Article is a response to the paper:
“THE SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTION TO THE FERMI PARADOX”
This reminded me of Latour’s ideas of Terrestrial.
He calls this ‘the Terrestrial’, for it follows the idea that humans do not comprise the ‘centre’ of nature anymore; rather, we are in constant interaction with other beings and natural phenomena. Hence, the New Climatic Regime demands a focus on the geo-social: each human activity has to be considered along with the impact it will have on the planet.
This is a very interesting solution to the Fermi Paradox. what is the most notable, is that it took so much time to get this proposition. But once you know it, it make perfect sense:
Any civilization don’t need to expand at all. Managing resource should allow you to live on the home planet without problem until the star goes supernova. At worst you have a plan to go to the next planet, in case of problem you cant solve.
So now… if we postulate such a civilization ( highly advanced and resource conscious ) What do they need to do to survive, that we can detect?
Their sustainability solution states that we don’t see any evidence of ETIs because rapid growth is not a sustainable development pattern. From this perspective, the Kardashev Scale is rendered futile. No civilization will ever use all available energy from its planet, star, or galaxy, because the growth required to reach that level of mastery is unsustainable.
I think that makes so much sense. I don’t think it makes sense to define “advanced” as a civilization that grows at a rapid and exponential rate, like a plague of locusts, depleting nonrenewable resources and causing irreparable damage to the only human habitable planet known to exist in the entire universe. Even if it can be considered advanced, it should also be considered extremely unwise.
When I was a young teem, a teacher put a slice of apple in a sealed container with a few fruit-flies. A week later, there were hundreds of fruit-flies. In another week the bottom of the container was covered with the bodies of fruit-flies. Quick, unforgettable lesson.
Yeah. Shoulda stolen the apple slice before the flies got to it.
So basically not being sustainable and harmonious with nature would be the Great Filter.
I really like this theory, makes sense. Though in context of humanity and our trajectory it’s a bit depresing.
Seems like we -may- have had it worked out already. The major problem is: how do we rein in the people who want to do it their way and become kings?
This is kind of an underwhelming explanation, and I dont think it’s ultimately right given how humans are trying their best to wipe out all life on earth over pieces of paper.
It sounds like this theory posits that humans may never be advanced enough that we’d detect ourselves unless we learn to live harmoniously rather than virulently.
That’s… the point? Civilizations with that kind of tendency may very well destroy their planet and/or themselves long before they advance to the point where they are detectable to an outside observer many light years away.
The human race is at the moment in a race against time. We’re hoping that we can develop new technology to save ourselves faster than we destroy everything around us. This kind of race has probably happened countless times across the vast universe and perhaps the laws of physics ultimately make the race unwinnable. These laws limit how much technology can do for any species, no matter how smart, so it would be a universal filter.
If the only way to win the race is to slow down the destruction of the environment to the point that the species is undetectable, that solves the Fermi paradox.
Could almost say that wiping out all life on Earth over pieces of paper is unsustainable, but that’d probably go too far.
