Where are all the aliens?

If the universe is so large, then surely there must be life outside of earth. The likelihood of this should be near 100%. But that said, where are all the aliens? This is basically the concept of the Fermi paradox.

Humans have spent quite a lot of money, time, and resources looking outside of the earth for extra-terrestrial life. We listen for radio waves, we send rockets as far as our current resources will allow. We've even prepared a collection of our culture, art, and literature that we will show to intelligent life outside of earth should they visit us.

These endeavours show that we are really interested in finding life outside of earth. But do we really want to meet our neighbours from beyond the stars? If aliens should come visit us, then that must mean that they are more intelligent than we are because they managed to create the technology needed to sail the infinite black sea of space before we have.

What would happen then? In order to guess what might happen we need no look further than our tiny planet of dirt. How do humans treat creatures less intelligent than ourselves? We keep them in zoos for entertainment. Sometimes we eat them. Sometimes we just keep them around because they're cute and they pose no threat to us.

Would this be our fate if we should encounter a UFO suddenly and unexpectedly? Perhaps this is the real reason why we have invested so much time watching the stars. Because we don't know what to expect. But whether we know or not, will we be ready?

May 27, 2024, 4:31 p.m.