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Is it Good or Bad that we Haven't Met Aliens?

2023-03-10 · explainer · Hank · 3:38 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, self correction

Filming from a paid booth in an airport, Hank asks whether it is good or bad that we have not met aliens, lays out the Fermi paradox's options (civilizations don't last, the great filter; or they are very rare), and proposes a hopeful third: advanced species may learn to stop taking up all available space, and humans may be starting to.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Airport booth; why the absence of aliens is puzzling, life takes up available space, option one (civilizations don't last, the great filter) and option two (civilizations are very rare)

  • ★ Hank has upgraded his airport filming to a small booth he pays for, where he can change the lighting; he sticks with aqua. — 00:00:02
  • ★★ Hank poses the question of whether it is a good or a bad thing that we have not yet seen aliens. — 00:00:02
  • ★★ Hank says there are a hundred million stars in our galaxy and most of them seem to have solar systems. (hedged) — 00:00:02
    • check: a hundred million — doubtful
  • ★★★ Hank says it would be really weird if ours were the only solar system in the galaxy with civilization-building life. — 00:00:02
  • ★★★ Hank says humans take up the available space, and interstellar travel, though very hard, seems possible, so the whole galaxy becomes available space. (hedged) — 00:00:32
  • ★★ Hank says it seems good news that we haven't seen aliens, because otherwise we would be part of their available space. (hedged) — 00:00:32
  • ★★ Hank says taking up all available space is not a human thing: ants, trees, bacteria and camels would fill the whole Earth if they could; that is how genes work. — 00:00:32 · Earth
  • ★★ Hank says the universe is 13.7 billion years old. — 00:01:01
  • ★★ Hank says life on Earth has existed for about 28% of the universe's age, but civilizational life only a couple hundred thousand years at most: we are a blip. — 00:01:30 · Earth
  • ★★★ Hank's first option, which he does not love: civilizations do occur but do not last long; we would conquer the galaxy if we had the time, but we don't. (hedged) — 00:01:30
  • ★★ Hank says such communities have a term for this, the great filter: whatever prevents civilizations from existing for long periods of time. — 00:01:59
  • ★★ Hank says the great filter could be AI, global warming, nuclear weapons or social media, maybe TikTok; we don't know. (unsure) — 00:01:59 · climate change, social media, TikTok
  • ★★★ Hank's second, lonely option: we may last a long time, but civilizations rarely arise, maybe once per galaxy or less; then we are alone and extraordinarily special. (hedged) — 00:01:59

00:02:28 — The third option: advanced species may learn to stop taking up all available space, and humans may be the first; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank's rarely discussed third option, which he would find very good news: life's tendency to take up all available space may be something a species can get beyond, and humans may be starting to. (hedged) — 00:02:28
  • ★★★ Hank suggests advanced species with advanced philosophies may favor quality over quantity: there may be many civilizations in the Milky Way that simply aren't loud. (speculative) — 00:02:58

  • ★★★ Hank hopes we are at the start of such a shift and may someday solve the Fermi paradox by becoming its solution, which would be pretty cool. (hedged) — 00:03:27

    “someday we will solve the fermi paradox by becoming its solution”

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank finds unlikely the unmentioned theory that aliens hide from a force punishing the loud: malevolence is rare in nature, indifferent competition common. — video description
  • ★★ Hank corrects himself: he misstated the Great Filter, which could lie before or after humanity's current point, so it spans both his first and second options. — video description
  • ★★ In a comment Hank says that since we exist, a filter seems more likely to lie in the future, though with a data set of one we can only guess. (hedged) — creator comment
  • ★ Answering a viewer in the comments, Hank says the airport is in Austin. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: extraterrestrial life · Fermi paradox (concept) · Great Filter

Also: age of the universe · artificial intelligence · climate change · Earth · Milky Way · nuclear weapon · social media · TikTok

Only in the description or credits: Austin, Texas · dark forest hypothesis

Also centred on extraterrestrial life: Where are the Space Aliens?! · We just had our first interstellar visitor...and it's weird. · They Say it Gets Colder · Aliens · Fine, I'll Talk About the Drones… · This Might Actually be Happening

Also centred on Fermi paradox (concept): Where are the Space Aliens?! · The Fermi Paradox: A Song

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