe right now?
Let us know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!