The Fermi Paradox

By David Freeland

The Paradox

• “The belief that the universe contains many technologically advanced civilizations, combined with our lack of observational evidence to support that view, is inconsistent. Either this assumption is incorrect (and technologically advanced intelligent life is much rarer than we believe), our current observations are incomplete (and we simply have not detected them yet), or our search methodologies are flawed (we are not searching for the correct indicators).”

More Simply

• The view that there are advanced civilizations is inconsistent with the fact that we haven’t found any

This could be due to:

• There are either very very few or no other existing advanced life forms

• We just haven’t found them yet

• We aren’t searching in the right way

My addition

• The government is covering up extraterrestrial life…

Slitheen Craft

Bush’s attempts at contacting extraterrestrial life never got off the

ground

But, luckily they found him

Main reasons why other intelligent life does not exist

• Inhospitable universe destroys complex life– Ice Ages, Meteors, Supernovae, Gamma Ray

Bursts

• Intelligent life destroys itself– Nuclear War, Biological War, Malthusian

Catastrophe

• Intelligent life destroys others– Advanced civilizations in the same galaxy

compete for resources and destroy each other

Spreading throughout the galaxy

• If an alien culture had the intelligence to populate more than one planet, it would inevitably populate the whole galaxy– Manifest destiny

The Oregon Trail

Enrico Fermi

• Italian Physicist

• Worked on beta decay

• Worked on the development of the first nuclear reactor

• Helped develop quantum theory

• Won 1938 Noble Prize in Physics for work on induced radioactivity