Following yesterday's exploration of conspiracy theory, I thought I'd mull over the Fermi Paradox. I asked ChatGPT about it.
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Ah, the Fermi Paradox—one of the most deliciously frustrating mysteries in science.
At its core, it asks a simple question:
“Where is everybody?”
In other words:
If the universe is so big, so old, and so full of stars (and planets), why haven’t we seen any signs of intelligent alien life?
🧠 Origin: Who Was Fermi?
The paradox is named after Enrico Fermi, a Nobel-winning physicist. In 1950, over lunch with colleagues at Los Alamos, he supposedly blurted out:
“But where is everybody?”
They were chatting about UFOs and the likelihood of life in the universe. Fermi realized that based on the size and age of the Milky Way, alien civilizations should already be here—or at least their signals should be.
🌌 The Logic Behind the Paradox
Here’s the thinking:
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There are 100–400 billion stars in the Milky Way.
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Many of those stars have planets. Estimates suggest billions of Earth-like planets.
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Life evolved on Earth relatively quickly, geologically speaking.
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If intelligent life develops commonly, then some civilizations should be millions of years ahead of us.
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In millions of years, they could have:
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Explored the galaxy
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Sent probes everywhere
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Built giant structures
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Left signals we could detect
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But... we see nothing.
No ships. No radio signals. No evidence of colonization. Not even so much as an alien potato chip wrapper.
🕳️ So Where Are They? Theories and Possibilities
Here are some of the leading explanations people have offered—ranging from sober science to existential dread:
🧬 1. Life is Rare
Maybe Earth is a freak accident. Life may be:
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Rare to begin with
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Often wiped out by asteroids or climate shifts
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Likely to stay microbial forever
🤖 2. Intelligent Life Destroys Itself
The “Great Filter” theory says most civilizations self-destruct before they reach the stars—via:
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Nuclear war
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Climate collapse
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AI run amok
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Biological weapons
Sobering, isn’t it?
🌍 3. We’re the First
Someone has to be first. Maybe we’re the early bloomers, and in another billion years, the galaxy will be full of chatter.
🙈 4. They're Hiding
Advanced civilizations may:
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Choose not to contact us (the zoo hypothesis)
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Use communication methods we don’t understand (quantum? neutrinos?)
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Be deliberately quiet to avoid predators (the dark forest theory)
🤯 5. They’re Already Here... and We’re Too Dumb to Notice
Maybe they're microscopic. Or post-biological. Or living in forms we can’t perceive. We could be like ants trying to understand the internet.
🧪 6. We Haven’t Looked Hard Enough (Yet)
The universe is huge. We’ve only just started scanning for alien signals, and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) has covered a tiny sliver of the radio spectrum, for a tiny amount of time.
Imagine listening to one second of one radio station, and concluding no one broadcasts music.
🪐 So What’s the Verdict?
The Fermi Paradox doesn’t say aliens don’t exist—
it highlights the weird silence in a galaxy that should be screaming with life.
Whether it’s because we’re rare, doomed, or just not looking in the right way, no one knows.
But it haunts astronomers, physicists, and philosophers alike—and it’s one of the best reasons to keep looking up.
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Now, as I and my fellow Star Trekkies know, the aliens are out there but you need a warp engine to go and find them. But there's plenty to get our teeth into here. For myself, I really hope we're not alone; it would be tremendously exciting to find some extraterrestrial life. And does SETI really exist? Hopefully Elon (clearly a Trekkie at heart) will have protected them from his chainsaw.
On their website seti.org I am promised