Is There Anybody Out There?
What are the chances our searching the heavens for alien life will be successful? Is there anyone else out there? Because we have not been successful, so far, in contacting anyone does this mean we are alone in the universe?
Think back on the progression of life on this planet we call Earth. Life, in one form or another, has existed here for something over 500 million years. During that period of time there have been several mass extinctions as climate, temperature, and atmosphere, have all gone through several serious changes. The scraps of life that managed to escape these disasters eventually resulted in us, the surviving branch of humanoids.
We exist in a modest solar system, in a vast galaxy, that we have recently discovered is but one of a countless number of galaxies. Our telescopes are finding a large number of planets in what we call “the habitable or Goldilocks zone,” where life such as ours might be able to exist. Our probes have even discovered potential areas where life might survive on some moons and other bodies within our own system. I suspect, given the millions/billions of possible habitable worlds, we are far from the only place where life has scratched out an existence.
So, why have we not heard back from anyone else out there? If someone on a distant planet was searching for signs of life what would they find if they probed in our direction? If you think about it, over the 500 million years or so life has crawled about on the surface of the Earth, it is only in the last one or two hundred years we have been making any noise that might be heard beyond our borders. How long have we been sending out television pictures or radio waves into the great beyond? How long would it take this noise to reach an inhabited planet several light years away? And what are the odds that life on that planet would have reached the same level where it had developed a civilization capable of tuning its ears toward the heavens?
There are solar systems far older than ours and those much younger. Even if life is common in the universe, the odds are stacked against two planets in separate systems being close enough, and reaching a similar level of technology at the same point in time, where they could communicate, let alone visit. Remember 100 to 200 years of noisy technology vs 500 million years of life’s existence in our case. That is a very narrow target to hit. The odds are stacked against us finding a connection.
What about actual face-to-face contact? Today, we are a long way from faster than light travel, if it is even possible. This may be a good thing, given our often fatal experiences when one advanced human civilization discovers another not quite on the same level of technology.
The bottom line, I have no objection to our searches for distant intelligent life, and no serious objection to us sending out attempts to make contact with a potential neighbor. I do believe we should cease including maps on how to find us though, just to be on the safe side. Maybe the reason we don’t hear from anyone is they are remaining quiet for a reason?
Think back on the progression of life on this planet we call Earth. Life, in one form or another, has existed here for something over 500 million years. During that period of time there have been several mass extinctions as climate, temperature, and atmosphere, have all gone through several serious changes. The scraps of life that managed to escape these disasters eventually resulted in us, the surviving branch of humanoids.
We exist in a modest solar system, in a vast galaxy, that we have recently discovered is but one of a countless number of galaxies. Our telescopes are finding a large number of planets in what we call “the habitable or Goldilocks zone,” where life such as ours might be able to exist. Our probes have even discovered potential areas where life might survive on some moons and other bodies within our own system. I suspect, given the millions/billions of possible habitable worlds, we are far from the only place where life has scratched out an existence.
So, why have we not heard back from anyone else out there? If someone on a distant planet was searching for signs of life what would they find if they probed in our direction? If you think about it, over the 500 million years or so life has crawled about on the surface of the Earth, it is only in the last one or two hundred years we have been making any noise that might be heard beyond our borders. How long have we been sending out television pictures or radio waves into the great beyond? How long would it take this noise to reach an inhabited planet several light years away? And what are the odds that life on that planet would have reached the same level where it had developed a civilization capable of tuning its ears toward the heavens?
There are solar systems far older than ours and those much younger. Even if life is common in the universe, the odds are stacked against two planets in separate systems being close enough, and reaching a similar level of technology at the same point in time, where they could communicate, let alone visit. Remember 100 to 200 years of noisy technology vs 500 million years of life’s existence in our case. That is a very narrow target to hit. The odds are stacked against us finding a connection.
What about actual face-to-face contact? Today, we are a long way from faster than light travel, if it is even possible. This may be a good thing, given our often fatal experiences when one advanced human civilization discovers another not quite on the same level of technology.
The bottom line, I have no objection to our searches for distant intelligent life, and no serious objection to us sending out attempts to make contact with a potential neighbor. I do believe we should cease including maps on how to find us though, just to be on the safe side. Maybe the reason we don’t hear from anyone is they are remaining quiet for a reason?
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