Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumIntelligent Life Might Always Go Extinct Once It Develops Technology
International Business TimesIntelligent life goes extinct shortly after becoming technologically advanced and thats why we havent been able to connect with any alien species, one scientist is arguing.
At the center of his assertion is the mediocrity principle, which is popular among astronomers and dictates that there is nothing special about our species, our planet or our solar system that everything that went into the evolution of human life on Earth could have happened in other places as well. It thus also dictates that the state in which we find ourselves is completely typical and can be generally applied to the rest of the universe.
University of Arkansas professor Daniel Whitmire is suggesting that if we go by this principle, it stands to reason that any technological species would find themselves in a similar situation to humans on Earth: that they are both the first such species to evolve on their planet and also that they are early in their potential technological evolution, according to his paper in the International Journal of Astrobiology. He argues that this implies intelligent species do not exist further along in technological evolution because they have gone extinct soon after attaining a modern technology and that this event results in the extinction of the planets global biosphere.
Video at the link
And it looks like the human race is right on schedule to destroy itself by destroying its ecosystem.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,861 posts)And given the age of the Universe, and the incredible vastness of interstellar (never mind inter galactic) distances, the odds of two intelligent species overlapping in time and being close enough to possibly contact each other, is vanishingly small. You don't even need to hypothesize that they do themselves in.
There might also be intelligent species which simply don't go the technological path. Or they evolve on one of the planets circling an orphan store, one wandering about between galaxies. Yes, there actually are such stars.
shanny
(6,709 posts)Intelligence, said he, is not a survival characteristic. He was not surprised that we had not contacted or detected any other alien species.
At the time I thought he was unduly pessimistic. Not anymore. I'm thinking we have to become a different species if we are to survive...and not one that relies on technology.
The_jackalope
(1,660 posts)I see no reason to disagree.
shanny
(6,709 posts)The_jackalope
(1,660 posts)It seems logical that an intelligent species would develop technologies based on easily available fossil fuels long before they develop the science necessary to understand the planetary consequences of excess CO2. By the time they realize it, they are trapped by the energy demands of a global civilization, and can't back down the energy hill fast enough to avoid extinction. I call it the carbon trap.
Here's how I described it in 2013, in an article about Fermi's Paradox:
By the time the danger is realized, the species will be carbon-dependent - locked into the burning of carbon for energy - trapped in a vicious spiral of thermodynamically-driven self-organization, energy-dependent maintenance of existing physical and social structures, increasing energy dependence, increasing CO₂ production - and increasing planetary heating from the "greenhouse effect".
If there is enough carbon available, the species will become technologically advanced, will send out signals for a short while and will then go extinct due to an inability to adapt to the planet's changing climate. The species will not climb out of its gravity well and fly to the stars, because the energy required will all be soaked up in its own growth, and extinction will happen well before it gets to the Dyson Sphere stage.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)Back when you were someone else in a previous incarnation.
The_jackalope
(1,660 posts)Duppers
(28,125 posts)Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)Thanks
However, we appear to have strong evidence of the presence of presumably intelligent visitors to our somewhat fucked-up little backwater here?
http://www.collective-evolution.com/2017/03/20/strong-evidence-shows-extraterrestrials-have-been-shutting-down-nuclear-missiles-worldwide-for-decades-but-why/
Around 8:30 a.m., Deputy Crew Commander Figel was briefing Carlson, the Crew Commander, on the flight status when the alarm horn sounded. One of the Minuteman missiles they supervised had strangely gone off alertit became inoperable. The off alert occurred at one of the two sites where maintenance crews had camped out on site. Upset, thinking maintenance personnel had failed to notify him that the missile was going to off alert status, as required when maintenance work is done on a missile, Figel immediately called the missile site.
When Figel spoke with the on-site security guard, the guard reported that maintenance had not yet been performed that morning. He also stated that a UFO had been hovering over the site. Figel recalled thinking the guard must have been drinking something. However, incredibly, now other missiles started to go off alert in rapid succession. Within seconds, the entire flight of ten ICBMs was down. All of the missiles reported a No-Go condition. One by one, across the board, each missile had became inoperable..."
https://montanapioneer.com/malmstrom-officers-report-ufo-shut-down-icbms/
Progressive dog
(6,904 posts)I don't think there is a third option. If we do go extinct, I expect the ecosystem will recover and perhaps intelligent life will evolve again. I don't expect we will know either way.
StevieM
(10,500 posts)destroying ourself. The end of humanity might mean the end of the only intelligent life in the cosmos.
The_jackalope
(1,660 posts)...outside of our own self-congratulation.
I don't share that belief. Our consciousness and intelligence is irrelevant in any wider view.
StevieM
(10,500 posts)Is it bad if you no longer have animals killing and eating other animals? Evolution can be quite cruel.
Or an end to the brutality often seen in humanity?
I guess I think it is cool that there is a consciousness in the multiverse that is capable of understanding it on some level.
hunter
(38,317 posts)... vanishing into realms inaccessible and invisible to us.
I'm not optimistic humans will be successful.
This planet has seen the populations of many innovative species grow exponentially and then crash, becoming extinct.
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)...and never come back out.
Perhaps THIS reality is one of those VR video games!