More than once you have thought if our planet is the only one not only of the Solar system which is habitable, but the only one in the entire Universe. Potentially a planet is habitable if it meets certain conditions that allow it to develop life. However, is it impossible that there is another planet that meets the ideal conditions? For there to be life on a planet it is not only necessary that there be liquid water. We know that there are planets where there is water, but it is not in the so-called "habitable zone" and, therefore, life has not developed. If there is as much probability of finding life on other planets as the Fermi paradoxWhy haven't we found it yet?
In this article we are going to explain to you what the Fermi paradox is and what it tries to explain to us. Can there be life throughout the Universe on another planet? We tell you everything.
What is the Fermi paradox?
Fermi's paradox is a contradiction between theoretical and experimental science. According to scientists, there are millions of chances of finding intelligent life on another planet throughout the Universe, but to this day, it has not yet encountered anything or anyone.
At present, a scientist named Berezin, has given a new explanation to this theory and has found a solution to the Fermi paradox. However, this solution is not easy to assume, as it is probably not the result you want to hear. According to Berezin, man will never find another intelligent civilization. We will continue to evolve as a race and the Planet Earth will cease to be habitable or will disappear before another civilization can be found. This is due to the imminent destruction of our star, the Sun.
It doesn't matter what kind of civilization there is out there in the Universe. If they are intelligent entities, they use machinery beyond ours, if they are planets with collective intelligence, etc. It doesn't matter all this. The only thing that matters is that the civilization that we have to find is at a "close" and viable distance for the human being. Although the Fermi paradox states that, statistically, there is a great probability of finding life on another planet, until today this has not been the case.
Technology and distance: two limitations
It is useless if there are civilizations different from us if the technology, both yours and ours, is not enough to cover the distances between planets. The paradox is explained by the example that a tree in the middle of the jungle it falls down and makes no noise because no one is there to hear it. Noise and sound only exist because there is someone who hears them. The same goes for another civilization. There may be thousands of civilizations throughout the Universe, but at the same time they will not exist for us because we will never be able to see them.
Suppose that the intelligent race is capable of evolving to the point of being able to travel between planets, but in the middle of its path it is able to erase the trace of another life before having detected it. It would also be limiting us when it comes to discovering another civilization.
We are not talking that wars, conquest or over exploitation of resources are the reasons why a race is going to extinction, but that it is a complete genocide, instantaneous but not premeditated. So that it can be well understood with an example: every time a human being builds a building, it is possible that the process of paving the ground destroy an entire anthill and all the individuals that lived in it. Obviously, it was not done on purpose or out of evil, but because of the differences in perspectives between humans and ants, we did not even know it was there.
We do not think that ants are a species with which to engage in dialogue and establish conversations. Something similar can happen with the rest of other species or civilizations in the Universe.
What kind of civilization are we?
At this point is when we think that, if we have set the example of the ant, are we ants for other races? In order to explain our profile as a race, we have to apply the anthropic principle. It is that any theory about the existence of life in the Universe it must allow human beings to exist as a race. This is due to our carbon-based composition and the existence of it in many specific areas of the Universe.
With this anthropic principle, we will be giving the solution to the Fermi paradox. It means then, that the only solution it has is that we are the ants for other species or other types of civilizations throughout the Universe. If the probabilities of life are very high and we have not found it, the only explanation is that, for them, we are either undetectable or insignificant.
We also find the opposite. We are the first to arrive and pass the great filter and, therefore, we will be the last to leave, being also the destroyers of other civilizations.
Where are everybody?
Since the Fermi paradox has no viable solution, we can only offer some speculation. Our Sun is much younger than the Universe is after its creation in the Big Bang. For this reason, it can be estimated that there must have been planets with a location within the habitable zone of their corresponding star and whose civilization has developed before ours.
If this is so, their technology has been able to develop much more than ours but, although this could have been the case, they cannot yet overcome the distance that separates us. Think that if technology were developed to the point that we could use all the energy of the planet, then use that of the Sun completely and even more that of using the energy of the Milky Way, we could expand in the Universe to the point of discovering new civilizations or destroy many others. The same can happen with us.
I hope this information has helped you clarify the issue.