Brian Cox - Alien Life & The Dark Forest Hypothesis

The renowned physicist and science communicator, Brian Cox delves into the topic of alien life and in particular, the question about intelligent alien civilization.
With his trademark enthusiasm and engaging style, Brian Cox explores the possibility of extraterrestrial life and why we haven't found any.
The video starts with a brief overview of what Brian Cox & astronomers call: "The Great Silence". Cox then goes on to explain the Fermi Paradox and the Dark Forest Hypothesis, which suggest that intelligent life may be intentionally avoiding contact with other civilizations to avoid being destroyed.
Cox uses his expertise in physics and astronomy to explain how alien life may be closer than we think. Like on the surface of the red planet, Mars. He discusses the potential for life to exist in other planets because there are at least 20 billion other earth like planets in our galaxy alone.
Throughout the video, Cox provides easy-to-understand explanations, making complex scientific concepts accessible to a broad audience.
Whether you're a science enthusiast or simply curious about the possibility of life beyond Earth, Brian Cox's insights and knowledge are sure to captivate and inform. Don't miss out on this thought-provoking and entertaining exploration of the universe and our place within it.
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#briancox #aliens #universe

[@TacShooter]

Aliens: "Greetings! We send this message in an attitude of peacefulness." Us: "Your able to communicate in English?" Aliens: "You're"

[@davidmurphy8364]

😂😂😂😂👏👏

[@nurlindafsihotang49]

Ouch😂

[@user-xl2ti1dy2g]

Now THAT'S funny! 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂

[@Andromedaxterr]

they speak Polish and latin, ( old Latin which is not spoken any more ) therefore their only option of language as a communication channel is Polski BTW, they are exactly 123 light years away and they know everything about us. There are approximately 40 civilizations out there just in the Milky Way

[@vaishnavnegi9640]

Bobr kurwa?😂​@@Andromedaxterr

[@mrfishbulb7187]

Just because we haven't found them, doesn't mean they haven't found us.

[@kiddabiff]

There's a chance they've seen us from a distance and realised how self destructive we are and left us well alone!

[@brianruwoldt7422]

They found me.

[@brianruwoldt7422]

They found me.

[@Westrait]

We are either late to the party or early I'd like to think

[@Westrait]

@Ian I'd like to think they are waiting for us to evolve more when we reach a point t where we can control time and mass , that is quite a long time and the future is uncertain or we are the only living Intelligent beings ,It is quite rare to have polar and moon perfect alignment some planets spin mach 3 how would anything survive , also perfect aligment with planets that filter meteors and that's just one in million reasons why we might be the only ones

[@chrishernandez8504]

The fact that we have looked at what is equivalent to a cup of water from the Pacific sea of space and some people throw up their hands like "well we looked in this cup of water of space and found no intelligent life so intelligent life isn't possible " is one of the most insane proposition in science

[@christopherstewart9874]

As is considering all of the thousands of UAP sightings as the reports of fools or charlatans because interstellar distances are too great. We now know that the US military believes they are real, and has for decades. We also know they have had disinformation campaigns for decades. Science has a nasty habit of disproving previous theories. There is a reasonable chance that current theories also eventually will be proven to be wrong.

[@josephjohn4769]

Yea I saw that video too

[@tomcurry3358]

Yeah it's an arrogant and stupid way of thinking

[@Unmaleable]

The problem with exploring the ocean is the extreme pressure deep under water. Not to mention there are areas underwater we can actually reach that have extreme heat due to the continuous release of magma.

[@thealexanderbond]

No dude, you've got it the wrong way around. When you have the slightest bit of evidence that there is life outside Earth, then you can talk. Until then, every single thing you say about alien life is wild speculation based on your own fantasies. 'But what if, what if, what if, maybe, maybe, maybe' is all I hear.

[@deis.w]

Given how long it can take for complex life to form, another possibility is that alien civilisations could be about as old as our own. In this case, we both only started looking out into space very recently. It's like placing 2 people on the opposite side of an empty earth for 2 minutes and asking them why they haven't found each other yet. Edit: I said it's one POSSIBILITY out of millions and billions of other possibilities.

[@ebilo6]

Not really , different conditions couldve made them get to intelligent life forms in half the time, that would put them 2 billions year before us. We fucked around as single cell for billions of years.

[@ItsDesm]

This right here. Many people don't contemplate the timing aspect and also how long signals take to travel all those light years. Even if there is life broadcasting out there at this moment, we might not receive their signals for hundreds or thousands of years

[@TheRusty]

@@ebilo6 What do you mean "fucked around"? Unicellular life is the dominant and most pervasive form of life in every ecosystem - including a great number of ecosystems that are ONLY microbial. It is clearly a hugely successful mode of life, and there's no reason to think that multicellular life is some sort of inevitability. Remember, there is no "forward march of progress" in biology. Biologically, you are simply a habitat for the 3 pounds of bacteria, yeasts, and protists that call you home.

[@UrbanRonin35]

@@ebilo6he said it was a possibility, not a guarantee. Can you read things more Thoroughly before responding maybe?

[@Timinem]

The milkyway is like 11billion years old (?) so you’d think there would be at least a few detectable civilizations.

[@arron911]

It's wild to think that even if a signal was sent at the speed of light from an advanced civilisation a million light years a way, by the time we receive it, that same civilisation could have been extinct for hundreds of thousands of years.

[@nickterrett6613]

luckily Einstein produced a theory where time travel is possible..apparantly its much easier to go backwards rather than forwards but its very possible.

[@BrodyCanuck]

@@nickterrett6613 Sadly a theory doesn't mean reality until proven.

[@nickterrett6613]

@@BrodyCanuck so the theory of realitivity is bs aswell..its only a theory BECAUSE it cant be proven with todays tech..doesnt mean its some crazy idea..it actually fits like a glove within quantum physics.

[@BrodyCanuck]

@@nickterrett6613 But that tech would also be a theory since it would exist today if it could be made.

[@kaoskronostyche9939]

@@nickterrett6613 I think you are incorrect on that one. Einstein provided three ways to go faster forward in time but going back in time violates the First Law of Thermodynamics and the Second Law as well, I think. I saw a great documentary with Stephen Hawking in which they addressed going backward in time.

[@sagan1976]

The way the Dark Forest is presented in Lin Cixiu's books is amazing.

[@michelangelo3617]

some of the best sci fi of our time

[@SINISTERfromHELL]

Yeah, I'm 250 pages in the end of death. Absolutely love it.

[@michaelstevens9256]

Best sci di trilogy I’ve ever read. Mind still fully blown several years afterwards

[@ashleysmith1276]

Honestly I found the books really difficult to listen to, possibly because the names of characters are so different to what I am used to. I only got as far as the first 3rd of the 2nd book. Maybe I need to read them instead...

[@undomondo]

@@ashleysmith1276 it’s been hard for me to remember chinese names as well, however i was reading it, and got used to it. so you’re right! don’t let this get in the way, because this book is seminal

[@KennethEvans-uf7hc]

"it could be that we're the only island of meaning in an ocean of 400 billion suns." I love how scientists and science can be so effortlessly poetic and beautiful without trying.

[@user-xl2ti1dy2g]

Scientists are allowed to dream too.

[@flix1179]

bro thats philosophy

[@user-xl2ti1dy2g]

@@flix1179 but philosophy stands as the BASIS d ALL:: intellectual disciplines as PRESUPPOSITIONS

[@realsatoshihashimoto]

"There are 2 possibilities. Either we are alone in the universe or we are not. And either possibility is equally terrifying." - Arthur C. Clarke

[@Madtil]

I think if we are alone it actualy isnt that scary. If humanity doesnt destroy itself and we have millions of years time we could become the gods of this universe and create other life ourselvs.

[@Robodude_0528]

If we’re here then something else is here too. There’s just no two ways about it. I like to presume that what ever else is out there is more strange than we could imagine.

[@hzhang1228]

we could be the bad guys in those alien invasion movies, maybe we will be what aliens fear.

[@realsatoshihashimoto]

@@Robodude_0528 It would be a terrible waste of space if we were the only intelligent, conscious beings in this vast universe, that's for sure. I agree there's sure to be something else out there, but perhaps separated from us so far in space & time that for all practical purposes we may as well be alone...

[@Blakkrazor69]

Humans are not alone just insufferably dim and violent making the idea of approaching such a species difficult at best. They are a disjointed species incapable of cooperation without the threat of violence...completely incompatible for Cosmic Society.

[@baronvonhoughton]

Vast distances, the limited speed of light, extremely specific stable conditions, and our own lack of ability to reach/message even nearby stars, all easily explain the Fermi paradox for me.

[@stalwartzero7001]

Speed of light is the boundary of or RAM

[@airfu3ion284]

But what about the speed of dark ^^

[@timcoleman8297]

THE Fermi paradox has been completely debunked. Its old hat. Just because we haven't figured out how to travel faster than the speed of light doesnt mean a civilisation a thousand years ahead of us hasn't. Thats so obvious. I just dont get why the likes of Cox cant grasp it. Get a grip man. You are so far behind the curve you should just be fired from the BBC.

[@blogattacker]

The extremely stable conditions is overstated by some researchers, but not by all. We have received apocalyptic meteorites several times in prehistoric histpry and, according to some theories about the great extinctions, direct hits of gamma rays, that erased the atmospheric layers for several years. But life has shown that is very plastic, where a few microorganisms can survive at the bottom of a sea, life comes back and re adapts. A paradox about life is that it requires unstable conditions to generate the primordial elements.

[@bensolo7217]

@@blogattacker very true. Then again, perhaps it's these unpredictable series of cataclysmic events that provided the most unlikely conditions being met to allow for us eventually. Maybe life is actually abundant in single cell form and the mutations that got primordial us out of the water is mind numbingly unlikely.

[@jmlaw8888]

I personally look at it as seperately picking two people anywhere on earth throughout the history of human civilization and expect them to meet eachother - only ridiculously more difficult. What are the odds that they will be born within the right timeframe and distance and with the ability to actually meet? If there is life out there its likely died before us, will live after us or if actually alive now is so far away we will both be gone before we could ever make contact.

[@andrzejjaniak6849]

Well said. That's exactly my line of reasoning.

[@nocturnalrecluse1216]

You got it, my guy!! Aliens exist, but they also do not exist because we live in separate time planes. That's how vast space is.

[@nickterrett6613]

all above relevant if excluding time travel..which Einstein himself said is theoretically possible..only needs to be a civilization say 1000 years more advanced than us..reality is there are probably 1000's of civilizations potentially millions of years more advanced..time travel would be simplistic to such species.

[@malphadour]

Nailed it. Brian Cox has spoken at length about this and it is his favourite theory. There may be numerous other civilisations in the galaxy, but time is so vast, that it would be easy for one to exist for a million years and never see or hear another one. He relates Fermi to Drake and explains why this is a very likely conclusion.

[@drewwar9344]

Well let's apply that logic to us we are constantly searching for life elsewhere and multiple generations have been looking for alien life so if you apply that to your scenario the likelihood gets higher In your scenario we would be one person actively searching for the other and that other person would have Signs that they are the ones we are looking for

[@Nphomez]

The way we search for Aliens, not even knowing they are friendly, is absolutely terrifying..

[@bullveigh2526]

Our solar system doesn’t have anything that isn’t abundant elsewhere in the galaxy, so they wouldn’t need the resources. if they do exist and are far more advanced than us they would know exactly how to spot life in the galaxy and would already know that life is here. If they are on the same civilization scale as us then maybe its better to find them first ;) our first contacts throughout our history have gone well, No? :)

[@-o-8862]

@@bullveigh2526 so wrong, our sun is stable. our planet is livable with water and oxygen, maybe our planets in the milky way are good for harvesting certain materials think of any other species we live with, ants pigs cows. we disregard their needs for our own at anytime. they'd do the same.

[@tremors536]

We’re looking for the Vulcans but what happens when we find the Borg 🧐

[@FoulBundy]

we klingon and get data@@tremors536

[@sws212]

@@bullveigh2526 That assumes we understand what they need or even have the technology to determine that something we have is what they need or our planet / system is on the same scale of their resource consumption. The tech they have could require galaxy level adjustment. Even if we have no significant resource, they could eliminate us in order to prevent others from using us as slaves or we're seen as so far beneath them, some sadist sees humans as animals to play around with.

[@hushingsilence]

I think it's pretty damn special to live in a universe on a planet at a time when Brian Cox is alive to share his knowledge and enthusiasm. 🥰

[@Poopdeck1015]

He's a brilliant scientist, but being unable to think away from conventional wisdom and theorem is a little concerning. There is another 9 billion years of the existence of the universe, and Cox fails to consider that non-terrestrial life may have formed within that time. They may not be dependent on the needs we have either.

[@JayBird-zc4kh]

He's not that brilliant

[@davidcross8028]

Lol.....!

[@jonsegerros]

for real. hes a hack@@JayBird-zc4kh

[@SauronTheDarkLordOfMordor]

​@JayBird-zc4khyou sound like a loooser

[@nightblade628]

It’s like waking up in your pitch black room one night, waving your arms around, and concluding that based on the fact that you didn’t touch anyone it must mean you’re the only person on earth. Ignoring the fact that a dozen people could be in the room with you but you can’t see them, and the fact that outside your house there’s 8 billion other people going about their lives completely oblivious of your existence as well. Imagine one day we discover a new form of communication, like how we went from talking one day to radio communication the next. And we discover that the universe is FULL of this kind of communication, we just couldn’t hear it before. Civilisations begging for help, fighting… the dying screams as one after the other, *something* suddenly silences them. Then we realise it’s heard us too and is on its way.

[@user-xl2ti1dy2g]

No, but it DOES mean that your are alone in BED!! 🤩🤣🤣😂😂

[@dennishrmn1]

I don't think there's anyway possible that we are alone. The size of the universe is inconceivable, in the amount of planets orbiting suns seems almost endless.

[@iamdihan]

We might be not alone but distances to other planets and galaxies are so vast we may never make contact. Also we are extremly fortunate to have developed as intelligent life forms, the Dinosaurs were around for nearly 10 times as long and never needed to get to space or make a single transmission. Maybe most of these habitable planets are animal like creatures.

[@HNCTECH]

Yet, we don't have any evidence for any other life. We can conclude that there are no other life beside us, untill proven otherwise.

[@Malitubee]

@@HNCTECH Pretty sure that’s what the alien on Planet Zebulon is saying about us

[@sandrewss92]

Brian Cox could put you in a youtube coma for hours listening to him he's fantastic at simplifying science for us.

[@troubadour723]

To think how unique we might be in the galaxy and yet how self-destructive we are is extremely depressing.

[@kevinac4397]

If that is the explanation for our loneliness than yes, very depressing

[@Larrymh07]

Whether we evolved or created, our conundrum is we have acquired space age technology while still mired in our stone age morality towards each other.

[@landotucker]

We're tribalistic, selfish and short-sighted. I don't have a lot of hope for us as a species and I expect we'll make earth uninhabitable before we develop the technology to get off it in any significant numbers

[@AndyP1212u]

Let's hope the aliens give us a good Shake up, also hoping our leaders get a grip it's about we started acting as one species together on our one planet

[@meesterdinglefritz2064]

If we’re so self destructive, why are we still here?

[@Chimera_166]

Brian is so enthusiastic and over the top happy when it comes to these things

[@thebodybagman577]

I wonder how happy he is knowing sooner or later we're all going to come across this...? kzbin.info/aero/PLnrEt2fIdZ0aBgPuVF0C_T559YR20eDTc&si=NcgTAojzEe0odakc kzbin.info/aero/PLHPYLgNK6VlihAkcPT2nPhhUC2Dc4rkJD&si=1NPt2q_UBS5nfZKn

[@user-xl2ti1dy2g]

Maybe he's just out of this world?

[@williammore558]

Just because we're unable to find alien intelligence out there in the vastness of space using current technology doesn't mean there's nobody out there. Going back a few decades, we weren't even aware of how many habitable planets within our own galaxy are out there and, fast forward, we're now aware there are billions of planets with such potential. A small sample using Kepler already harvested some interesting targets and with Webb the opportunities are even more tantalising with one target already considered as having life.

[@Samurai78420]

I could listen to this guy for hours. Love it.

[@robpegler6545]

If we're the only civilization in the universe, that either makes us incredibly important or incredibly insignificant, depending on how you look at it.

[@sandrafaith]

And both are equally scary.

[@sangyedorje]

Good point

[@TheBanana93]

Scary? Its liberating lol@@sandrafaith

[@Patricknab]

agreed even aliens doesnt look beautiful like us it's mean god create us very special and unique

[@alelirivarola1197]

Important to who? What is our contribution to the cosmos as a civilization? I think if we are alone, we are insignificant, period.

[@gabriellecunningham7196]

The absolutely mind-blowing concepts presented so succinctly for mere mortals like me by Dr. Brian Cox and Co. are so very much appreciated. Cheers from Melbourne 🇦🇺

[@uniquemetal]

👽 A new 2022 UFO documentary called ARIEL PHENOMENON I recommend very much. One of the best witnessed UFO by school children 1994......👽

[@novacula]

We're all mortals here Gabrielle.

[@leofromfive2seven131]

Yeah same here. Have just recently discovered Brian and am a big fan 👍 Cheers from Jupiter

[@dennyworthington6641]

I recently read the book "Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe" by Ward and Brownlee. The authors contend that simple, single-cell life, such as bacteria, is likely quit common in the universe, but more complex multi-cellular life may be exceedingly rare and so-called "intelligent life" (whatever that means) would be rarer still. Excellent, thought-provoking book for those interested in the subject. Spoiler alert: Don't hold your breath waiting for that signal from outer space.

[@PhecdaPlato]

Love Brian Cox ❤ he’s a Rock Star on so many levels ❤

[@Jansen33]

Planets evolve so much over millions of years. The distance between us and other planets plus the multitudes of variables evolving those planets make contact and space travel so incredibly difficult.

[@bigboicreme]

Big distances. Holy crap I just thought about how big the milky way is 🫥🫥

[@jackwilson5542]

It may be simple, humans on this Earth just don't have the technology yet. A type 2 or higher civilization may have instant communication network, so looking for radio waves could be like cavemen looking for smoke signals from aliens.

[@EFCDKZ]

The dark forest theory is funny to me. I can just imagine other civilisations wondering why we want to be found so much and are just shaking their heads at us knowing we’re gonna get extinguished 😂

[@exerciseforidiots2296]

“Look at those dumb shits…”😂😂😂

[@rohacha9iin40]

Makes me think how some METI people are either suicidal or psychopaths

[@wearywanderer1912]

Maybe this behavior causes the impression we're confident therefore superior (even though we're not) so they'll never try to mess with us. 🤣

[@octoslut]

@@wearywanderer1912 lol no true at all, they can easily look at your technological level and see how far behind(inferior) we are.

[@__Tazzzo]

@@octoslut Technological levels could be a shitty way to judge a civilization. We have advanced pretty well in just the last 100 years. In my view we have devolved 1,000 years culturally because of it.

[@BrianHartman]

Imagine you drop a 10-foot circumference boulder in the Atlantic Ocean from 100 feet up, off the coast of France. Would you expect to be able to detect the waves the boulder makes in New York City? I think that's the problem we're dealing with: There's just a lot of space out there, and the signals we're looking for are small.

[@MT________]

I like your analogy! I also don't get why even scientist act so suprised by not having seen any traces of alien presence when the size and age of the universe are just such big numbers. I guess all humans can't comprehend these vast numbers.

[@fozzy20]

Always reminds me of what Arthur C Clarke said in relation to life beyond Earth. There are 1 of 2 things definately true in the univserse and they are both equally as terrifying. We're either alone in the universe or we are not.

[@uniquemetal]

👽 A new 2022 UFO documentary called ARIEL PHENOMENON I recommend very much. One of the best witnessed UFO by school children 1994......👽

[@chili_phil]

That was a pearl of a statement! Love it

[@timcoleman8297]

We are not and they are busy monitoring us. FACT.

[@reesetwist2290]

Fire quote

[@cfrandre8319]

@@reesetwist2290 Remember it.

[@davidktd]

After reading The 3 Body Problem I subscribe wholeheartedly to the Dark Forest hypothesis. I do believe that we’ve been “visited” by ET’s but that they hold a similar outlook to us. We should, however, be extremely careful about how we advertise ourselves in the universe

[@jamesn0va]

I approve of your love for fiction but it's silly to suggest the hypothesis has any real merit. Given the resources we would investigate every oxygen rich atmosphere we could. The notion of the dark forest only works when one can hide all there influance form the universe and that's simply impossible.

[@davidktd]

@@jamesn0va no, not necessarily. It doesn’t go hand in hand that oxygen rich planets have life. That is not something we have to keep hidden. We should, however, be careful in transmissions that narrow down our locations.

[@spencerhopkinson9874]

@@davidktd too late.

[@Wis_Dom]

The terrifying part of about being a rare unique accident that sparked complex life out of 400 billion planets is that... we can't get along.

[@BobbyHickey]

Most constantly miss what makes Earth so special. Diversity of life.

[@Jafmanz]

Look at all nature on earth! it is simply a fight for survival! Humans however like all life does to a certain extent 'get along' very nicely indeed! in fact humanity 'gets along' better than most which is one of the reason we have surpassed the limitations of our biospheres imperatives. Our 'getting along' is what has accelerated our development... (among other things) It's not terrifying at all but empowering and magnificent!

[@Jafmanz]

@@Wis_Dom How is my comment prideful? How to my comment mean I express a very high opinion of my self? Pride comes before the fall? THE fall? The book of proverbs really states quite clearly that wisdom and modesty are to be preferred over pride and wealth.... preferred... there is no arrogance or overconfidence in my post. I urge you before you begin engaging in complex topics about life to first study the English language.... Is English your first language?

[@Aegmog]

How do you know life is unique to Earth without checking the other 400 billion planets? We haven't checked 0.0001% yet, and still haven't even explored our oceans 😅 This is similar as saying Earth is at the centre of the universe.

[@Aegmog]

​@@Jafmanz human civilization has been, for millennia, at constant war with each other separated by small periods of peace.

[@therantingboy]

Can't it just be that space is massive and there's aliens as advanced as us or more advanced but they haven't left their galaxy or visited us? Why is that so hard to imagine?

[@qwizdom3873]

You’re right, it is not hard to imagine. In fact it’s primitive. Do you stop at your every first version of an idea?

[@danielm5161]

@d We'd have to line up with another intelligent civilization in space and time though. It's a narrow window.

[@tomwilko7841]

​@d there's plenty of (conspiracy) theories that our current civilization and it's entire history is far from the first one on our planet, I don't subscribe to these ideas, I have a friend who lives for this stuff, for some reason circa13,000bc is hugely important to these guys...i don't know I rarely look at his recommendations😅, but I've seen enough to say I can honestly believe that if the worst was to happen to us, there are many ways in which all trace of our existence could be evaporated in many different ways...so it's not definite that vanquished/failed civilisations leave megastructures, or any structures for that matter, behind when they die, when you think about the huge timeframes involved it becomes easier to believe...hell we may not be the first human civilisation on earth and we'll never know

[@procta2343]

@@danielm5161 yeah its about distance, say we confirm there is another planet like ours in the neighbouring system. We would have to set up some sort of relay, signal booster station, every few points. So it would line up with them at some point. Even then we would still get a delay.

[@dealwolfstriked272]

3:05 you go back only 15 or 20 years we only knew about our solar system.We believed that it was possible that all the other stars could have a solar system but now we know.Amazing words

[@Anfield_the_place_to_be]

After seeing (and reading) 3 body problem, my feed is full of theese videos,,, and i love it👽

[@paulaneph3257]

Love Brian Cox!! He makes such complex things so simple to understand

[@sirbarringtonwomblembe4098]

And a great Scottish actor! He's nearly 77, you know. 😆

[@brucedunn6845]

He knows nowt

[@markcarey67]

The Dark Forest hypothesis was invented by Liu Cixin one of the best science fiction writers in the history of humanity

[@ZombieMutt]

No it isn't. He borrowed it and applied it to his works. It originates with David Brin.

[@Dave_of_Mordor]

@@ZombieMutt David Brin took that idea from me

[@vzit_mi_chanal]

I often wonder if the answer is staring us straight in the face in the form Ring Galaxies, like Hoag's Object. We humans have a tendency to put undue confidence into our observational hypotheses. One thing peculiar about Ring Galaxies is the preponderance of Bright Blue Stars . These are the same types of stars that produced the metallic elements we put into our current technology.

[@S.H.A.D.O.999]

This was fascinating, thank you!

[@AsifAAli]

I'm an alien, and I approve this message.

[@wilhelmw3455]

And me too !!!

[@fanatamon]

You Politicians should stay out of this.

[@AsifAAli]

@@fanatamon My dear sweet child, that's what we do, it's what we live for. 😏

[@drjojo5551]

Ok Al Eean!!!! First of all…..this is our planet…our home!!! This is not some galactical NUDIST COLONY!!!!! Get some clothes on!!!!

[@AsifAAli]

@@drjojo5551 You don't say the same on those other tube sites though... you rather have them with their clothes off, so why pretending to be all holy here? And, your planet? Hehehehehehee... you were cultivated here, just like humans were cultivated on Mars. You're a mere crop waiting to be harvested. Muahahahahaa... 😈😈

[@stephenbrooks733]

Imagine we received a message back saying..' be quiet they'll hear you'

[@Grombrindal91]

In the 3 body problem series aliens respond back with “do not respond, do not respond, do not respond”.

[@romino23]

01:34 It took humans nearly 4 billion yrs to become who they are, that's the third of the age of the universe... mind blown.

[@JPayne95]

If humans stumbled across a planet full of life that we deemed to be of lesser intelligence, would we make ourselves known or would we study from a distance and use what we can get?

[@Alexander_Kale]

I mean, consider for a second the implications of what you just suggested. 1) In our society, observation without consent is very much a crime. Espionage between nations is very much a necessary evil. If a government agent wants to read your emails, he needs to justify that before the law, and in order to do that, he needs to show credible proof that you harbour hostile intent. You are effectively suggesting that future humanity of yours to do that. Spy on people. For thousands of years. Unsupervised. Without justification. Without asking for consent. 2) Imagine the knowledge and power such a future humanity holds. They would have incredible understanding of biology and physics. For all intends and purposes, if they are capable of interstellar travel, they can produce infinite amounts of energy. Would you really consider it ethical for such a species to sit back and watch as their objects of study engage in bloody wars for limited ressources? WOuld you consider it ethical and good for such a species to watch as their subjects struggle to deal with climate change, when you could give them access to unlimited, cheap, clean energy? Would you consider it ethical for such a species to sit by and watch as those people in their ant farm die in the thousands to diseases that you would consider preventable, when you could very easily mass produce cures for any and all of them? 3) Finally, imagine the cosmic joke. SOmeone on that planet looks up into the sky, wondering if they are alone. If there are other species out there, somewhere across the ocean of space. Meanwhile, your future humanity is sitting behind their stealth fields, laughing at him while they wave.

[@Dave_of_Mordor]

do we study chicken, insects, and other animals from a distance?

[@JPayne95]

@Dave_of_Mordor from our perspective, no. But that's why you're never going to see beyond because you can't look at their perspectives. Does an ant know that it's being watched? Are fish aware of world outside of the oceans?

[@Alexander_Kale]

@@Dave_of_Mordor You do realize that ants are not people, yes?

[@Dave_of_Mordor]

@@JPayne95 you cannot claim these perspective are true because you don't know how and what ants or fish think.

[@JoseAlvarado-nl4pi]

I remember reading a comment that describes that the universe is like a boiling pot of water. The bubbles in the boiling pot are civilizations popping in and out of existence and that’s why we can’t find anything. And I agree with that. I think that civilizations just die out before having the means to travel between stars

[@globextradingsystemsllc1740]

What about the thousands of Authentic UFOs,UAPs the military admits now. They're already here,dummy. We don't see anything???

[@atimetraveler4910]

I truly believe actual interstellar travel is just impossible.

[@globextradingsystemsllc1740]

@@atimetraveler4910 Impossible for your brain capacity to understand how it's accomplished. Science,math we created and Einstein got us stuck in the mud of progress.

[@atimetraveler4910]

@@globextradingsystemsllc1740 progress where? Wheres this progress? We haven't even gone to mars yet or are even close to doing that yet. Also stop being one of those "I believe anythings" possible. Interstellar travel has hundreds of problems and even small paradoxes. Won't ever be done.

[@globextradingsystemsllc1740]

@@atimetraveler4910 Hundreds of problems for you and most mediocraties. The limitations you believe are limitations in thinking way out of the box ,and a step away from Einstein. What about dark energy? 😉. If the big bang was truly understood in its context ,then the fabric of space can travel at millions of times faster than light.Expansion was quite fast.Dummy up.

[@mollybell5779]

Just wow, seriously. Checking out ancient dried up lake beds on Mars, and I didn't know there was *that* much water on Europa. Great stuff! Thank you

[@ScienceTime24]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@hongo3870]

Uranus and Neptune have oceans of methane water slush, too. Down to the rocky core deep

[@uniquemetal]

👽 A new 2022 UFO documentary called ARIEL PHENOMENON I recommend very much. One of the best witnessed UFO by school children 1994......👽

[@grem6966]

basically the entire volume of the moon aside from the crust and the core is water

[@mollybell5779]

@@grem6966 wow! I didn't even know there was any water on the moon at all, but after a little research, sure enough! Thank you.

[@WhalesOfWallStreet]

Contact is my favourite sci-fi film. Can’t believe how long ago it came out

[@alexpowers5117]

What did you think of the arrival 1996 with Charlie sheen

[@WhalesOfWallStreet]

I saw that quite recently, very cool@@alexpowers5117

[@alien4422]

Cox is one of my favourite comedians.

[@daveincorp]

"It could be, we're the only Island of meaning in a Ocean of 400 billion Suns" 😢 B-E-Autiful quote

[@GordKapasky]

Already quoted it.🧐

[@daveincorp]

@@GordKapasky lol yes sir officer

[@blanckieification]

The way I see is: If they are more advanced and capable of making contact, you can compare it with making contact with gorilla's. We mostly let them live and if we want to study them we do it from a safe distance.

[@doobiedoo3302]

Exactly if I was an alien and saw hairless apes with nuclear weapons constantly at war with each other destroying the planet I would keep my distance too.

[@Eeangi]

The difference is gorillas and other animals know about our existence

[@ronnasteele8316]

When I was little my dad worked on the Sojourner Mars Lander. He brought home a piece of it... so it away my energy signature already there!!! Blessings!!!

[@DP-cd5wr]

I’ve always thought the probability of sentient life developing is roughly equivalent to the size of the universe. Unfortunately we don’t know how life actually occurs and hence can’t work out an accurate probability.

[@kevinsayes]

Brian Cox could make quilting fascinating

[@sirbarringtonwomblembe4098]

It already is!

[@Roadman1000]

The dark forest theory is pretty terrifying. Lord knows what matter of scary, incredibly powerful technology another civilization would have. Our imaginations can only wonder... Science fiction has surprisingly utilized the Dark Forest Theory very well. Warhammer 40k, an entire galaxy constantly at war. Cixin Liu, the milky way being flattened by a hyper-weapon.

[@Alexander_Kale]

The problem with the Dark Forest is that hiding would not save you. Imagine that there WAS a genocidal species out there. They would inevitably come to the conclusion that some species would try to hide from them, and they would then try and find ways to kill the ones that do. WHat is the easiest way to do this? Massive overkill. YOu have an incredibly powerfull energy source in the form of your sun. By weaponizing just a small part of it, you can absolutely kill every living thing in the galaxy without ever leaving your own solar system. If you repfer a more direct approach, send out fleets of probes equipped with nuclear bombs. Or just sent probe droids, like the ones from the second star wars movie, and tell them to report back. If one of them doesn't report back, send a kill fleet. In other words, you can rest easy. If there WAS a genocidal alien race out there, we would already be dead. The very fact that we are still alive means that we are save.

[@chromatic2006]

What is really terrifying is understanding why an advanced civilization would see a lesser developed civilization as a threat. It's because that lesser one might, upon being contacted, devote all of their resources to 'catching up". And scientific discovery is not a universal constant. It is possible that the lesser one gets really lucky, and is able to leapfrog ahead in science and technology. The greater civilization can't take the chance, they have to make a decision to eliminate now. Here we are on Earth, broadcasting our signal out freely.

[@Raxatlix]

We could be a forgotten colony of the imperium

[@Colin-Fenix]

Great 5 minute video!

[@edubblesspirit]

The hardest part about looking is that we have no idea what we’re looking for.

[@lokey834]

Somewhere out there…species with powers might exist. I know it sounds outlandish, but the possibility is there. Fantasy may not exist here, but it may exist elsewhere knowing that the universe is vast.

[@wmwastle]

Just because we haven't found them doesn't mean they aren't there. I cannot believe we are alone.

[@abraham_1997]

The name of movie pls

[@randar1969]

I do , logic tells me if intelligence is easy to create, we should have seen it by now since they can have headstart and be millions if not billions of years further then us. With our current 'speeds' even with robotic craft we can visit the entire milky way galaxy in around 100-200 million years. The Universe can create planets like us for far longer then that alteast 10000 million years.

[@tmgn7588]

@@randar1969 Literally ignoring so many factors. Why would we visit the entire milky way in a rush? A human could have easily walked from South Africa to South America (when the Bridge was still there), yet it took thousands of years. And if intelligence is too easy to create, there won't be enough oil to power an industrial revolution. If intelligent life tends to stay in the ocean, this doesn't favour electronics which right now is the only thing we could use to conclude an exo-planet has intelligent life.

[@tr3vk4m]

@@abraham_1997 Contact 1997

[@keenfire8151]

@@tmgn7588 Correct. But I just wanted to say one doesn't need oil to be a successful space faring civilization. That's just the route we happen to go down because those materials are the easiest for us to extract and manipulate. We have to think of the possibility that not all elements in the universe made it to Earth. There could be ways of travelling the universe we can't even fathom, simply because we don't have the elements here to even understand the physics.

[@TheDevilsAccountant]

Intelligent life deciding to not contact us is what makes them Intelligent.

[@AnthonyRiddle]

How come the two best speakers of our generation are both scientists? Neil DeGrassi Tyson and Brian Cox speak so well and with so much passion and enthusiasm. I love listening to them talk.

[@sgtflashback5442]

What irks me about the dark forest is this: we already sent out a heap of radio signals, heck even intentional information about us and our location along with a friendly greeting. We did this out of naive trust in technical and societal advance and a sense of final frontier star trekish enthusiasm.. Why should we be the only idiots to have done this and everyone else intuitively chose to stay hidden as best as possible?

[@Mike-br8zt]

Finding alien life is like finding life in Stok-on-Trent, we hope it is out there but finding it is a challenge.

[@brucedickinson12]

Is that near Stoke on trent

[@tonypine3434]

Saying "finding intelligent life" maybe would've made that dig funny. As it stands you failed. Quite ironic

[@cpk313]

Thanks Brian! 3:49am and you've scared the shit out of me!

[@Bob-of-Zoid]

We may just have to reevaluate what we call "The Goldilocks zone", as there are many more factors than just a planets position in it's solar system to account for. It's a magnificent chaos out there, just on a scale hard to fathom for most.

[@kbuttstadt]

Still, that's an idea that is 100% terran. The thought process that states "change our perception" was created, like all ideas we know of at this point, on this planet.

[@haukikannel]

We have only found water / carbon based life. So the chance of finding that kind os life is bigger that life that is based on for example cilicon… Because if there would be life based on cilicon we should have seen it in our solar system. So goldilock zone is the best ques / chance we have to find out life that is somewhat similar to us. Does that means that it is the only possible way life can develop. No, but it is the most likely candidate.

[@nettewilson5926]

I think time and space distances are so great that even if life is not rare, we would be unlikely to find it

[@Impactor07]

Well, what about the wormhole theory? I mean, if it's true(hypothetically), then there'll be no prob in travelling vast distances in space

[@albundy7198]

If we could build a telescope that could detect every star around the entire habitable area in a different spiral 🌀 galaxy like the location of earth in a Milky Way spiral bc I think you will have better luck looking outside the galaxy into another Milky Way twin galaxy about the same age or a little older.

[@bigboicreme]

​@@Impactor07 wormholes just don't exist naturally

[@ArmstrongandTumbler]

@@Impactor07 If wormhole travel was hypothetically real, and we somehow found a way to master using it, there are still hundreds of billions (with a B) star systems in our galaxy, and every star system can have hundreds if not thousands of planetary/moon bodies in orbit around each one. We will still have our work cut out for us. LOL

[@Impactor07]

@@ArmstrongandTumbler Yeah lol I mean having a headstart is always better than doing everything by scratch imao but still, the wormhole remains a theory, but one that seems likely to be true imao...

[@alelirivarola1197]

If we are alone, if we are the only civilization that has achieved this complexity, our "value" is valued only by us.

[@alphillips5478]

Well, the recent Congress (July 2023) on UAP's would suggest different! I hope you all watched

[@faulypi]

It’s just that the Universe is so large that it’s almost impossible to pick up signals from anywhere else unless they were specifically designed to be so powerful as to be picked up at astronomical or intergalactic distances.

[@FanBoyBooks]

This is the first video that actually started to convince me why it could be so hard to find advanced alien life. Yeah there are plenty of goldilock planets... But ones you give several billion years, that survived everything the universe through at them, and the Civilization survived long enough to send signals we could reach.... Then we right now can find those signals and understand them. Universe seems old but its only 13.8 billion years old, Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, single cell organsism appeared 3.5 billion years ago, AND then multicellular animals appearwd 600 Million years ago, then starting with Tesla in 1899 in Colorado Springs upto nowadays we have slowly been really just starting our search finding evidence of alien life. So yeah, we just might be a very early alien life that is looking for others And the amount of other advanced lifeforms could be rare and very spread out. Sucks, but real possibility.

[@TheBanana93]

If anything we are gonna be the aliens

[@brucedunn6845]

Thick as mince, we were genetically made by aliens. and past civilisations were much more advanced than us, you need to wake up cupcake 😂

[@alexbosse8528]

There was an interesting question posed to one of the researchers at SETI. She was asked: How much of space have we searched for life?" Her answer was: "If you imagine that all of space is equivalent to the oceans here on earth, we have searched about a glass of water. So if you were to scoop a glass of water out of the ocean and you didn't find any fish, would you say that there was no life in the ocean?" Now obviously you could argue, throw it under a microscope and likely you'll find micro organisms, but the point is space is gargantuan and we've barely scratched the surface.

[@_J.F_]

Just remember that the old fashioned landline telephone was only invented by humans less than 150 years ago, and means of effectively contacting anyone on any other planet has been around for little more than 50 years. That is such an insignificant and almost unmeasurable amount of time in the scope of our galaxy and our universe that it would have to be a miracle if anything noticed such an insignificant bleep on the 'radar' and the way things are developing we might not be around for thousands of years to come either, and maybe other civilizations have/are having the same issues.

[@patelk464]

The Dark Forest hypothesis propose that an alien civilization will at first search for life on other planets. At some point they become advanced enough to realise to their vulnerability to other alien civilization and as a result becomes Dark.

[@ingridhohmann3523]

So in other.words ,,,don't stick your head and.play it safe ,,?????I'm not objecting to that 🤔 ,but let's colonize Mars ,it's close by,in the neighbor so to.speak wink 😉

[@patelk464]

@@ingridhohmann3523 At least we can be fairly certain that there are no little green monsters on Mars, hopefully 😉

[@sufficientmagister9061]

​@@patelk464 What about Artificial Super Intelligence? If that emerges, it gets out of human control, then destroys humankind as a whole. Then ASI will be the dominant life-form exploring the universe.

[@davecurry8305]

Colonizing Mars makes no sense. It is far too hostile to be a second home for humanity. It may be worth going there for exploration’s sake. Beyond that, stay home and repair earth makes much more sense.

[@Fyodor48]

Whilst an interesting hypothesis, it is ultimately irrelevant. Why? You may ask, simple really; for the planet Earth is the *only* populated planet in existence. And all the studying, all the searching, all the probes being sent out in scanning for evidence of life; Two now in interstellar space. Alas, Tis But an exercise in futility. That said, Thank-you for all the amazing images from Webb, Hubble (particularly Hubble deep field) . This small piece of dark sky when looked at, the astronomers expecting little in return were stunned to learn and see!! Thousands of galaxies!!!!!! So what’s beyond that? What’s beyond these thousands of newly discovered galaxies?? If (and they’re not) were an astronomer using their Hubble or Webb or better, way out there in *newly discovered* ‘Hubble deep field land’ and those telescopes were pointed at a ‘dark patch’ of their relative Sky, what on Earth would those Super mega telescopes wayyy out there observe What would they see? The answer is absurdly simple!!!. *NOTHING but, more and more and more ‘Deep Field* images of just more and more Spiral etc galaxies like our own Milky Way. *Beautiful for sure, but like the rest of the Universe with the exception of our Blue Beautiful Planet; Utterly devoid of life. *So Guys n Gals, get out there look after our world and treat it with the Love, Respect and Reverence Tis due* *I give you this unasked for reality, but give it I Must*

[@Stiffdistantandweird]

Peter F Hamilton uses this hypothesis as the basis of seriously great books while bringing in panspermia. Highly recommended

[@engelbertus1406]

I don’t like hypothesizing nor putting hopes on science, but if and when the Alien will show itself in whatever form during my lifetime ~ that would be pretty badass

[@pliashmuldba]

I find it a bit silly potential civilizations out there should be competing for resources, when there are so much of everything out there, and so availability will only be limited in your ability to go and harvest them.

[@Z0mb13ta11ahase]

Problem is finding ones that are worth harvesting. If an advanced civilization came by earth, it may just be easier for them to wipe us out and harvest our world than it is to go scout for a world with what they need and then get to it with their workers.

[@steved5356]

Given the vast distances involved and the vast time for signals to travel it, plus all the other noise going on in universe, I suspect any signal will be impossibly weak and practically impossible to detect. In any case, we can never see back beyond a certain point as time always marches forward, and we cannot yet see beyond the cosmic microwave background. It’s like sitting in the middle of ocean, where you can only see a small area of sea around you (that analogy breaks down because that is caused by curvature of planet).

[@thinkforyourself1547]

Many years ago when I attended a Brian Cox presentation, I was completely blown away by his thinking that we may be the only life form in our Universe. I was simply astounded that someone who knew so much of the number of Galaxies & stars in the Universe, could possibly be this naive & shortsighted. 🤦‍♂️🙄🥴

[@abc456f]

Distance is the biggest obstacle. If you really allow your mind to comprehend it, it's friggin insane.

[@bobdownie.2806]

A major rule in the discovery process is that we find something unexpected. Which is not surprising given just how little we have yet discovered. This of course doesn’t mean that I expect that the unexpected will come in the form of alien life, it means that anything unexpected is just so because it is alien to us. If we look at life from the perspective of biology we may be missing a broader reality of what in fact does constitute life. It may turn out to be that our bodies (by which I herein include our brains/minds) function for our own purposes…our own ends and therefore we do not see that which is beyond our own little world that our body is functioning for. Aliens could be all around us and we don’t see them….this is not so far fetched if you consider how magic tricks fool us. Alternatively you could consider the capacities of different species to have an awareness of things (E.G) a mole’s eyesight, a bats echolocation etc…..it’s extremely stupid to think our own ability to sense the universe is unlimited, despite technological aides. Again, I recall a certain species was believed to be extinct in Australia, until the so called experts asked the local indigenous peoples about these and were led to them in abundance. The bottom line is that humans are very limited in both intelligence and their awareness of the universe when compared with the immensity of what is out there……we will never know everything, this can only ever be arrogance……which is a fear response to that which is greater and more powerful than you.

[@celestenova777]

Interesting video, thanks for upload 🌠

[@ScienceTime24]

Thank you too

[@RavenIroneagle135]

Very poetic Professor!

[@Defalto]

The “WOW” signal reminds me of how we distract cats with a laser pointer. Some primordial space gods out there are maybe just toying with our instinct to curiosity, the breadth and depth of their knowledge and technology completely unfathomable to us, the equivalent of a pet cat to its owner. Pretty terrifying.

[@jroar123]

There might be another reason we haven’t found any other forms of life out there. It could be that we are the very first.

[@robertjames4908]

Feasible, if it's taken over four billions years for us to evolve and the universe is only 13.8 billion years old then we may only be on the rising tail of the bell curve for intelligent life.

[@craigthescott5074]

Or we could be the last.

[@jroar123]

@@craigthescott5074 That's right. We have no idea however, that doesn't mean that we stop looking just in case. The chances are slim to non that we ever find something. But, what if there is technology drifting out in space of a race of people long since distinct? That to would make it work looking but on the other-hand, what if we are the first? wouldn't that mean we wasted resources to prove a negative. That time would have been better of used developing something to expand life from our planet?

[@phrayzar]

The dark forest theory is such a classic manifestation of human neurosis.

[@uniquemetal]

👽 A new 2022 UFO documentary called ARIEL PHENOMENON I recommend very much. One of the best witnessed UFO by school children 1994......👽

[@mattsmith1859]

How? It makes sense base in our limited understanding of how civilization progress. The way its presenting inthe Three Body Problem makes it make more sense. We don't any any other examples to draw from and our sci-fi runs the spectrum from helpful and kind aliens to murdering madmen. The Dark Forest is nicely in the center.

[@swellawsum]

Famous last words

[@adamlouis3725]

its math. if only 1 out of 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 civilizations follow dark forest theory on a long enough time line only they will be lift. the universe will continue to produce similar conditions to what exists now for 100 trillion more years. the universe has only existed for a blink compared to its expected life span

[@ArmstrongandTumbler]

Some may say it would be so cool to find out other lifeforms that think like us, but others may say it would be the worst discover in humankind for find aliens that think like us. I mean we have enough nuclear firepower to blow up our whole planet many times over, pointing at ourselves, and it can be set off with basically the press of a button at all times.... If I were an alien, I'd stay away from us too.

[@stangoodvibes]

The 3 body problem. The best sci fi trilogy since...ever

[@Robodude_0528]

If we’re here then something else is here too. There’s just no two ways about it. I like to presume that what ever else is out there is more strange than we could imagine.

[@adrianmarzozanon3433]

always a pleasure see your videos.

[@abraham_1997]

The name of movie pls

[@adrianmarzozanon3433]

@@abraham_1997 mm,i think it´s contact,but i´m not sure

[@zantar666]

Great video

[@ScienceTime24]

Thanks!

[@cooperholand]

Another concept to consider is that other life in the universe may only be at our level of civilisation and aren't capable of travelling far enough from their own solar system yet to come and meet us and if we're able to stick around long enough, our civilisations may get to a point where we can meet.

[@cooperholand]

Or other civilisations didn't decide they wanted to explore the universe the way we did

[@robwhythe793]

One aspect I never hear discussed on this topic is the possible level of alien life's scientific advancement. We have been using radio for no more than the past 150 years. Before that, there would have been no technological signals being emanated from Earth that could have been detected by alien life elsewhere. And radio suffers from the problems caused by being limited to the speed of light. That affects us on Earth only by a second or so, as the time delay via a geostationary satellite, but as we explore our solar system that delay extends to minutes, hours, days as distance increases. Suppose an advanced alien civilisation finds a way to communicate in a way that avoids that delay: They would immediately drop radio and never use it again. How long will it take us to find such a way - hundreds, thousands, millions of years? Compared with the time Earth has existed, that's a mere blink of an eye. If alien life began elsewhere in our galaxy a million years before us, think how much further advanced they might be? They might be travelling past us in ships we cannot detect, or talking about us using communication systems we cannot even conceive. To expect them to be using technology similar to our own, or to be communicating using methods we could listen to is such a limited viewpoint. The sort of viewpoint that could suggest we could stop an alien invasion using a computer virus. No, think more of the enormous difference between us and aliens that Arthur Clarke envisaged in 2001 or Childhood's End, where the alien life form is truly incomprehensible to us.

[@AynneMorison]

For all we know they are near the same development as us. Barely poking a toe off the planet, or maybe still working a few centuries back in equivalence. Maybe they've already passed us and hit the terminal point for their species lifespan. Just because they are out there doesn't mean they are even trying to move off planet, maybe they don't wanna. Not all peoples are explorers on this planet either. If they are advanced like we seem to be determined to project and the only ones we have encountered so far are rowdy youngsters with a new driver's license. They could be social outcasts for their tendency toward strange 'experiments'. Maybe they don't want to meet us - we are far from united as a race, we kill each other all the time. The 'take me to your leader' trope doesn't fly when there are so very many without a top council or person to go to. Delightful to think about meeting someone from Out There, but I'm not holding my breath until they arrive.

[@baddabing4494]

I think it's probably just the fact that the universe is still relatively young, and that it's bigger than our ability to rationalize probability

[@baronroaster404]

The older it gets, the further away everything will get.

[@carveh13]

The absolutely gorgeous Brian Cox!

[@user-pv6pe1xo3y]

Big bang , all life starts at the same time, grow at same time.

[@tims5268]

Life didn't start at the big bang

[@AM-of4ml]

I personally think we may even be an early universe species, as you say it took a third of the life of universe for us to pop up.

[@somethingclever2]

Agreed we are first, will there be more is the question

[@john_hind]

The Dark Forest Hypothesis (from the Liu Cixin novel) is much darker and logically compelling than suggested by the relentlessly upbeat Prof. Cox. The suggestion is that a species ability to comprehend and manipulate the universe plateaus at a different level depending on accidents of brain evolution. This means that when a civilisation is detected it is probably already on a path of rapid development towards its own individual plateau (a singularity). Furthermore the rate of development is likely fast compared to the rate of interstellar diplomacy constrained by the speed of light. By the time you've completed a single exchange of messages, the new civilisation may have moved from the invention of radio to a stage far in excess of your own plateau level. In this universe, plateaued survivors may well have concluded the only way to be safe is to destroy any emerging technological civilisation while they still can, which is to say immediately. This would mean the only way to survive would be to hide.

[@grabyourlantern]

We aren't taking any steps to hide. Why should we assume that anyone else would? You can't even start looking for other life without making yourself visible. And there's no reason to act as if the laws of evolution work any differently anywhere else in the universe. Gravity doesn't. Electromagnetism doesn't. Any species that attained our level of consciousness did so over millions of years, and had to go through the same selection pressures (environmental and then cultural) as we did. The result would always be the same. They wouldn't necessarily look like us, but they would be a lot like us. They would experience fear, have motivations, imagination, curiosity. They would also have the instinct to cooperate. The Prisoner's Dilemma isn't merely a economics thought experiment, but a cosmic law. The Dark Forest Hypothesis makes some self-defeating assumptions.

[@john_hind]

@@grabyourlantern We should assume any other civilizations that survive are hiding because we've looked pretty hard and not found them (the Fermi Paradox). Remember we've only been detectable for a century which is to say in a sphere of space only about 100 light years across which is a tiny bubble on a galactic let alone a universal scale. But if civilizations survive and broadcast their existence over millennia of time we should already have detected them. The alternative is they simply do not exist and never have in which case there is no point broadcasting our existence anyway! The sensible policy would be to hide and listen for a few centuries until we get a good understanding exactly what is out there. We do not however have the discipline or coherence to implement that, which may itself be part of the 'great filter'.

[@sulanis8444]

So I saw a couple of things that would make it hard for us to detect an alien Species. If an alien species is less developed then us, they would not be able to send our radio waves that are telescopes can detect. Plus the further the signal the harder it would be to detect, not that it degrades, but it becomes a thinner and thinner signal. Which is why one would need a far bigger receiver. If an Alien race was at our level it would still be hard to detect because the bigger telescopes receiver needed to detect those signals let a lone give them meaning. The other thing is modern technology does not use as much broad spectrum communication. We now use short range radio waves (cell phone, wi-fi, Bluetooth, and NFC), we also use a lot of medium to carry information such as: Twisted-pair, coax, copper, and fiberoptic cables. They're not just sent in a wife range like radio waves that are limited limited to the speed of light. If an Alien species were more advanced than us and they do eventually become space faring or even travelling casually through their own solar system they would need something faster than light to maintain proper communication. This makes me think that they have developed a far more advanced version of quantum entanglement. Example: If particle A vibrates than the entangled particle b would vibrate. the best part is there is 0 medium to detect because no matter the distant its instantaneous. Which would mean they can't be detected. I mean I would like to hope that other intelligent species in the universe would not be living in constant fear of other races. I can't imagine thousands of species that were gifted with self awareness or beyond would think in the ignorant, arrogant, selfish, fearful way we do as a species.

[@stevohmelike]

Oh snap. This just reminded me to check in on voyager.

[@jrag1000]

The dark forest hypothesis makes perfect sense to me. Look at how many problems we have with each other on our own world.

[@GTA5Player1]

But wouldn't civilisations evolve and become more peaceful?

[@Whyamihere88]

​@@GTA5Player1 You'd have thought so huh.....

[@petercortens6019]

A century ago we were still vividly debating if the milky way was the entirety of the universe or not. I think we simply lack patience and due to our short life spans we urge for significance and importance and shape our expectancy by that

[@savagestranger]

Exactly, we should say fuck it and work on a multigenerational, multinational space elevator. We'll never see it, but the future will.

[@Dave_of_Mordor]

lack patience for what? back then, everyone was afraid to question anything. today everyone questions everything. this is not the same. stop comparing the past with our present. our society and culture are too different to be compared

[@procta2343]

@@savagestranger if we did that, i recon we would have been on mars, and i recon the world would change for the better, we would be hell of lot more friendly and greed would vanish.

[@KentPittsburgh]

All this time I thought I was saving space, but really space was saving me.

[@elizabethlockley5861]

Every planets designed to work in perfect harmony and balance.

[@rocketRobScott]

What if the explanation is The Simulation Theory. How deep would a simulation go? Would space be simulated too? All of it?

[@borzica]

Could it be that alien life exists in a different dimension and we simply cannot perceive them?

[@ganymede3141]

Could it be that we can use our imagination to come up with all sorts of fictional explanations using nonsensical pseudo-scientific language?

[@C0Y0TE5]

@@ganymede3141 unnecessarily judgmental. Be kind

[@EgoJinpachi_]

no need to worry for that scenario when its probabilistically impossible aliens dont already exist in this universe.

[@C0Y0TE5]

Our understanding of dimensions so far is that those more than 4 must be incredibly tiny. -- Recap, we have 3 spatial dimensions plus a 4th, time that apears to create an infinite universe. -- Doing the math by adding a fifth dimension reveals what is very similar to the electromagnetic theory. Or a very tiny place. This leads to String Theory and 10 or 11 dimensions, but all are very tiny, eg: particles/wave forms/fields/strings/branes. -- One view of this is that these dimensions are like a screen through which the illusion of our 4-dimensional universe is "created"/projected. -- So, perhaps, better for u, not tiny beings from tiny dimensions, but maybe alternate realities in a multiverse, or our future selves traveling back in time may be more likely.

[@borzica]

@@C0Y0TE5 whoa thanks for the comment! I was thinking similar to the way our brains cannot perceive a tesseract, perhaps we cannot perceive beings living in the 4th dimension.