That classic question always seems to imply that they’ve even heard of us. Why do we automatically assume they know who we are and where we are? The universe is vast- far more than the average person can imagine. There may be millions upon millions of civilizations unaware of each other- and that would include zero awareness of us. Remember, we’re as far from them as they are from us.
Some scenarios: 1) They came too soon and only found dinosaurs, or earlier still and saw only single celled organisms, yawned and left.
2) There’s life out there, but it’s LESS advanced than we are. Maybe they don’t even have telescopes. Why do we assume that they must be super-advanced and capable of space travel in order to exist at all?
3) The checklist of planets to contact and visit is so long, they’re nowhere near us yet. We’re somewhere near the bottom of page 14,000,000,000. Again, that’s IF they have even the slightest idea we exist. That thought so diminishes us, I don’t think some people can deal with it.
Bottom line- the fact that no one has contacted us does not prove they’re not out there. We mistake our self awareness for our importance to the entire cosmos.
That classic question always seems to imply that they’ve even heard of us. Why do we automatically assume they know who we are and where we are? The universe is vast- far more than the average person can imagine. There may be millions upon millions of civilizations unaware of each other- and that would include zero awareness of us. Remember, we’re as far from them as they are from us.
Some scenarios: 1) They came too soon and only found dinosaurs, or earlier still and saw only single celled organisms, yawned and left.
2) There’s life out there, but it’s LESS advanced than we are. Maybe they don’t even have telescopes. Why do we assume that they must be super-advanced and capable of space travel in order to exist at all?
3) The checklist of planets to contact and visit is so long, they’re nowhere near us yet. We’re somewhere near the bottom of page 14,000,000,000. Again, that’s IF they have even the slightest idea we exist. That thought so diminishes us, I don’t think some people can deal with it.
Bottom line- the fact that no one has contacted us does not prove they’re not out there. We mistake our self awareness for our importance to the entire cosmos.