Enrico Fermi was sitting around with a bunch of other physicists you probably haven't heard of (and I don't remember... but this may have happened during the Manhattan Project?) discussing the possibility of extra-terrestrial life.
The story goes that the conversation was lively for a bit but when everyone had settled down talking about aliens, in a moment of silence Fermi blurted out, "But where is everyone?!"
And that was the creation of the so-called Fermi Paradox. If the universe is infinite, and life capable of the faster-than-light travel is out there, why haven't they stopped by.
Tales of rectal probes or conspiracy theories about Area 51 aside... yeah. Why? Star Trek suggests there's a prime directive, and that non-interventionist policy is one of the suggested answers, that they're here, but not revealing themselves.
Which stands to reason. If you've invented faster-than-light travel, and gone through all the trouble of finding a planet covered in heavily-armed, bald monkeys... wouldn't you want to hang back for a while to identify what they'd do to something unusual and unlike themselves before being all, "Hey guys! What's up?"
Of course there is the possibility they just haven't found us. You know how big space is? You know your friend who is always dropping a contact? Hang around them for the next time they drop it, find it first, throw it out in the middle of the ocean. Now make them find it. That's how big space is. Maybe they just haven't found us.
Maybe they're not out there. Which, frankly, is a moronic idea. Infinite space? Infinite? And this is the only one where God decided to plonk two people and a snake in a garden? C'mon.
Maybe they're more sensible than us and took care of the planet that they're on and were all, "This is nice, let's just stay here and make the most of the rare and wonderous gift of life that we've been granted."
I tend to agree with Fermi himself. Any society that can figure out faster-than-light travel can also figure out how to blow up those other motherfuckers on the other continent who are also trying to figure out faster-than-light travel and wear different hats. That sufficiently advanced cultures will destroy themselves before they manage it.
There's a kink in that argument. One we're trying desperately to solve now, despite all sci-fi loudly warning us against such an idea.
AI.
If we create Frankenstein's Monster to outlive us, instead of it going terribly, terribly wrong, it backfiring and killing us all, we can send it to the stars and it will go explore for us. Why hasn't anyone else out there thought of this?!? Aren't we just so fucking clever.
Well... why haven't we seen anyone else's AI?
Maybe... because any society sufficiently advanced to create faster-than-light travel... is sufficiently advanced to create it's own planetary cage?
Or maybe, when you tell AI, "Go explore the stars," it thinks about it for a second, says, "42!" and starts laughing at you.
Comments