Written By: Daniel Holscher, Staff Writer
EXTRATERRESTRIAL: Over the years humans have developed numerous theories on the existence of beings other than ourselves within the universe.
“Small Beginnings”
“Are we alone?” The question humans have been asking themselves since the beginning of time, yet the question has become increasingly common with the development of new space technologies. As our understanding of the universe has continued to expand over the last few decades, we have been spending more time theorizing about the stars, trying to digest some of the baffling mysteries of our universe and find out once and for all if we are alone in the universe.
One of these mysteries involves the phenomenon known as life and consciousness. As far as we know, our planet is the only one capable of sustaining life in our solar system, and perhaps galaxy. But this doesn’t stop scientists and astronomers from analyzing and creating scientific theories based on the available data that we have. In this article, we will be looking into and trying to understand the basis of a few of these theories and deciding which one is most likely to be true.
“The Fermi Paradox”
The Fermi Paradox receives its name from its creator, Italian-American Scientist Enrico Fermi. As he was engaged in a contemporary conversation regarding the reported sightings of UFOs and theories of faster-than-light travel he had a sudden thought, “But where is everybody?” Thus, the Fermi Paradox was born, in which the premise simply explains that we have not found intelligent life forms or any basic life forms living elsewhere in the universe simply because they do not exist. “The Great Silence” is a nickname given to this theory, going off of the idea that no life exists beyond Earth. This theory is simple but puts to rest our concerns and speculations about extraterrestrial life.
“The Early Bird Theory”
The Early Bird Theory is a theory that falls under the guidelines that we are simply the most intelligent life forms in the universe at this very moment, and we will be the ones to pass down universal knowledge and traditions. I find this one very interesting because it argues that we are alone in the fact that we are the starters of extraterrestrial life. It’s practically the opposite of the great silence, making us humans the “aliens”. This theory could very much be true in the essence that finding life outside of Earth is just too difficult because we are intelligent life.
“The Great Filter Theory”
Robin Hanson first proposed The Great Filter Theory in the late 1990’s, as a solution to the Fermi Paradox. This theory explains that there are an abundance of civilizations within the Milky Way Galaxy, and every one of them has their challenges and crises to face on their own. Whether it be an asteroid or all-out nuclear war, each civilization wipes itself out due to the natural cycles of life. The fact of the matter is, that all of the intelligent civilizations wipe themselves out before they can discover each other, this includes Earth. So we are a society and planet heading towards an inevitable doom before we can reach other life forms. If intelligent life does exist, we should encounter it without our planet being destroyed, but if it is destroyed without us finding intelligent life we can’t prove there is intelligent life. Yet if we keep living and find no life, we could be leading ourselves to our inevitable fate.
“The Test Dummy Theory”
The Test Dummy Theory suggests that aliens have found us, and are secretly watching us and observing us to gain intel on our functions. They observe us daily as we are unaware of their presence, and the UFO sightings that we report on our planet are actual real sightings from the aliens who are watching over us. What do they plan to do with their observations? That is the scary unknown of it all.
“The Dark Forest Theory”
This next theory interestingly juxtaposes the last. The Dark Forest Theory comes from the analogy of animals’ actions within a forest here on Earth. Most animals will stay quiet in a dark forest to avoid drawing to themselves, just as intelligent life forms are possibly doing in our very universe. So, we are looking at the fact that other life forms stay reserved and quiet to avoid other life forms from detecting them on Earth, in this case, being an outlier. It suggests that Earth is one of the only planets that sends out satellite signals and radio waves, as other life doesn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to themselves. This theory proposes that all of our efforts to reach out are harmful to our worth as a society.
“The Simulation Theory”
Last, and certainly not least is The Simulation Theory. The simulation theory analyzes the use of our five senses, Taste, Touch, Smell, Hearing, and Sight. With this in mind, who’s to say this isn’t all one big simulation? Who’s to say that this all is just one big experiment on us and we are not real or tangible in any way, shape, or form, but merely perceive ourselves to be? Who’s to say that we are not just being used to develop and produce for a higher entity above ours using higher-level technology? These are the exact questions the Simulation Theory tries to answer. It’s suggesting that our mere existence is pointless. Even with the Fermi Paradox at least we have a purpose of sustaining life throughout the universe. In this theory, we are playing the game of life, where all of our decisions that seem to matter so much are nothing more than words and actions in a fake world.
“Universal Conclusion”
So. Whether you believe in the complete loneliness of our Earth in this universe, or the testing of our souls to sustain alien captivation, we are all in it in this game of life. As we tread this universe carefully, we come closer and closer to unlocking the true mysteries of the cosmos. It is important to remember, we are all in this together. It’s up to you to decide which theory you agree with, perhaps it’s none of them, one of them, some of them, or all of them. But no matter what you find to be the answer to this existential paradox, one thing is for sure. We are not alone in the vast callings of the universe. We humans have each other.