“In all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.”
-Carl Sagan
Why do we so desperately grasp at the hope that there is life beyond Earth? Maybe it’s the fear of oblivion after destroying our home planet. Maybe it’s the fundamental desire to confirm our superiority. Maybe it’s simply human curiosity. Regardless of the reason we keep our eyes tilted towards the stars, our observations bring us back to one unanswerable question: where is everybody?
Linked to this post is the complete discussion outline for our April 4th discussion on Fermi’s Paradox at the North Hill Retirement Community. Excerpts have been copied from the document, including the list of articles distributed to the residents prior to the discussion and a list of some of the questions we discussed together.
Articles distributed in advance to residents:
Discussion questions:
Why is the search for life on other planets important?
Which is a scarier prospect: other life forms existing in the universe or us being alone in the universe? Is no news good news?
Is our rareness something to celebrate or be disappointed by? What would it mean for humans to be the only conscious beings in the universe?
If there is a civilization to be advanced enough to the point that they could see our signals, do we want to be found?
Which explanation to the Fermi Paradox do you most agree with? Or do you have your own theory?
Should we be investing resources into searching for other life forms (for instance, if we expect that we’re going to destroy Earth), or is this a waste of global finances?
Why would we assume that, if life were to develop on a whole other planet, it would evolve into humans as opposed to a different life form?
How would our decisions change if we were not the only planet with life in the universe? We seem to operate under the assumption that we are the only planet– would we do anything differently if we were not?
Do you believe that the Great Filter is behind us or in front of us? Is there some barrier that we will soon reach that will doom us and prevent us from further progression, or are we egotistically assuming that we are the first species to have passed through this filter?
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Full discussion outline document:
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