[ExI] fermi paradox- weighted summary

[spike]

> bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Rafal Smigrodzki
> ...
> 
> If you need 2 million years to travel to the nearest star, don't
> bother to go: somebody else will be there before you... Rafal


That isn't clear Rafal, but even if so, why is that necessarily a problem?
If some intelligent space traveling life form had arrived on this planet any
time before about 50 kiloyears before present, they would have had little
conflict with the life forms that were already here.  A sufficiently
advanced life form could perhaps coexist peacefully and even undetected
among current life on earth.

Regarding the Fermi Paradox, one could speculate thus: until very recently,
intelligent life on this planet had not even a foggy concept of the
technology required or the barriers involved in interstellar travel and
communications.  It could be that we are not quite there in imagining the
reasons why it apparently isn't done.  

Another explanation for the FP is that advanced civilizations do communicate
with each other, but do not broadcast signals radially.  Rather they would
beam the signals via laser, which would not be detected by unintended
recipients unless two stars were nearby and almost perfectly aligned with
our star.  I know of no such cases.

spike