Friday, 16 December 2011

It's Lonely Out There - Baen Books

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It's Lonely Out There –
The Evolutionary Explanation For The Fermi Paradox
by John Lambshead

The Fermi Paradox is named after Enrico Fermi, who postulated it in 1950 during informal discussion. It can be summarised as: if the truth is out there, why haven't we seen some evidence? Or to put it another way, where are the intelligent aliens? Not a single shred of evidence has ever been found of a piece of technology that is not human. All around us broods a silent universe, the silentium universi (things sound so much more authoritative when translated into Latin, don't you think?).
Physicists have dominated discussion on the Fermi Paradox, Fermi was a physicist, because it appears to be an issue of astronomy. But actually it is an issue of biology since it is about evolution.
In this paper I am going to address two points: How common is life in the universe, and how common is intelligent life. To gain an insight into the second point, I will be obliged to consider how intelligent life might evolve. For the purposes of this essay, intelligence is defined as human-level intelligence, i.e. the capacity to create a technological civilization....



You can read the rest of this article for free on the Baen site, my publisher, as well as an original short story by New York Times best-selling author, Timothy Zahn.
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10 comments:

  1. Greek_Geek16 December 2011 at 11:55

    Trying to find it John, but no joy so far. Under which heading should I look for it?

    Dimitri

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  2. sonsoftaurus16 December 2011 at 12:11

    Dimitri - I just scrolled down and found it.

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  3. Da Masta Cheef16 December 2011 at 12:39

    'Or to put it another way, where are the intelligent aliens?'

    There was an old Calvin & Hobbes comic that answered that with the statement of:

    "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.

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  4. John Lambshead16 December 2011 at 12:50

    Dear Dimitri
    Scroll down the Baen front page or the sidebar link (top right) will take you straight to it.
    J

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  5. John Lambshead16 December 2011 at 12:51

    Dear Sons
    That's it.
    J

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  6. John Lambshead16 December 2011 at 12:52

    Dear DMC
    A similay joke appeared in the Andy Cap cartoon about working class life in northern England.
    J

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  7. Greek_Geek16 December 2011 at 14:38

    Thanks John and SonsofaTaurus... I guess I had my blond moment for today.

    Dimitri

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  8. John Lambshead16 December 2011 at 16:02

    Dear Dimitri, no problem. I refer to it as a 'senior moment'.
    J

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  9. Shaun16 December 2011 at 16:35

    Hi John
    Read the whole article V. good bit; sad too Like Sheldon in the Big Bang theory I wouldn't mind being kept as a house pet by super intelligent Aliens. Perhaps I'll have to settle for being food for alien bacteria (delivered by meteorite)

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  10. John Lambshead16 December 2011 at 18:46

    Dear Shaun
    Being a house pet is OK until they decide that it's kindest to put you down.
    J

    ReplyDelete

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