In simple terms, the Fermi Paradox tackles the debate of whether or not intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. This theory takes the stance that we humans are not the only intelligent life-form to have existed, but takes into question our idea of extraterrestrial civilizations. In our world, we perceive aliens to be of higher intellect, technologically advanced, imperialistic beings. The Fermi Paradox asks to see the evidence proving that another species is more advanced than humans. ETs, if they do indeed exist, may very well be in their own Paleolithic and are just beginning to understand how to use tools to make their lives easier.
A part of this paradox that stood out was the “zoo hypothesis.” If cosmic life is more advanced than humans, we could assume that they are capable of technology, space travel for example. The zoo hypothesis says that humans are not yet worthy to be in contact with the other species that exist in our universe. People like to believe that aliens would be the ones to contact us first, whether it be some message or a visit to Earth. To me, this belief is lazy. It’s almost like saying ‘We can’t navigate through space, we should hope that aliens will come and do it for us.’ Intelligent species could be observing our planet waiting for us to be able to provide something beneficial to them before making contact. I mean, would you try to teach an ant about its own self-existence? There would be no purpose, even if you happened to succeed.
Seeing that we humans live on a dying planet and are constantly at each other’s throats for the smallest of reasons probably isn’t that appealing. But hey, that’s just human nature, as it’s been for hundreds of years.
E110 FA19 Class Blog 