[ExI] fermi paradox just got worse

[Adrian Tymes]

On Mon, Aug 10, 2026 at 8:35 AM John Clark via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> you have to assume there is EXACTLY 100% agreement between every intelligent entity in the observable universe about the wisdom of making a von Neumann probe

Caveat: "...every intelligent entity in the observable universe that
is capable of creating a working von Neumann probe...".

I observe that the vast majority of observed intelligent entities on
Earth lack this capability, and would continue to lack it for their
entire lives even if they desired to do so (and gained a functional
understanding of the concept of a von Neumann probe, no matter what
they called it).

This is not all of the intelligent entities on Earth, but far more
than enough to invalidate your phrasing without this additional
qualification.  That still leaves enough intelligent entities to be a
problem, but substantially dials back the magnitude of the problem.