[ExI] 30 Solutions to the Fermi Paradox

[BillK]

On Wed, 17 Mar 2021 at 20:38, Dan TheBookMan via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> I read Stephen Webb’s book years ago. It has 50 ‘solutions’ in that edition, but the update now has 75!
>
> The problem with the huge distances argument is time and numbers: given enough time and enough attempts (by the same or other civilizations), you’d expect some to carry out expansion. You would unless their numbers are really low (there are no other or few space-faring civilizations) and they either don’t last or are very young. You have to explain why the numbers are so low or all space-faring civilizations are young (or both).
>
> (If the numbers of them are not low and they are not all or mostly as young or younger than ours, then you have to also explain why they all manage not to do it. Every last one, since even one capable of doing it slowly would likely colonize or visit the whole galaxy in a few hundred thousand years. Imagine, for instance, most civilizations opt to stay home, but one weird one doesn’t and that one itches to colonize everything that’s not occupied or where there’s no pushback. That one would quickly — well, less than a million years — colonize the galaxy.)
>
> But you know know all this, no?
>
> Regards, Dan
> _______________________________________________


Yes, I've heard that calculation. But I like to think about the practicalities.
Slow exploration means that the journey to the next star will exceed
the lifespan of the crew. That is not very appealing to explorers who
won't get to do any exploring.  To get round this problem, ideas like
generation ships or crew hibernation for centuries and / or vastly
increased lifespans are suggested.  None of which are very attractive.
That's why these centuries long treks could be handed over to AIs.
But interstellar ships don't come cheap. It would take planet-scale
resources to create these ships and require a planetary population to
agree to assign their resources to the project. Theoretically
possible, but would it ever actually happen?
The project plans always seem to require the box (or boxes) that say
'Magic happens here'.


BillK