Why Haven't We Found Aliens Yet?
A deep dive into the Fermii Paradox and our search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
What Is the Fermii Paradox?
In 1950, physicist Enrico Fermi famously asked, "Where is everybody?" as he grappled with the contradiction between the vast number of stars and planets in the universe and our complete absence of evidence for alien life.
"The universe is a pretty big place. If it's just us, seems like an awful waste of space."
— Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Drake Equation Challenge
RF = R* × Fp × Ne × Fl × Fi × Fc × L
Frank Drake's famous equation estimating the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy.
Each variable in the equation represents a probability that seems high when considered individually, yet multiplying them results in numbers that conflict with Fermii's observation of complete radio silence in our galaxy.
The Great Filter Hypothesis
-
Early Filter
Life is rare — while microbial life might be common in the universe, the transition from simple to complex life could be nearly impossible.
-
Late Filter
Civilizations self-destruct — technological species like ours might inevitably face extinction through war, climate change, or other existential risks.
Visualizing the Paradox
In a universe with 2 trillion galaxies...
...where is our closest extraterrestrial neighbor? At light-speed travel, they should have reached us in under 100,000 years.
Thoughts and Open Questions
- Could interstellar travel be fundamentally impossible despite our theoretical models?
- Are we the first intelligent species in the galaxy, or have we simply not looked in the right way?