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Kurzgesagt (In a Nutshell), The Fermi Paradox II — Solutions and Ideas – Where Are All The Aliens?

The Fermi Paradox II — Solutions and Ideas – Where Are All The Aliens?

There are probably 10,000 stars for every grain of sand on Earth, in the observable universe.

We know that there might be trillions of planets.

So where are all the aliens?

This is the Fermi Paradox.

If you want to know more about it, watch part one.

Here we look at possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox.

So will we be destroyed or does a glorious future await us?

Space travel is hard. Although possible, it's an enormous challenge to travel to other stars.

Massive amounts of materials have to be put into orbit and assembled.

A journey of maybe thousands of years needs to be survived by a population big enough to start from scratch.

And the planet might be not as hospitable as it seems from afar.

It was already extremely hard to set up a spaceship that could survive the trip.

An interstellar invasion might be impossible to pull off.

Also, consider time: the Universe is very old.

On Earth there's been life for at least 3.6 billion years.

Intelligent human life for about 250,000 years.

But only for about a century have we had the technology to communicate over great distances.

There might have been grand alien empires that stretched across thousands of systems

and existed for millions of years and we might just have missed them.

There might be grandiose ruins rotting away on distant worlds.

99% of all species on Earth have died out.

It's easy to argue that this will be our fate sooner or later.

Intelligent life may develop, spread over a few systems and die off, over and over again.

But galactic civilizations might never meet.

So maybe it's a unifying experience for life in the Universe to look at the stars and wonder "Where is everyone?"

But there is no reason to assume aliens are like us,

or that our logic applies to them.

It might just be that our means of communication are extremely primitive and outdated.

Imagine sitting in a house with a Morse code transmitter: you'd keep sending messages

but nobody would answer, and you would feel pretty lonely.

Maybe we're still undetectable for intelligent species

and we'll remain so until we learn to communicate properly.

And even if we met aliens we might be too different to be able to communicate with them in a meaningful way.

Imagine the smartest squirrel you can,

no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to explain our society to it.

After all, from the squirrel's perspective, a tree is all that a sophisticated intelligence like itself needs to survive.

So humans cutting down whole forests is madness; but we don't destroy forests because we hate squirrels.

We just want the resources.

The squirrel's wishes and the squirrel's survival are of no concern to us.

A Type 3 civilization in need of resources may treat us in a similar way.

They might just evaporate our oceans to make collecting whatever they need easier.

One of the aliens might think for a second "Oh, tiny little apes! They built really cute concrete structures, oh well now they're dead."

before activating warp speed.

But if there is a civilization out there that wants to eliminate other species,

it's far more likely that it will be motivated by culture rather than by economics.

And anyway it will be more effective to automate the process by constructing the perfect weapon,

a self replicating space probe made from nano-machines.

They operate on a molecular level: incredibly fast and deadly,

with the power to attack and dismantle anything in an instant.

You only need to give them four instructions.

One, find a planet with life.

Two, disassemble everything on this planet into its component parts.

Three, use the resources to build new space probes.

Four, repeat.

A doomsday machine like this could render a galaxy sterile in a few million years.

But why would you fly light years to gather resources or commit genocide?

The speed of light is actually... not very fast.

If someone could travel at the speed of light, it will still take 100,000 years to cross the milky way once,

and you'll probably travel way slower.

There might be way more enjoyable things than destroying civilizations and building empires.

An interesting concept is the Matrioshka Brain.

A mega-structure surrounding a star,

a computer of such computing power that an entire species could upload their consciousness and exist in a simulated universe.

Potentially, one could experience an eternity of pure ecstasies without ever being bored or sad, a perfect life.

If built around a red dwarf, this computer could be powered for up to ten trillion years.

Who would want to conquer the galaxy or make contact with other life forms, if this were an option?

All these solutions to the Fermi Paradox have one problem.

We don't know where the borders of technology are.

We could be close to the limit or nowhere near it.

And super technology awaits us,

granting us immortality, transporting us to other galaxies, elevating us to the level of gods.

One thing we do have to acknowledge is that we really don't know anything.

Humans have spent more than 90% of their existence as hunter-gatherers.

500 years ago we thought we were the center of the universe.

200 years ago we stopped using human labors as the main source of the energy.

30 years ago we had apocalyptic weapons pointed at each other because of political disagreements.

In the galactic time scale we are embryos.

We've come far, but still have a long way to go.

The mindset that we really are the center of the universe is still strong in humans,

so it's easy to make arrogant assumptions about life in the universe.

But in the end, there's only one way to find out, right?

Hey, everybody!

We finally have our own subreddit.

Come by for surveys, discussions about future videos,

FAQs, and stuff like that.

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The Fermi Paradox II — Solutions and Ideas – Where Are All The Aliens? Das Fermi-Paradoxon II - Lösungen und Ideen - Wo sind all die Außerirdischen? La paradoja de Fermi II - Soluciones e ideas - ¿Dónde están los extraterrestres? Le paradoxe de Fermi II - Solutions et idées - Où sont tous les extraterrestres ? Il paradosso di Fermi II - Soluzioni e idee - Dove sono tutti gli alieni? フェルミのパラドックスII - 解決策とアイデア - 宇宙人はどこにいるのか？ Fermio paradoksas II - Sprendimai ir idėjos - Kur visi ateiviai? Paradoks Fermiego II - rozwiązania i pomysły - Gdzie są wszyscy kosmici? O Paradoxo de Fermi II - Soluções e ideias - Onde estão os extraterrestres? Парадокс Ферми II - Решения и идеи - Где все инопланетяне? Fermi Paradoksu II - Çözümler ve Fikirler - Uzaylılar Nerede? Парадокс Фермі II - Рішення та ідеї - Де всі інопланетяни? 费米悖论 II — 解决方案和想法 — 外星人都在哪里？

There are probably 10,000 stars for every grain of sand on Earth, in the observable universe.

We know that there might be trillions of planets.

So where are all the aliens?

This is the Fermi Paradox.

If you want to know more about it, watch part one.

Here we look at possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox.

So will we be destroyed or does a glorious future await us? Allons-nous être détruits ou un avenir glorieux nous attend-il ? Então seremos destruídos ou um futuro glorioso nos espera?

Space travel is hard. Although possible, it's an enormous challenge to travel to other stars.

Massive amounts of materials have to be put into orbit and assembled. Grandes quantidades de materiais precisam ser colocadas em órbita e montadas.

A journey of maybe thousands of years needs to be survived by a population big enough to start from scratch. Uma jornada de talvez milhares de anos precisa ser sobrevivida por uma população grande o suficiente para começar do zero.

And the planet might be not as hospitable as it seems from afar. E o planeta pode não ser tão hospitaleiro quanto parece de longe.

It was already extremely hard to set up a spaceship that could survive the trip. Já era extremamente difícil montar uma nave espacial que pudesse sobreviver à viagem.

An interstellar invasion might be impossible to pull off. Une invasion interstellaire pourrait être impossible à réaliser. Een interstellaire invasie is misschien niet haalbaar. Uma invasão interestelar pode ser impossível de realizar. Межзвездное вторжение может оказаться невозможным.

Also, consider time: the Universe is very old.

On Earth there's been life for at least 3.6 billion years. Sur Terre, la vie existe depuis au moins 3,6 milliards d'années.

Intelligent human life for about 250,000 years.

But only for about a century have we had the technology to communicate over great distances.

There might have been grand alien empires that stretched across thousands of systems Il aurait pu y avoir de grands empires extraterrestres s'étendant sur des milliers de systèmes Pode ter havido grandes impérios alienígenas que se estendiam por milhares de sistemas

and existed for millions of years and we might just have missed them. e existiram por milhões de anos e nós poderíamos ter perdido eles.

There might be grandiose ruins rotting away on distant worlds. Pode haver ruínas grandiosas apodrecendo em mundos distantes.

99% of all species on Earth have died out. 99 % de toutes les espèces de la planète ont disparu. 99% de todas as espécies da Terra morreram.

It's easy to argue that this will be our fate sooner or later. Il est facile d'affirmer que ce sera notre destin tôt ou tard. É fácil argumentar que este será o nosso destino mais cedo ou mais tarde.

Intelligent life may develop, spread over a few systems and die off, over and over again. Une vie intelligente peut se développer, se répandre dans quelques systèmes et s'éteindre, encore et encore.

But galactic civilizations might never meet.

So maybe it's a unifying experience for life in the Universe to look at the stars and wonder "Where is everyone?" C'est donc peut-être une expérience unificatrice pour la vie dans l'Univers que de regarder les étoiles et de se demander "Où est tout le monde ?". Então, talvez seja uma experiência unificadora para a vida no Universo olhar para as estrelas e se perguntar "Onde estão todos?"

But there is no reason to assume aliens are like us,

or that our logic applies to them. ou que nossa lógica se aplica a eles.

It might just be that our means of communication are extremely primitive and outdated. Il se peut que nos moyens de communication soient extrêmement primitifs et dépassés.

Imagine sitting in a house with a Morse code transmitter: you'd keep sending messages Imaginez que vous soyez assis dans une maison équipée d'un émetteur de code morse : vous ne cesseriez d'envoyer des messages Imagine-se sentado em uma casa com um transmissor de código Morse: você continuaria enviando mensagens

but nobody would answer, and you would feel pretty lonely.

Maybe we're still undetectable for intelligent species Nous sommes peut-être encore indétectables pour les espèces intelligentes.

and we'll remain so until we learn to communicate properly. et nous le resterons tant que nous n'aurons pas appris à communiquer correctement.

And even if we met aliens we might be too different to be able to communicate with them in a meaningful way. Et même si nous rencontrions des extraterrestres, nous serions trop différents pour pouvoir communiquer avec eux de manière significative.

Imagine the smartest squirrel you can, Imaginez l'écureuil le plus intelligent possible, Imagine o esquilo mais inteligente que puder,

no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to explain our society to it.

After all, from the squirrel's perspective, a tree is all that a sophisticated intelligence like itself needs to survive. Après tout, du point de vue de l'écureuil, un arbre est tout ce dont une intelligence sophistiquée comme la sienne a besoin pour survivre. Afinal, do ponto de vista do esquilo, uma árvore é tudo o que uma inteligência sofisticada como ela precisa para sobreviver.

So humans cutting down whole forests is madness; but we don't destroy forests because we hate squirrels. L'abattage de forêts entières par l'homme est donc une folie, mais nous ne détruisons pas les forêts parce que nous détestons les écureuils.

We just want the resources.

The squirrel's wishes and the squirrel's survival are of no concern to us. Os desejos do esquilo e a sobrevivência do esquilo não nos interessam.

A Type 3 civilization in need of resources may treat us in a similar way. Uma civilização do Tipo 3 que precisa de recursos pode nos tratar de maneira semelhante.

They might just evaporate our oceans to make collecting whatever they need easier. Eles podem simplesmente evaporar nossos oceanos para facilitar a coleta de tudo o que precisam.

One of the aliens might think for a second "Oh, tiny little apes! They built really cute concrete structures, oh well now they're dead." L'un des extraterrestres pourrait penser pendant une seconde : "Oh, les petits singes ! Ils ont construit des structures en béton très mignonnes, eh bien maintenant ils sont morts." Um dos alienígenas pode pensar por um segundo "Oh, macaquinhos minúsculos! Eles construíram estruturas de concreto realmente fofas, oh bem, agora eles estão mortos."

before activating warp speed. avant d'activer la vitesse de distorsion. antes de ativar a velocidade de dobra.

But if there is a civilization out there that wants to eliminate other species,

it's far more likely that it will be motivated by culture rather than by economics. il est beaucoup plus probable qu'elle soit motivée par la culture que par l'économie. é muito mais provável que seja motivado pela cultura e não pela economia.

And anyway it will be more effective to automate the process by constructing the perfect weapon, Et de toute façon, il sera plus efficace d'automatiser le processus en construisant l'arme parfaite, E de qualquer forma será mais eficaz automatizar o processo construindo a arma perfeita,

a self replicating space probe made from nano-machines. une sonde spatiale autoreproductrice composée de nanomachines. uma sonda espacial auto-replicante feita de nanomáquinas.

They operate on a molecular level: incredibly fast and deadly, Ils opèrent au niveau moléculaire : ils sont incroyablement rapides et mortels,

with the power to attack and dismantle anything in an instant. com o poder de atacar e desmantelar qualquer coisa em um instante.

You only need to give them four instructions. Il suffit de leur donner quatre instructions.

One, find a planet with life.

Two, disassemble everything on this planet into its component parts. Deuxièmement, désassembler tout ce qui existe sur cette planète en ses éléments constitutifs. Dois, desmonte tudo neste planeta em suas partes componentes. Во-вторых, разобрать все на этой планете на составные части.

Three, use the resources to build new space probes. В-третьих, использовать полученные ресурсы для создания новых космических зондов.

Four, repeat.

A doomsday machine like this could render a galaxy sterile in a few million years. Uma máquina apocalíptica como essa poderia tornar uma galáxia estéril em alguns milhões de anos.

But why would you fly light years to gather resources or commit genocide? Mais pourquoi voler à des années-lumière pour collecter des ressources ou commettre un génocide ?

The speed of light is actually... not very fast.

If someone could travel at the speed of light, it will still take 100,000 years to cross the milky way once, Si quelqu'un pouvait voyager à la vitesse de la lumière, il lui faudrait tout de même 100 000 ans pour traverser une fois la voie lactée,

and you'll probably travel way slower. e você provavelmente viajará muito mais devagar.

There might be way more enjoyable things than destroying civilizations and building empires. Il y a peut-être des choses bien plus agréables que de détruire des civilisations et de construire des empires. Pode haver coisas muito mais agradáveis do que destruir civilizações e construir impérios.

An interesting concept is the Matrioshka Brain. Le cerveau de Matrioshka est un concept intéressant. Um conceito interessante é o Cérebro Matrioshka.

A mega-structure surrounding a star, Une méga-structure entourant une étoile,

a computer of such computing power that an entire species could upload their consciousness and exist in a simulated universe. un ordinateur d'une puissance telle qu'une espèce entière pourrait télécharger sa conscience et exister dans un univers simulé. um computador de tal poder computacional que uma espécie inteira poderia carregar sua consciência e existir em um universo simulado.

Potentially, one could experience an eternity of pure ecstasies without ever being bored or sad, a perfect life. Potencialmente, pode-se experimentar uma eternidade de puro êxtase sem nunca ficar entediado ou triste, uma vida perfeita.

If built around a red dwarf, this computer could be powered for up to ten trillion years. S'il est construit autour d'une naine rouge, cet ordinateur pourrait être alimenté pendant dix billions d'années. Se construído em torno de uma anã vermelha, este computador poderia ser alimentado por até dez trilhões de anos.

Who would want to conquer the galaxy or make contact with other life forms, if this were an option? Quem gostaria de conquistar a galáxia ou fazer contato com outras formas de vida, se isso fosse uma opção?

All these solutions to the Fermi Paradox have one problem. Toutes ces solutions au paradoxe de Fermi présentent un problème.

We don't know where the borders of technology are. Não sabemos onde estão as fronteiras da tecnologia.

We could be close to the limit or nowhere near it. Nous pourrions être proches de la limite ou loin de celle-ci. Podemos estar perto do limite ou longe disso.

And super technology awaits us, E super tecnologia nos espera,

granting us immortality, transporting us to other galaxies, elevating us to the level of gods. concedendo-nos a imortalidade, transportando-nos para outras galáxias, elevando-nos ao nível dos deuses.

One thing we do have to acknowledge is that we really don't know anything. Uma coisa que temos que reconhecer é que realmente não sabemos nada.

Humans have spent more than 90% of their existence as hunter-gatherers. Os humanos passaram mais de 90% de sua existência como caçadores-coletores.

500 years ago we thought we were the center of the universe.

200 years ago we stopped using human labors as the main source of the energy. Il y a 200 ans, nous avons cessé d'utiliser le travail humain comme principale source d'énergie. Há 200 anos deixamos de usar o trabalho humano como principal fonte de energia.

30 years ago we had apocalyptic weapons pointed at each other because of political disagreements. Há 30 anos tínhamos armas apocalípticas apontadas umas para as outras por causa de divergências políticas.

In the galactic time scale we are embryos. À l'échelle du temps galactique, nous sommes des embryons. Na escala de tempo galáctica somos embriões.

We've come far, but still have a long way to go. Nous avons beaucoup progressé, mais il nous reste encore beaucoup de chemin à parcourir. Chegamos longe, mas ainda temos um longo caminho a percorrer.

The mindset that we really are the center of the universe is still strong in humans, L'idée que nous sommes vraiment le centre de l'univers est encore très présente chez les humains, A mentalidade de que realmente somos o centro do universo ainda é forte nos humanos,

so it's easy to make arrogant assumptions about life in the universe. Il est donc facile de faire des suppositions arrogantes sur la vie dans l'univers. então é fácil fazer suposições arrogantes sobre a vida no universo.

But in the end, there's only one way to find out, right? Mais en fin de compte, il n'y a qu'une seule façon de le savoir, n'est-ce pas ? Mas no final, só há uma maneira de descobrir, certo?

Hey, everybody!

We finally have our own subreddit. Nous avons enfin notre propre subreddit. We hebben eindelijk onze eigen subreddit. Finalmente temos nosso próprio subreddit.

Come by for surveys, discussions about future videos, Venha para pesquisas, discussões sobre vídeos futuros,