The Fermi Paradox Has An Incredibly Simple Solution

It’s possibly the most famous question in all of science - where is everyone? Join us today for deep dive into Fermi Paradox. 🌏 Get exclusive NordVPN deal here ➵ NordVPN.com/coolworlds It’s risk free with Nord’s 30 day money-back guarantee!✌
The Fermi Paradox has been a topic of keen debate amongst scientists, astronomers and the rest of us for more than seven decades. We can't resist the urge to speculate about aliens! But what is the paradox even really about? What explanations have been offered? Today, we explore this famous question, and offer a mind-shifting explanation.
Written and presented by Prof David Kipping.
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::References::
► Jones, E. B. 1985, "Where Is Everybody? An Account of Fermi's Question": sgp.fas.org/othergov/doe/lanl...
► Hart, M. H. 1975, "Explanation for the Absence of Extraterrestrials on Earth", QJRAS, 16, 128: ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/197...
► Tipler, F. J. 1980, "Extraterrestrial intelligent beings do not exist", QJRAS, 21, 267: ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/198...
► Wright, J. T., Kanodia, S. & Lubar, G. 2018, "How Much SETI Has Been Done? Finding Needles in the n-Dimensional Cosmic Haystack", AJ, 156, 260: arxiv.org/abs/1809.07252
► Gray, R. H. 2015, "The Fermi Paradox is Neither Fermi's Nor a Paradox", Astrobiology, 15, 195: arxiv.org/abs/1605.09187
► Freitas, R. A. Jr. 1985, "There is no Fermi Paradox", Icarus, 62, 518: ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/198...
► Sandberg, A., Drexler, E., Ord, T. 2018, "Dissolving the Fermi Paradox": arxiv.org/abs/1806.02404
::Music::
Music licensed by SoundStripe.com (SS) [shorturl.at/ptBHI], Artlist.io, via Creative Commons (CC) Attribution License (creativecommons.org/licenses/..., or with permission from the artist.
► Brad Hill - Echoes of Yesterday (0:00) [open.spotify.com/track/4AfA4T...]
► Brad Hill - Circle (5:22) [open.spotify.com/track/5ahoF1...]
► Falls - Life in Binary (9:38)
► Brad Hill - The Great Alchemist (14:08) [open.spotify.com/album/0sfu5x...]
► Brad Hill - There Is But One Good (19:03) [open.spotify.com/track/1vlxAs...]
► Joachim Heinrich - Y (25:01)
::Chapters::
00:00 Introduction
01:22 A Brief History
06:13 Two Fermi Paradoxes
08:16 Sponsorship
09:38 The Eerie Silence
11:56 Direct Fermi Paradox
15:11 Capability?
18:38 Motivation?
20:53 Anthropicism
25:01 Extragalactic SETI
27:17 Outro & credits
#fermiparadox #aliens #seti

[@brianarbenz1329]

Imagine finding out that Fermi was only commenting on the slow service by the wait staff when he asked, “Where is everybody?”

[@ricardojmestre]

😂

[@MACHOO179]

😅😅

[@ljg6979]

The lesser known but more commonly felt, "Dining Services Paradox".

[@timsmith2525]

I truly simple-and elegant-solution. Kudos.

[@protorhinocerator142]

That's OK. Heisenberg still couldn't decide what to order anyway. He was so uncertain he ended trying to turn that into his life principle. True story, probably.

[@pak-man7429]

This reminds me of a joke I heard once. Some aliens are passing Earth and do a quick scan. One says, " This species has satellite base weapons." So the other alien ask, " So they are an intelligent species?" The first alien replies with " No, they have them aimed at each other." It a little dark.

[@drmarine1771]

Lol. It's like, why are all our telescopes pointing away from earth looking for intelligent life. Cos there's none here.

[@thewholeeventhorizon]

Yeah. Problem is if there is life out there they very likely got started much like us and were considered unintelligent in the beginning as well. We're not unintelligent we're just still very young and immature.

[@Kunsoo1024]

@@thewholeeventhorizon But it's also possible that planets exist with such an abundance of raw materials for proteins that it didn't require competition between entities, and yet something else spurred on the evolution that they don't even conceive as to why one organism would prey on another. We might be the stuff of nightmares to them.

[@Lurzhanrus]

@Kunsoo1024 That would inevitably lead to explosive growth of population till there is not enough resources to support population. So, the only way for life on such a planet to survive without violence - to regulate its population, which is done either by violence, or by law restricting reproduction. All of this applies that this life on other planet has reproduction at all. There just couldn't be a planet with unlimited resources. And limited resources lead to limited population. The only way I can see is some kind of genius species, that develops new technologies faster than resources demand grows. So, they leave the planet before demand for resources becomes unsustainable.

[@campbelltown3065]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@wilson0213]

I've always contributed it to the fact that the universe is so unfathomably large that the distance between life forms is just beyond comprehension

[@randomdaveUK]

and constantly getting further apart

[@formalities4983]

Let's colonize the galaxy first. Then worry about the universe.

[@formalities4983]

At the rate we are going, we could, and probably will, colonize the galaxy sometime within the next million years. That is without faster than light travel. It took us about 4 billion years to become sentient. The oldest star in the galaxy is about 13 billion years old. There are an estimated 100 to 400 billion stars in the galaxy. Quite a few of them had a head start on us. Apparently, NONE of them developed a civilization that spread throughout the galaxy. THAT is the FERMI paradox. It is not about why we haven't found life. It is about why we aren't neck deep in extraterrestrial life. If 1 in every 100 million stars had developed an advanced civilization, there would be about 2,000 of them in our galaxy. Intelligent life may be that rare. It also may be that there is a reason it didn't spread throughout the galaxy. We just don't know.😊

[@lorenrealname1326]

The moon is weird, just saying, I'm some nutbar who says things like, the Fermi Paradox was "mostly solved" by testimonies like Asimov on Astronomy (1974), or that "the Moon may have implications for that one chunk of the Drake Equation." I'm not opposed to Boltzmann Brains forming in the cores of stars but it seems uncommon. Leaving a star system is daring, but leaving galaxies seems to have vastly decreased returns. You only have to go so far to get out of a family dinner. Perhaps aliens are holed up in holographic storage awaiting a chance to fix the next universe at the get-go -- I wouldn't be surprised if this is NOT the case -- but yeah... distance and time-slash-rare circumstances looks like the deal to me.

[@vinlondon8904]

People always bring the vastness of the universe for the non findings. We can't even get a signal in our own galaxy. What's the universe got to do with it?

[@skye4591]

"when was the last time you tried to converse with an insect" great line

[@marflitts]

I swore at a mosquito the other day.

[@jonpaul3868]

​@@marflitts genius!

[@tomperone9338]

Yet people study insects. Some people are fascinated by insects. So while an alien intelligence might not view us as intellectual peers, they might still be intrigued by us all the same.

[@johnmartinez632]

Bruh. In 268 years from now we will find our first exoplante inhabited by a species that'll be in its caveman days and OUR ENTIRE PLANET WOULD BE UTTERLY FASCINATED BY IT. Get real.

[@Ash.Crow.Goddess]

While technically not an insect, I did apologize to a spider yesterday.

[@LuciFeric137]

The universe is likely many orders of magnitude larger than we can see. What we've done so far is like looking for fish in a teaspoon of seawater.

[@augustgurtisen]

Yeah, with binoculars from miles away

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

That is due to the expansion of Spacetime shifting light from unimaginably distant objects into... unintelligible garbage, or to the point it's nearly impossible to detect.

[@youngimperialistmkii]

Like being an ant. Standing on a leaf. Perched atop a tidal wave.

[@brothermine2292]

​@@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777 : No, the expansion of spacetime is insignificant within a galaxy.

[@MikeKayK]

Perhaps. And? Is there a point you were trying to make?

[@KeithMoon1980]

I've probably watched hundreds of videos on the Fermi Paradox, and it's so great to see something actually added to the conversation. Someone with something new to say, instead of just essentially reading out the Wikipedia page. Thank you!

[@darksu6947]

You've been dead for quite a while haven't you? How have you managed to keep watching videos in the afterlife?

[@MM-cz8zt]

Yes. Hear here! Your team does such wonderful work. Your channel is one of my favorite channels. Thank you to the entire Cool Worlds Team such thorough and clear explanations. You are truly bringing science to the people. :)

[@KeithMoon1980]

@@darksu6947 There isn't a lot to do here in the afterlife. So I mostly just watch KZbin videos.

[@Hannah-nf1vg]

Yea it didn't bring anything to the table, they're already here and don't even use radio for communication on their own planet why would they be emitting it

[@sleadaddy]

Worth looking at Isaac Arthur's videos on the topic. Far beyond just a listing of facts to be found there!

[@Radhaugo108]

100 years ago we were still traveling by boat while only 20% of the population could read and write. This space party is just getting started.

[@tazerwazerman]

Thousands of years of war has led to this technology. They need to master this planet first, the Ocean bottoms are vastly unknown and many people still can't read.

[@Number6_]

In 1924 america probably true do to the education system there.

[@tagnetorare5401]

I appreciate your remark on semantics. It is very important for figuring out "which question we are discussing", otherwise the discussion could get too general and shallow

[@MrCovi2955]

I heard a really interesting solution to the fermi paradox from a biologist. She was citing a recent paper where we found that phosphorus is not as common in the galaxy as we initially thought. In fact we have somewhat of a lottery winner here on earth with drastically high amounts as compared to other star systems. Phosphorus is a key ingredient in the storing and transferal of biological energy all the way down to the level of binding DNA together. She said that the paper she had read stated that phosphorus is one of those heavier elements that are formed in supernovae instead of just from fusion and so it is possible that, despite the age of the universe, there has not been enough time necessary to create enough phosphorus for other life to arise. And just like how we're "lucky" to be on the planet that has essential liquid water, we could simply be "lucky" to be in the corner of the universe, in the corner of the galaxy, which has just high enough concentrations for life to have formed here. If that were the case, then we are the precursors who will likely die out as a species long before enough phosphorus is created to support the types of galactic communities we dream of. It may very well be that eons from now, as the universe begins to evolve space faring civilizations, that our ruins are discovered scattered across the stars, and they translate our records of how alone we feel.

[@harryc5595]

dude...

[@nokta7373]

So we are actually the Ancients... I knew I was born too soon.

[@empyrean196]

Possibly. But I more support the theory which states exactly opposite. We’re relatively young civilization. Other intelligent species are likely far ahead of us. Or the sheer vastness/immensity of outer space is too great for any intelligent species to communicate effectively with another.

[@Dionysos640]

There are numerous 'accidental' circumstances that have made the evolution of complex life on Earth possible, the presence of water and key elements are just some of them ... The very organisation of the solar system, with large gaseous outer planets acting as a gravitational barrier that minimises the amount of space debris impacting the earth .... the temperature on Earth goverened by its proximity to the Sun ... the Earth's magnetic core protecting the atmosphere from solar raditaion. When you think of all of the things that needed to be in place for it to be possible for the planet to develop and sustain life over periods of time that allow complex organisms to develop ... well, you begin to think that if life in the Galaxy and the Universe is indeed extremely rare, that should be no great surprise to anyone.

[@molrat]

@@Dionysos640 i think about that a lot too. I don't necessarily believe it to be true, but i think most ppl are way too quick in the assumption of "the universe is so vast there HAS to be other life out there". We don't even rly know how the very first life formed, what if it's an unimaginably small chance, and the reason we got so "lucky", is easily explained by the weak anthropic principle?

[@kayliibensen387]

Anyone who takes the time to focus on and present nuance on a subject like this is amazing. Thank you for your amazing dedication and work Dr. Kipping. This channel is what I imagined future science documentaries to be when I was a child, before the dark times destroyed television.

[@MrJdsenior]

I don't know how to break this to you, but television was never NOT crap, in terms of teaching anyone anything. It is for entertainment and making money, and virtually nothing else. If it ever gets to the point where science programs on YT aren't entertaining, they will stop, no question about it. They will also stop, meaning die a painful death, when some other medium becomes available that makes it about as interesting as hearing stories around a campfire, unceasingly, for your entire life.

[@ejkr2051]

But you forget Game of Thrones! That's an awesome tv series.

[@Tom_Bee_]

​@@MrJdseniorI'd take a decent campfire over the dumpster fire of social media culture any day

[@squarerootof2]

@@MrJdsenior Lol, I don't know how to break this to you but if you think television, (or social media), is purely for entertainment or money you probably live in a virtual reality, a fantasy world.

[@halfsourlizard9319]

If you feel the need to be needlessly formal, you'd address him as 'Prof. Kipping', which is his more-prestigious / higher-precedence title.

[@bhadbhris]

Imagine a hypothetical comment section. You don’t see any comments, so you type “first” and hit send. You don’t reload the page, and therefore watch the whole video thinking that you were the first

[@UnderpaidGuardD9]

Oh that makes sense...

[@onionjello]

first!

[@robotaholic]

I love your channel, and scientific judgments in various subjects. I love your voice and passion for the subject. Just thank you, Dr. Kipping 🤩👍

[@TheFluffyDuck]

Great video! I’m an astrobiologist, published and all. My opinion for what it’s worth is simply distance, time and the inverse square law. We have only had a bubble of radio waves going for 80 years, with the furthest chance for a reply arriving tomorrow being only 40 light years away, in a galaxy a 105,000 light years across. That’s only 0.03% of the galaxies diameter. The chances a technological civilisation is within that is minuscule. Secondly is the inverse square law. The change any of our TV shows would “leak out”, and be detectable even by the largest telescope isn’t realistic. The signal would have attenuated well before a few light years. Of which there is only half a douzen stars at most in that sphere. Once again the chance a civilisation is in one of those few star systems out of hundreds of billions is low. The answer to the paradox is space is really really big, and artificial radio sources are puny.

[@markhammond7060]

Alcoholics anonymous is probably a more palpable option..

[@dicerson9976]

Yeah, alot of people call it a paradox that we see no signs of other civilizations- yet it seems so obvious that there is no way we'd ever be able to with current technology. Artificial EM waves, even all of those ever produced by humanity, are massively overshadowed by cosmic background radiation at extreme distances. Any given signal only has so much raw energy attached to it, and as it spreads out radially that power is gonna decrease dramatically- inverse square law as you said. Even if a signal of ours ever reached another life bearing planet with a technologically advanced civilization, the odds that they'd be able to detect it are functionally zero unless their tech vastly surpasses ours to a fairly incredible degree. To detect such heavily diluted signals amonst the collective radiation of every star in the visible universe is a herculean feat.

[@Axel_Andersen]

Exactly my thoughts!

[@user-gn8rx2uy1n]

astrobiologist already a thing?

[@toshiyaar7885]

I'm not an astrobiologist, but my thoughts exactly

[@MotoHikes]

I freaking love it when you film in the woods. As an environmental science student with a fascination for physics and space, it's the perfect juxtaposition, talking about something so advanced in a setting so very primal. Poetic.

[@seionne85]

I agree! As someone who grew up in a forest just before the Internet, I appreciate the work you do

[@mrsoisauce9017]

I mean, he’s talking about possible life forms while standing in the natural world. Talking about life while standing in life. Poetic indeed, but for different reasons

[@imacmill]

The original 'green screen'.

[@Just.A.T-Rex]

That’s what my degree is in from Appalachian state university!

[@FilmscoreMetaler]

Dude that's just a background image.

[@KemalH]

Thank you for your engaging and informative content! I just found you and am really enjoying your videos. You briefly mentioned the great filter, and I was hoping you'd expand on that theory some more considering the topic. Would you consider making a video about the great filter and perhaps how it relates to this video topic?

[@Painter19]

Great sound quality and narration. Excellent production work

[@MasonHerrick]

That this channel has less than 10 million subscribers is arguably more mysterious than the Fermi Paradox.

[@psywalker7973]

Nobody I know can really follow, nor appreciate what is being presented in these videos. They want to watch stuff where no thinking is required.

[@brown3394]

Same principle applies. Yes, the channel will necessarily reach 10 mil. First it has to hit 5, and 3, and 1. Some of us lucky few had to be part of that first sub-mil in order for it to reach 1, then 5, then 10, and so on.

[@MasonHerrick]

@@brown3394 😁

[@jeremiahwollander7364]

Amen brother. It'll get there though. There's certain videos that can suck you in regardless of your intelligence level. My partner is nowhere near the level of science nerdiness I'm at... But she still really appreciates the way he can tell a story and how he can make anything mundane be like velvet cheesecake to the ears.

[@MMAFightMagazine]

​@@brown3394 Few people understand this. They feel that if a channel is "good," then it should have a similar number of subscribers as other great, well-established channels, "instantaneously."

[@jameswebb8162]

Wow, didn’t know there were more than 1 Fermi hypotheses. That you so much for the episodes. I’m not able to go to college due to my cancer (multiple myeloma) and really enjoy continuing my my education!! I am a 10 year warrior and continue fighting till their is a cure!!

[@galaxia4709]

I sincerely hope you get better! Take care!

[@CoolWorldsLab]

Keep fighting and hoping you recover

[@pit2ryan3]

@@CoolWorldsLab - It's not a fight!

[@diaryofacrankykid7270]

@@pit2ryan3 as someone who's recovered from one it is exactly a personal fight like no other. You won't know until you've been in those shoes mate.

[@keanenfulton4696]

​@@pit2ryan3 Yes it is bud

[@marcotrujiilo592]

I watch these types of videos quite often. It’s usually repetitive and I learn nothing new. This channel though, never fails to teach me something new and leave me mind blown. Great job Sir!!!

[@sambamiam]

Top KZbin channel. The only notification I have ever turned on. Please discuss in depth the Miller-Urey experiment.

[@kylesadirtbag5937]

This is waaay too interesting to view at 3am and expect to go to sleep… I blame you for my insomnia

[@MarinCipollina]

Sounds like you need a Sleepcore video

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

Sarcasm? 😂

[@MarinCipollina]

@@ItsaRomethingeveryday Not at all 🙂

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

@@MarinCipollina help me to understand

[@MarinCipollina]

Sleepcore videos feature old retro-futurism like IBM videos, TV company videos, car company videos talking about what they have coming in the future from a 1950s/1960s perspective.. weird, and a bit creepy today, but they'll put you to sleep.. just do a KZbin search.. For instance, in one video, IBM talks about.. putting a computer on an airplane !! (It's a much bigger challenge than simply carrying your MacBook on board..) 😆Great stuff..

[@chemprofdave]

It’s quite possible that spacefaring civilization is rare because it requires a balance of ambition, discretion, and foresight which is difficult to achieve. Civilizations that have a strong tendency to explore and colonize may also be more prone to internal conflict that disrupts their progress. On the other hand, civilizations that are peaceful, stable, and happy might not care to go exploring. Finally, the resources required would need planning and development over long periods of time, whereas short-horizon use of the same resources would be a constant temptation.

[@camilohiche4475]

And also I bet all the billion alien civilizations out there waste their resources and time on toxic useless social media, tiktoks, twitters, instagrams and whatnot.

[@tufflucal4037]

​@@camilohiche4475PRIMITIVE. PRIMITIVE. PRIMITIVE. Undoubtedly preposterous barbarious PRIMITIVE theory. You will never expand knowledge wise as a race, if you think small. Wake up. You are not told truthfully of actual space or Astronomy generally speaking. The Extraterrestrials that you may have been looking for are everywhere and yes, they know Earth as well, interstellar speaking at least. Peace ✌️

[@FarmingUnclear]

@@camilohiche4475 pleasure worlds

[@Farazormal1]

Also if a planet is any larger than earth than rockets become increasingly infeasible for getting into space. At 50% larger than earth (with the same density) rockets could not get you to earth’s orbit.

[@FarmingUnclear]

@@Farazormal1 I still haven't left your mom's orbit

[@Sabreerbas]

Not sure how I've only just found your channel. Incredible.

[@markbush9997]

I think its a good thing to remember we don’t know what we don’t know. By that I mean we can’t know what barriers may exist that could prevent travel from one galaxy to another because we haven’t tried to do that ourselves. I would also say that it’s highly possible that life on other worlds may not be more advanced than we are, or at least not by enough to allow them to reach us.

[@videocrowsnest5251]

Considering how our own little solar system has around it outlines a spinning disk of very, very hot plasma, I wouldn't be surprised if galaxies also had their own "firewalls." Not to mention if there are any extra unknown conditions outside potential protection of sorts provided by being within a galaxy.

[@PutinsMommyNeverHuggedHim]

or maybe the aliens already visited in secret. possibilities are endless

[@Mma12367]

This thing goes along with everything like why even their is existence and why the hell their are laws governing it like not how but why

[@thingonathinginathing]

A lot of people in congress know that the national security state is lying to us all about UFOs, that they're real, here, and thousands of years old. Lol

[@user-iv2iu2wf4w]

If FTL is impossible, as it may be, then thats a good enough reason for a species to stay in their own solar system or, possibly, the nearest few. Even if they could detect our transmissions they may not have even recieved them yet, space is pretty big. If they have gotten our transmissions it could be decades until we hear back

[@jeremiahwollander7364]

I am so glad I found this channel. You are a master at conveying deep thoughts in a succinct, approachable, and at times poetic manner. I also love how rewatchable a lot of your videos are. Your 'Watching The End Of The World' video is so beautiful, and I've even fallen asleep to it multiple times.... It's like an adult bedtime story that is so relaxing. It's your voice cadence and the fact that I can just hear the love you put in to these videos. Keep on being an amazing, brilliant, and loving human.❤

[@James-fe7wd]

Amazing channel, must be said!

[@prototropo]

Well put, Jeremiah. I love that video, too, along with all the videos in which Dr. Kipping has narrated the interwoven histories of the Milky Way, our solar system, Earth, life, complex intelligence and the cosmos. The principles and possibilities that are elucidated along the way are just boggling. And riveting!

[@warrenreid6109]

In short thanks for dumbing this down for us laymen.

[@uncleanunicorn4571]

Cool world guy should do a collaboration with Isaac Arthur.

[@prototropo]

@@uncleanunicorn4571 I agree! I think Dr. Kipping once referenced Arthur quite admiringly. For me they are the quasars of plausible speculation -- propelled by boyish enthusiasm and anchored by scholarly rigor. In fact they sort of function as gyroscopes for some incredibly intelligent but sometimes zany communities, maintaining equipoise in our collective imagination.

[@zik2000]

I like to think that Fermi returned from Starbucks and no one was in the office so he asked "where is everybody?" And we just took it and ran with it 😅

[@CoolWorldsLab]

😂

[@st3althyone]

Hilarious! 😂😂

[@JohnnyWednesday]

Ha! :D

[@tucuxir]

A simple resolution indeed.

[@brothermine2292]

Everybody was abducted and being probed by aliens.

[@am.655.]

Who’s here after 3 body problem?

[@mohitsasidharan6002]

Haha, this video popped on my KZbin after watching 3 body problem.😄

[@BRODA01]

What a coincidence 😹

[@papabuzz12]

That show resurfaced my interest. Lol

[@EXMUTRKS]

Yes I'm here because I'm curious to see what he says the solution to the Fermi Paradox. And I have been looking stuff up related to the 3 Body Problem.

[@AlmightyDude420]

23:05 I'm gonna need some time to process that What an insane, but also completely logical thought.

[@mahande88]

I agree, and here's a really dark twist for you. If our galaxy is the only one without AGI's on a mission of galactic conquest, then WE are the ones to let the AGI loose in this galaxy.

[@Thunderhorse007]

@@mahande88 That is an interesting thought. If we develop a way to detect it and discover that lots of other galaxies are overrun by AGI, then the implication would be truly harrowing. To know that the advancement of technology would be our doom...

[@thingonathinginathing]

Might explain certain NHI described here on Earth. Tbh

[@ParallaxEffect]

Maybe the filter is when those capable enough to see the other AGI colonies then work hard (brutally destroy / outlaw/ self destruct) to prevent themselves becoming one themselves.

[@ZBeansUncut]

The problem with the Fermi paradox is that there are too many assumptions to really take it seriously but it’s a great talking point.

[@TrueBlueYZ]

Agree, and that includes his version of the 'direct' fermi paradox. It's a naive question, not a paradox.

[@nathanmajor6886]

@@TrueBlueYZnicely put! the universe is likely far bigger than we are capable of understanding “yet” I personally believe once we reach a certain threshold on earth like no war being the main thing if we cant even get on with ourselves how are we gonna react to alien life…… once we hit this point i think they will make themselves known and allow us to come to them as to not create a panic then we could possibly learn of an inter galactic community….. its just as unlikely as it is likely its interesting to at least think about!

[@SeattlePioneer]

Yes, something new for intellectuals to do when they are bored with life.

[@SophiaAphrodite]

In comparison. We have searched in such a small area of space. It is the equivalent of looking at a glass of water of the ocean looking for a fish. Now if we consider the short period of time we have been detectable. The odds of us being detected is so slim. It equates to zero in the context of a human lifespan.

[@SeattlePioneer]

Of course that is not true. Carl Sagan set up a testable scientific experiment to search for intelligent, extraterrestrial life. We have conducted that experiment numerous times: Results NEGATIVE. He even wrote a novel about it --- "Contact," in case you haven't read it. In it, he expected alien intelligence to make a point of contacting us rather shortly after radio transmissions reached them. The galaxy crowded with intelligent life Sagan hypothesized has not panned out. YOU simply refuse to accept the results of scientific experiment because it doesn't appeal to what amounts to your religious beliefs. We detected the radio signals of the Big Bang DECADES ago, defining the edge of the known universe. No intelligence other than our own has been detected in that enormous volume. However, if something should turn up ---fine. Call me.

[@olddecimal2736]

Considering potential scenarios with an open mind without perpetuating pet assumptions, beliefs, hopes or conclusions sets you apart, Prof. . Many thanks and much respect to your realistic contributions

[@tommymandel]

Thanks for a beautiful video. I didn't understand all the reasoning, but feel that the distances are so vast, and our issues here so great, that it doesn't really matter, other than to induce in us a sense of humility.

[@Yonneax]

Your voice is amazing. I love listening while doing yoga. Very soothing. ❤❤❤

[@user-lb8bg6kj9m]

Don't rip your pants 👖

[@wildoskistudios9217]

I love the conclusion to this video. wrapped up perfectly... Plus the fact you took the laptop and mixer outside for a more natural setting. 5 stars :D

[@jackesioto]

Agreed

[@zebcode]

I've been watching this channel for some time now. The content is always interesting. The presenter is awesome. I love the style of presentation, not stupidified , no spoon feeding. This has become one of my favourite vlogs and I really appreciate the thought provoking content. Please keep doing what you're doing.

[@happychappy492]

You look like you are ready to rob a bank with that mask on

[@ejkr2051]

He probably already did,hence the picture. 😉

[@benmckinley1940]

Cool Worlds and Melody Sheep are my two favourite space themed channels.

[@Atheist7]

@@happychappy492 I agree...... Or, Hallowe'en every day over there.

[@RobinMcAulayPhotography]

Such a great and elegant dialogue.. Well done ❤️

[@omarbahrour]

Great vid, I like the way you present material

[@nw42]

The Fermi paradox in a nutshell: “Why isn’t there evidence of intelligences with totally different evolutionary paths from our own doing what only _some_ of us would do: attempting to contact us with 20th century technology across almost unfathomable distances? We’ve been searching for them for over .02% of humanity’s history, but we’ve still found nothing!” Don’t get me wrong, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is fascinating, yet I feel like many of us have grossly underestimated the scope of the challenge.

[@captain_context9991]

Pretty much, yeah. There IS no Fermi paradox. We dont need one to explain why life is rare and far apart in the universe. And life that walks around and has its own space program, almost INFINITELY rare. See... No Fermi paradox needed.

[@captainscum5726]

the Universe is so vast in space/time and Life so short in comparison that the scale of the task should be obvious to everyone, it seems to me.

[@garyfoster9478]

The Fermi para , does make me laugh. 2 things it doesn't take into account the fact that there probably going to be extra dimensional . Which means conventional space travel doesn't even come into it. Aslo there's a very good chance / probably a certainty that first contact with at least one race has already been made in private. This will never ever be disclosed. The reason for this is people riot when there's no toilet role on the shelves of lidl. Imagine what would happen if this sudden revelation was to occur. It would be catastrophic

[@Kingeptacon]

“Why isn’t there evidence?” This is a shit ton of evidence. We’re spoiled with evidence.

[@captain_context9991]

@@Kingeptacon Spoiled with evidence of what?

[@kevley26]

My hunch (for what little it is worth) is that if there are intelligent aliens in our galaxy, there is only a small number of them and that it is not in their nature to expand a lot and build megastructures that we could observe. I think there could only be a small number of them because it would be improbable that none of them have expanded rapidly enough to be observed by us.

[@inthefade]

My hunch is that we just haven’t been looking long and hard enough.

[@rodrigomachado5291]

Your logic is sound, kevley.

[@jackesioto]

Or maybe our nearest neighboring civilizations may not be advanced enough technologically to go interstellar. They could be in their version of the medieval period, antiquity, great age of sail, etc.

[@85Funkadelic]

Yeah I don't think we should assume that these aliens would build megastructures have faster-than-light travel or even colonize outside their own solar system much less use radio waves that we would be able to detect. It's like looking out your window not seeing any people and saying there are no people.

[@o0o-jd-o0o95]

i think that most civilizations end up killing themselves before reaching the ability to leave their solar system ... similar to what is going to happen to us. At the same time I do not believe we are ever going to leave our solar system I don't believe that we can survive without our star and I mean ours specifically. I think that all life that develops within the system of its star can never leave that star without dire consequences. If it wasn't for our star the sun we would not be here and I believe that without our star again we would not survive

[@robertmatthews4244]

Well said. Nice presentation.🙏

[@ab2tract]

The milky way is 100,000 light years across, the first signal we intentionally sent into space is only 50 light years away...the speed of light pales in comparison to the size of the universe

[@1edgeman76]

Dr. Kipping, I will always graciously follow any journey of thought, understanding, and realization you ever want to lead. You and the Cool Worlds Lab are amazing and one of THE BEST resources on KZbin. Thank you and your colleagues for everything you do.

[@CoolWorldsLab]

Thanks! Yes we want to genuinely advance the conversation and our understanding.

[@mattparker9726]

@@CoolWorldsLab then look at the past to see the future.

[@Mustachioed_Mollusk]

Imagine how ground breaking it would be to speak with insects! All life is worth investigating much in the same way subatomic particles are worth observing. Possibly Love this stuff. ❤

[@DreamskyDance]

Considering your name, i have to mention that the finishing statement in this video reminded me of scp-7999 tale. I watched it few weeks ago on the "the exploring series" youtube channel. It's about kind of a solving of Fermi paradox, but a beautiful tale. Read or watch/listen to it... you'll probably like it

[@I.C.Weiner]

I talk to the bees l the time. They are so dull. All they want to talk about is gathering nectar.

[@pit2ryan3]

@@I.C.Weiner - They don't gather nectar, they gather pollen... And don't steal their honey...

[@keanenfulton4696]

​@@pit2ryan3 I love honey, make me stop.

[@PhoenixNL72-DEGA-]

@@pit2ryan3 Uhm, no they gather nectar from flowers, mixed with basically their saliva this turns into honey. Pollen are a trick used by the plants, and are bascially stowaways in the hairs and legs of the bees which the bee accidentally deposits on a subsequent visit to another flower of the same genus. AKA Bees do not consume pollen, nor do they visit flowers to gather them intentionally.

[@Nathan-vt1jz]

The weak anthropic principle is a good caveat in looking at any probabilistic theory, but I also think it can be overstated or dismissive of attempts to come to an answer. I think the weak anthropic principle is better used to highlight where we lack data than as a silver bullet to probabilistic questions like the Fermi Paradox.

[@teugene5850]

Professor Kipping - you continue to make me excited for learning and asking the big questions! Thank you!

[@dreadblock7592]

Reminds me of Liu Cixin's book series The Three Body Problem, his explanation being that survival and natural selection still take place in space with Aliens doing their best to hide while other Aliens hunt for other civilizations.

[@rinzlr3554]

I’m glad I didn’t have to scroll this far to find this. The Dark Forest theory is nothing but terrifying

[@stunxna]

@@rinzlr3554terrifying if real bc of how noisy we have been but it is quite something to ponder on

[@rinzlr3554]

@@stunxna as of now with our technological capabilities, I’m not too worried. We transmit a lot through radio waves and they tend to degrade quickly. Unless an advanced alien civilization had some kind of ability to detect something so small then they already know we exist or they don’t care, or both. It’s going to be a far different story when we (if) become an interstellar civilization that can transmit across light years.

[@joejoe7562]

The Dark Forest idea is interesting but I don't believe ultimately, realistic. Intelligence wants to connect with other intelligences.

[@dreadblock7592]

@@joejoe7562 hard to agree, most humans attacked and enslave or went to war over resources, land, religion, etc regardless of if the enemies had si.ilar lvls of intelligence. Ive never seen the FIRST interaction being an attempt at understanding. If anything, the idea of a species connecting with another species is unrealistic, the cultural difference and appearance would make it difficult to connect.

[@Kaush.]

We are living on a leaf of a shrub in a very large dark forest.

[@Antzzz_Manzzz]

Incredible narration 👏🏼👍🏼

[@ericbarr734]

That was an incredible sign off. I love putting the entire discussion into the frame of our own limited time and what power we have to achieve our goals in that limited time. Thank you for that. Your videos are meaningful from a science education perspective but also from a personal motivation and well being perspective.

[@masonb9788]

Our time is a tiny sliver. The odds of any other slivers matching up with ours and also having the ability to communicate or travel? I just don’t see it.

[@tufflucal4037]

​@@masonb9788PRIMITIVE. PRIMITIVE. PRIMITIVE. Undoubtedly preposterous barbarious PRIMITIVE theory. You will never expand knowledge wise as a race, if you think small. Wake up. You are not told truthfully of actual space or Astronomy generally speaking. The Extraterrestrials that you may have been looking for are everywhere and yes, they know Earth as well, interstellar speaking at least. Peace ✌️

[@jamesrussell7760]

Very thought provoking, Dr Kipping. Reminds me of the SF novel of a self-replicating robot 'culture', originally intended to explore and report back their findings, but whose computer programming (their machine DNA) went awry, leaving only the "self-replicating" part intact, the result being they became an interstellar plague, destroying the life they were sent to find.

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

Whats the name of the novel? 🤔

[@asdrake1327]

@@DrumToTheBassWoop Good old Gray Goo

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

@@asdrake1327 pardon ? 🤨

[@asdrake1327]

@@DrumToTheBassWoop Gray Goo is a book about the extinction of all life on earth via endlessly replicating nanotechnology that resembles a gray goo

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

@@asdrake1327 oww, okay i'll give that a read.

[@romans323ful]

This is so interesting, I really regret not getting a healthier more deep curiosity in all the sciences and especially astronomy / mathematics theories long before spending 59 years on this earth.

[@xnickanix]

what I take from this video are the ideas of anthrophic principle and fine-tuned universe. Very intriguing. Thinking about roaming AGI kinda reminded me of Roko's Basilisk.

[@bigjermboktown6976]

Mr. Kipping out of the many channels on KZbin yours is certainly one of the top 5! Absolutely love everything you do and thank you

[@SAPANNow]

*Dr

[@rossclutterbuck1060]

@@SAPANNow * Professor

[@RoySchl]

who are the other 4?

[@bigjermboktown6976]

@@RoySchl SEA, WhyFiles, Cold Fusion, and there may only be 4 I couldn't really think of five that I really enjoy as much as those

[@V1CT1MIZED]

​​@@bigjermboktown6976 SEA is awesome along with this channel.

[@neanda]

I hope that your videos are used in high schools etc., they're so much more insightful than the teachers who feel forced to teach. There's a big difference between those who love to teach and those who have to. It's the education system that's wrong, and I'm so glad we have people like your good self making videos. Communicating science must be an extremely hard job, like switching between knowing a fk ton to making it a gram. Nuff respect brother

[@veramae4098]

Ummm, it would help schools if kids were polite.

[@falconquest2068]

@@veramae4098 Ummm, it would helps kids if parents taught and practiced values like politeness.

[@skyybluu3118]

Great video thank you 👍🏻

[@ilhomanforever78]

I don't know what's wrong with me but I was crying like a baby throughout the whole video... Time is our only enemy and lover. This video is giving me Alpha Go vs Lee documentary. As a human we are so small yet we are our own universe. We should explore more about genuine intuition and connection, not self destruction and competition... but I also feel that's the beauty of it... isn't it?

[@Dusticles8291]

Always look forward to seeing the new videos! Great educational and objective content! This channel is the sole reason I found my interest in astrophysics. Thank you for all of your hard work, research, and dedication! I will definitely be donating in the near future.

[@UNATCOHanka]

Fermi, looking at an empty mess hall: "Where is everybody?" Everybody: "omg what could he have meant by this!!!"

[@CoolWorldsLab]

I think Fermi would think the whole thing was ridiculous

[@phillipprak9683]

Imagine being an alien and wondering the exact same things that we are and just not having technology to reach us or communicate with us. The topic around aliens always revolves around the idea that there’s so much more technologically advanced than we are when in theory, they could be doing and wondering, the exact same things we are “where is everybody?”

[@christopherbettridge5983]

I'm really enjoying yer way of explaining yourself man, seriously. People talking about extraterrestrial superluminally "minded" organisms? Whatever. But your last video (last to me only, of course) about the ridiculous indifference to whether or not this is a simulation (my emphasis, as I genuinely get frustrated by such things taking up not only people's curiosity but their whole lives when there is SO MUCH to be curious about) really struck me. So I have to point out, and I ramble when I'm sleep deprived sorry, that the "aliens" ain't stealin' the DSNY litter receptacles. They're RETURNING them. Hence- "Where is everybody?" Nice mike, by the way

[@MrAaronvee]

Fermi always liked to pose questions, such as 'how many piano-tuners does San Francisco need', and get an answer on the basis of simple assumptions. When he applied his usual reasoning to alien visitation, the answer simply turned out to be zero. It may have been thought to be a paradox at the time because it seemed to run counter to Drake's equation.

[@eriknelson2559]

"where are they all" = "The Bugger Formic Invid Zentraedi Robotech Masters are overdue"

[@oldionus]

Drake's equation was forumalated years later and makes WILD and completely unsupported assumptions to arrive at a large number, when making more reasonable, conservative assumptions will generally yield the number zero, or one, since we are here. (Galaxy; if you consider the whole universe it's a bit different, but uncorroborable). I suspect Fermi himself would've taken Drake, set some of the parameters to "effectively zero," and arrived at the conclusion that WE are a fluke.

[@Alexander_Kale]

If I recall correctly, Fermi didn't see it as a paradox. He just concluded that interstellar travel was likely too hard. SO even if there WERE other intelligent species out there, they would remain cooped up within their respective solar systems. It just becasme a paradox later, as people began to conclude that maybe space travel isn't actually impossible.

[@eriknelson2559]

all large-scale science, from Geology (Planetology) to Cosmology, has always advanced from the principle of Uniformity (Uniformitarianism) = "what's here is there is everywhere & when" confirmed batting average to date = 1.000 slugging percentage = 4.000 strikeout percentage = 0.000 never (yet) failed always (yet) proved true

[@squarerootof2]

@@oldionus We are a fluke, the solar system is a fluke and the whole universe is a fluke. We should be called the fluke species on the fluke universe fine-tuned for fluking flukes.

[@hermesbrookover285]

This is hands down the best analysis of the Fermi paradox that I have ever seen. Well done Cool Worlds.

[@bct1959]

I love that Feynman's mischievous mug is right next to Fermi's at the beginning.

[@RLReagan]

This guy speaks so well. He’s easy on the eye too. I don’t know his name but I like his presentations.

[@orazha]

I am so glad that I came across your video. I'm currently reading Michio Kaku's Parallel Worlds. It's an excellent book that helps understand what's currently going on in science today. I enjoy thinking about all the possibilities such as we may be similar to bateria on a hanging fruit with all of it's variations. Or that we may be like the bacteria completely unaware of the "living" beings who are all around us but with no obvious awareness of us. We may even be riding on one of these beings. I look forward to listening to more of your videos. You do a great job of presenting.

[@DriveLaken]

I like to take that same line of thinking and compare us to the people of North Korea. We look at them and think, “poor things are so ignorant about what’s really going on…” What if we’re all that ignorant about a much bigger reality that we are just clueless about. The people of North Korea are no different than us, in the West. So, if it can happen to them, why not us?

[@ejkr2051]

I'd like to think,therefore am sure that I'm no bacteria. But you go ahead and be a bacteria if that makes you feel better.

[@kitersrefuge7353]

Directly under our noses is a vast body of evidence, spanning physical + testimonial, that point to the fact that we have been visited numerous times, and probably over millennia. There is credible game theory thinking that posits that keeping silent as an advanced civilization is an optimal strategy for survival + the fact that the distances involved, negate the 60 yrs or so of us "listening" make the endeavour a) possibly futile b) too immature expectation-wise. Having said all that, the content is excellent and a create clarifier of the Fermi Paradox (conditional at that!), so my thanks!

[@wilhelmschilling3105]

There is a Story in one of Stanislav Lems books (the star diaries). In this story humanity accomplishes some technology which qualifies it to take part in some sort in intergalactic union/parliament (like warp enginesin star trek). Therefore a representative of humanity is chosen to speak on behalf of humanity in front of this alien Congress (the hero of our story, Ijon Tichy). They ask him of the greatest achievements of humanity. He goes on to talk about machien guns firing so and so may rounds per second, nuclear weapons, stealth bombers, orbital weapons and so on. They interrupt him by saying something like: "did humanity still not figure out, that the fruits of joint efforts are worth much more than the loot of rouge ventures?". Than they say, that humanity isnt ready for joining the intergalactic society. I was so depressed when I read this as a child, because its so true. His books are deeply philosophical, cool and entertaining. Even more so, since they are a few decades old, so this "ancient" perspective of the possibilities and features of technology are interesting. I'm sorry uf I got details wrong or if my english wasn't comprehensive.

[@wadeh2899]

I love your videos more than I can express with words. Somehow saying “I love them” falls well short of what they mean to me and what they inspire in my mind. The fact that you explain the subjects so carefully and yet with respect to people who do not possess the level of knowledge you have is so so appreciated. I feel as if I’m in attendance of a lecture at a prestigious university, if only for a half hour. Thank you Dr. Kipping for showing me the wonders of the Cosmos and the discussions about it from the brightest minds in Academia. You make me feel a part of something bigger than myself.

[@pavel9652]

You can express it with money ;)

[@wadeh2899]

@@pavel9652 good point! Looks like I’m getting a hoody! :)

[@BoatmakerBot]

I believe it was called as a Paradox because the initial assumptions and coefficients give rise to millions of civilizations as solutions, just in our Milky Way Galaxy, yet we have the 'eerie silence' as you reminded us earlier in this video.

[@nevisstkitts8264]

There is no silence. We just don't know how to listen.

[@davemccombs]

@@nevisstkitts8264 Ohhhh, edgy

[@adamnguyen4517]

⁠@@nevisstkitts8264 There can still be silence. Noise is an active action, and if they decided to just stop we’d hear nothing.

[@olivercharles2930]

@@davemccombs ...I don't think that was edgy in the slightest.

[@RuckFussia]

@@davemccombs How's that edgy?

[@JohnCiaccio]

At the end of Neromancer by William Gibson there was a conversion between a human and an unleashed AI. Where the AI says that they where out their all the time trying to talk to us and it took an A.I with unrestrained power to recognize it. Gibson even touched on this back in the 80’s.

[@how2b407]

I think of it this way. We are a species living on an inch in Alaska's Wrangell St. Elias National Park & Preserve (a national park that has about 13.2 million acres). Or a centimeter in yellowstone national park. Whatever the analogy the fact of the matter is if we do see signs of live we will have to go through stages - 1. Confirmation - how do we even confirm that a planet contains life if its located in a different solar system? The closest star to ours (Proxima Centuari) is 4.2 light years away. Thats about 80 thousand years. 2. Contact - how the hell do we communicate with them? What if their system of communication is different? I guarantee a 99% chance they dont speak any language that are on earth. 3. How do we get their - we currently do not have the technology to get there. Although this might change in the next few decades. No matter how you look at it we need major advances in technology (in computers, communication, travel, and space) to even make inter stellar travel possible, much less find other life forms.

[@IDisagreeWithYouAlot]

Man this is truly a great channel. Please don’t stop doing what you’re doing. For the sake of humanity.

[@krzysztofkowalski2816]

you owe the 2000 for rent we charge, you cant just our price is out of this world.

[@RingoAnselmo]

Pffff slow down bro he is just a small meaningless youtuber

[@noapologizes2018]

The Fermi Paradox gives aliens too much credit, especially the ability to transmit responses to our electronic inquiries. And even more presumptuous is assuming aliens have interstellar traveling capabilities. Maybe there is some sort of life on some far off planet millions of AUs from earth, but they have the same problem man has. He's stuck at home without a ride.

[@Tom_Quixote]

Yep. This is the ACTUAL simple solution to this so-called "paradox". This channel calls it a conditional paradox... I'd say Occam's Razor suggests aliens are simply not able to travel or communicate across the vast distances.

[@Tigerh8r]

OR - that they already did and are long gone. The chances of a race on an even remotely the same level of technology as us and them or their "signals" crossing paths with us out here on the unfashionable western spiral arm of the galaxy within the 50 years we've been searching is insanely small. Could be plenty way below us, or way above us. Their signals might not be here yet, or maybe they've been here and gone. The galaxy is almost 14 billion years old.

[@austinhertell5634]

Exactly. Seems pretty simple. I think there are aliens, but we’re just too damn far away

[@legendofrobbo]

except not really large scale human civilization has existed for only 6000 years or so in the last 200 years of that we have gone from horse and carriage and everything being hand made to automation, computers and crude spaceflight that is an absuredly tiny period of time on the galactic scale, barely a blink unless we are the first or among the first sentient life to emerge then any other alien civilization would have had practically unlimited time to develop before us granted it could be that FTL travel is impossible and despite all their advanced technology they still have to wait decades or centuries for a ship to fly to the next star, so they exist but simply haven't had time to reach us yet (or they know of us but don't deem it worthwhile to fly all the way over here and contact us)

[@teaser6089]

​@@legendofrobboactually humans were able to develop so fast due to the large coal reserves. These coal reserves were only able to develop so large, because bacteria were unable to eat trees for hundreds of millions of years, bacteria evolved this ability randomly. If on an alien planet bacteria would develop this ability much faster, or large trees didnt develop as fast or at all and instead large ferns would exist for much longer than on earth could reduce the coal reserves of that planet drastically! This would in tern effect the speed of development of that alien civilization, they might need to spend much longer developing machines that dont use coal, without the fast revolution of steam power that was our industrial revolution. Maybe their planet doesn't have a medium-large continent in the same spot as earth has Europe, which due to physics has the perfect climate for large population centers to develop on the most fertile soil and instead has a much slower population growth and therefore less pressure to develop new technology. Maybe they Arent as warlike and therefore didnt have the same pressures to develop many of the fields of technology that have their routes in fighting war that humanity has, many of the tech we use each day has their routes in tech developed for war after all. Maybe their planet has 1-5% more water than earth and therefore has much smaller landmasses spread further out, also causing a slower growth. The other way around is also possible, but the argument that we were able to get where we are in X amount of time is no proof that other would be able to do the same. Just look at the differences on earth itself, even if we ignore colonization and go back to a time where Europe barely influenced Africa directly, we see that Europe developed MUCH faster(and still does) than other regions of the world, if these differences exist on planetary scale, it is very reasonable to assume this is the case for Interstellar scale as well. There is no doubt that there are more advanced and just as advanced civilizations out there, but just because they exist, doesn't mean they want to visit us. I mean how many people from Europe want to go visit Africa and take a look how tribes live their life, the number is small and well going to Africa is a small distance, now imagine traveling thousands of light years to go look at some monkeys and their small problems. I'd bet that apart from some of their scientists finding it useful to observe us, they dont need to actually visit us to do that. We are a species that record so much of our daily lives with video and audio recordings, writing it down in blogs and we all put it publicly on the internet. The only thing an alien species has to do to observe us, is put a low observable probe somewhere in the Galaxy and connect to our internet, if they are advanced enough to travel here, it's reasonable to assume they can produce a probe that is not observeable by our current technology and connect to our internet without being detected, by doing this they can observe our species through our own eyes, the billions upon billions of gigabythes of data we all produce and put on databases would be more than enough to observe us and they could always put a probe closer to take pictures and videos from space to get even more information. If you look at our development and with current telwscopes(both space and ground), the upcoming and well theorized telescope concepts, we could very well be within 100 years of being able to have sub meter sized resolution from Earth when observing Mars or Venus. Now a days if James Webb was in the moons orbit it could see an object that was 50 meters big, obviously James Webb wasnt designed for this, so we could probably already do better if money wasnt the problem. Therefore my 5 cents is that aliens dont need to even come visit us, when they have better tech then us, cause they could do it from afar and our own experience as a civilization and our development cant just be copy pasted to an alien world, cause the environment will always differ for them.

[@cabnbeeschurgr6440]

The idea of looking at stars to see possible eclipses indicating dyson spheres is both really cool and really terrifying. Do we really wanna throw radio transmissions at something that has the capability to build objects on a solar scale?

[@swimdeep189]

When you've seen one there is no Paradox. You all carry on.I know the truth and i am grateful and blessed to be aware of the Truth before i pass.

[@steelswarm2721]

I believe you. Can you describe what you've seen?

[@watcherofvideoswasteroftim5788]

I feel like the first 6 minutes was a great reason to call the question "Where is everybody?" poetic because it educes a lot of great questions that all hold answers that help us understand our own position in the universe and how much we have yet to learn about biology, society, technology and our selves.

[@procrastinator9]

Funny. I was going to comment that the viewer should skip the first 6 minutes to bypass the semantic word salad before he even started addressing the point of the video.

[@XL-5117]

It’s interesting that Where is Everybody is the first episode of The Twilight Zone!

[@Shwammi]

okay, now after @procrastinators and your comments... I now must watch this. :)

[@TomTom-du5qv]

Perhaps they all left the visible universe as soon as they had the technology because they understand that "sticking around" results in inevitable death.

[@Alphadestrious]

Distances are too vast. Life exists elsewhere but the physical limits of speed of light cannot be over come

[@jakem.8608]

Thank you Yugopnik! I appreciate your videos and educational content, it really puts things into perspective. We gotta stand together!

[@user-hz9zb4vr7d]

The expression "your making a mountain out of a mole hill" come to mind!

[@mickieg1994]

The Idea of hearing a clear transmission that accounts to a hello would be quite terrifying, given the idea that it was from so long ago that they dont exist anymore, we will only ever hear/see an alien civilization millions of years after they have long since gone extinct. Knowing that any attempt of our own would have the same result.

[@davidanderson4091]

Looking for alien transmissions for just sixty years is tantamount to opening your eyes for a second, and upon seeing no other person, concluding that you are the only person in the world.

[@DasAttorney]

Thanks for making these type of videos. They pose so many questions that help to brighten my existence.

[@wagnerlacerda5854]

This guy is good. I’m not a science man but I love the explanation.

[@bgwe1393]

We are again left clueless. An interesting take, thank you :)

[@harriehausenman8623]

Great production quality as always: Perfect audio, really smooth editing and a fine B-Roll (some sources would be appreciated here 😉) Oh, yes, and the content, of course 🤗 Thanks eveyone!

[@mimiv3088]

Another great video. You keep me wondering and gazing towards the sky. Thank you Professor for helping me to stay curious. Seeking for knowledge at my age. Bless you.

[@skorpion7132]

The most simplest way I can see/say this is like: Imagine the universe of Stargate SG1/Atlantis or even SGU, then take away all the stargates: ... and voila. We just do not know and there are far too many different possibilities as to why.

[@curerose0630]

23:17 hey this is extremely similar to what I thought this morning while sitting in maths class. It’s that using calculus or whatever, we can calculate the probability of something happening, and that probability may be 99.9%, but after that something actually happens, the probability is 100%. So the probability of galactic colonization might be 99.9%, but the fact that it hasn’t happened here means that we fall in the 0.1% category, and that 0.1% is actually 100% to us

[@manueloliveira200]

I just recently discovered this channel and I´m glad I did. Interesting content presented really well. Thanks

[@n0name38]

Your videos are truly magical. The voice, music, visuals and of course the topics. Really helps me mentally and calms me, delivers me from my worries to the stars… stars where I always looked/escaped since childhood. So thank you!

[@JJMain]

Fermi's paradox is the scientific community's version of getting real high, making a side comment, and the whole group slowly go "wait but actually though"

[@dhow414]

My belief is that the biggest issue with finding signals from alien civilizations comes down to a simple issue of energy. The amount of energy required to communicate at great distances drops by a huge amount if the signal is controlled in such a way that the vast majority of the signal sent arrives directly on the intended receiver. In other words if 100% of the energy used to transmit a signal arrives at the receiver then 0% of the signal escapes to be detected by a young civilization. We have been more and more often controlling our signals and will likely reach a very efficient way of communicating within 1-200 years. If that is the case then it is likely that most civilizations generate large amounts of signals that could be detected for only short periods of time before becoming silent as their communications become too efficient to be easily detected. This would greatly reduce the possibility that we will ever hear a signal that was not directed at our world for the purpose of our hearing them.

[@noylj1]

Have you considered that we might be on one the first solar systems with heavy metals required for technology? It would at least four stages of Nova to spread enough heavy metals to get enough on a planet

[@arthas640]

I've actually thought about that a lot. Humanity is kind of lucky since we got tons of coal, oil, and gas which provides insane amounts of energy, not to mention some good easily domesticated work animals. Just looking at different cultures we can see the effects of those things. Pack animals are thought to be a major reason why Old World civilizations became so much more advanced then New World ones. A horse or ox can do the work of a handful of men and they can eat foods we cant (grass) basically making them a free source of labor. That meant many tasks could be done by animals freeing up more time for humans to ponder, plan, and think which meant faster technological advancement. Things like water wheels and windmills grew from similar machines done by animals but at greater efficiency. It's thought that the widespread use of that kind of tech was why Europe advanced faster in the middle ages and early modern period. Without the earlier machines built for animals like the ox mill we'd likely have taken longer to develop the windmill. Widespread use of charcoal and later coal is what created the industrial revolution. Without both coal and lots of metal it wouldnt have been possible and the amount of work even a simple coal/steam powered machine can do compared to manpower is INSANE. I've heard the earliest practical steam engines could do the work of an entire work crew or village. Once we started using oil and gas that got even more insanely efficient. For a frame of reference a pre-modern laborer could burn 3000-8000 calories in a day (which includes nearly 2000 just to carry out bodily tasks and survive) but a single gallon of gas contains around 32,000 calories and a single GRAM of uranium is around 200 million calories. Without a metal rich planet, fossil fuel deposits, or other key resources it would take far, FAR longer for any civilization to develop. Not only would it take them far longer to develop to the point of using solar, hydro (assuming earth levels of water), or wind but they'd also have less efficiency compared to fossil fuels which would mean getting to space would take them forever to achieve and only then would they be able to get access to the levels of minerals we have on earth.

[@Brickerbrack]

I've made a similar argument myself. I don't know about needing _four_ stages of novas, but from my (limited) understanding, I'd say at least _two,_ and considering our solar system formed when the universe was about, what, 9.3 billion years old?, that sounds tentatively like _just_ enough time for two generations of stellar life cycles, _maybe._ And never mind the _metals_ for technology; the key thing is _intelligence,_ and _that_ requires time and evolution, and a fairly specific set of circumstances; namely, an environment that's volatile enough to force life in it to adapt in order to survive, but not _so_ volatile that it snuffs everything out before it can start. Our planet managing to maintain 4 billion years of relative, but not _complete,_ stability, has to be a pretty rare thing, I'd surmise.

[@KippiExplainsStuff]

your videos are some of the best content on the web. can't believe it's free. I drop everything when I see a new one has come out

[@timothydube2222]

how do i get a list of the movie clips you showed? I'm really intrigued to watch the films of some of those clips

[@beardmonster8051]

Just a quick note: AGI doesn't in itself imply autonomy and agency. It's perfectly possible to imagine machines who even surpass human general intelligence, without any ability to act without direct instructions and who don't have any motives at all beyond what we explicitly tell them to do. And it definitely doesn't imply sentience.

[@averyroquemore198]

I am completely in love with your videos. I watched 1 and it's the only thing I want to watch now. I took a good break from video games going down a rabbit hole of your videos. Thank you for the amazing videos!

[@johnbradshaw4963]

A very interesting, balanced presentation. I particularly like the commentary on time at the end. Life has come to be on this planet in many variations. Perhaps our perspectives are limited by what we only think we understand. Maybe in the process of studying this "Paradox", we,in fact, freeze it in place reducing a complex set of parameters to incomplete erroneous solutions.

[@idonttext9783]

I've seen things on this subject but it's the best theory available

[@evilblack2416]

>"A ten thousand year space flight would not be a problem for an AGI" The power consumption and heat output of GPUs running Stable Diffusion would like to have a word with you.

[@MirorR3fl3ction]

I really like your idea of the weak anthropic principal being the key thing needed to explain the fermi paradox, I think it encompasses everything a solution to the paradox needs while still being simple and straightforward. I personally think there are a few other (albeit speculative) factors that aid this line of reasoning: 1. I think the chance of life evolving (biological let alone technological) is very rare within any given galaxy due to factors like galactic mergers, AGNs, and other similar factors that contribute to the idea of a galactic habitable zone. 2. I think interstellar travel is even more difficult than currently thought due to: A. Interstellar radiation is more of a problem than we currently think, and this would all but rule out long duration interstellar travel for both biological AND technological life due to corruption of data storage. It only takes one bad bit or one mutation without enough redundancy to make it impossible for the precise sequence of actions needed to slow down and enter orbit around a new star system to fail. B. the sheer amount of energy needed to even reach relativistic speeds and slow down at the target star system when factoring in how many resources you actually need to survive the trip. C. I think the chances of Von Neuman style probes and/or colony ships to other star systems actually being able to replicate and send a new probe/colony ship onwards is overestimated, and its more likely that they will only barely be able to survive in a new system let alone produce enough to replicate and send a new probe/ship onwards, which slows down or even cuts off galactic colonization. Taken altogether, my point is that I think its much less likely for any type of life to exist at all, and those that do are almost entirely bound to their original star system even on the time scales of billions of years due their likeliness of being destroyed by either external or internal factors. Hence it should not be surprising at all that we find ourselves where and when we are as the weak anthropic principal suggests, and the most likely place we will find definitive signs of alien life is by looking at other galaxies that we could never directly interact with.

[@Harbinger343]

I agree with everything you say, and would like to add to the difficulty of interstellar travel. The number of interstellar objects that we’ve detected moving through our solar system, may indicate that interstellar space is filled with with far more objects of various sizes than we originally thought. Relativistic travel may be impossible due to collision. All intelligent life may be essentially trapped in their home systems.

[@DialecticRed]

While I definitely agree about biological life and insterstellar travel, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of technological intelligence systems. With enough redundancy and error correcting code, bit flips can be avoided almost altogether. If you have 3 copies of the storage on board, and a bit flips in one copy, it can be compared to the other two and restored to its original position. You would have to have two of the exact same bits flip at the exact same time for something like this to have an effect. Which isn't impossible, especially on longer time scales, but if you add in more redundancy than just 3 modules it quickly becomes extremely improbable. I agree with the other stuff though.

[@inthefade]

I think it is only a failure of imagination to think technological probes couldn’t achieve interstellar travel. Soon enough autonomous machines will have access to the unimaginable resources of space. If you have the materials of an entire asteroid to use to build just one probe you can build in ridiculous amounts of redundancy and shielding. Sure you’re also increasing mass and inertia, but you also have vast amounts of fuel for acceleration and only have to slow down several smaller machines to explore and build more at the next system. It is hard to conceive of the vast resources in space.

[@MaloPiloto]

Well thought out and well said….

[@peerpede-p.]

Thank you for this explanation on The Fermi Paradox, so far the most comprehensive I've heard.