The Fermi Paradox

It was a busy day at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Enrico, the Italian American main character of our story, finally got some free time to get lunch with his colleagues. Forcing his mind into the conversation his mates- Emil, Helbert, and Edward were having, he realizes they were talking of the existence of the unknown. His mind races as he blurts out… “Where is everybody?” -– Enrico Fermi, physicist, 1950 Have you had that eerie feeling when home alone? At first, you’re excited that there is no one to boss you around, you have free will to do pretty much anything, but a couple hours in- the dead silence sinks in. Previously seen in my blog- The Search for Life: The Unlikely Chance of Being Alone in the Vast Universe. We talked about some statistical facts about aliens. Mathematically, us being alone in this universe is close to impossible. Then why have we not found anything? Why is it so eerily quiet? Where is everybody? Enrico asks this question in reference to the lack of knowledge we have regarding the extraterrestrial. The universe is super old, huge, and contains like a billion planets (ummm… I found stats saying that there are more than sextillion planets) then why have we found no one or why has no one found us yet? The Fermi Paradox asks a dangerous question, to the answer we know not of — yet. It is scary to think of us being alone and even scarier of not. I think of this as a feeling you get when you are in the dark alone. You’re not scared of the dark. You’re scared of what’s in it. “It’s like the universe threw a huge party and forgot to invite us — or worse, we’re the only ones who showed up.” Here’s the problem with paradoxes — the more you think about it, the more it’s hard to find an answer. There are a few theories explaining this, but nothing has been proven to be correct. The great filter- this theory states that there is a barrier in a timeline of an intelligent species- like blowing the species up with tech. We’re early- maybe life is rare. Maybe we’re the first intelligent species to be formed. We’re looking wrong- the only types of life we have seen are the ones on earth. Maybe life on other planets have different needs- such as carbon dioxide instead or oxygen. Fire instead of water. Soil instead of food. What happens now? Personally, I dislike leaving paradoxes unresolved, but curiosity must remain regarding this one. No one can truly answer it. The day we do find the answer will undoubtedly be both the most exciting and the most frightening day!

May 12, 2025 - 17:36

It was a busy day at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Enrico, the Italian American main character of our story, finally got some free time to get lunch with his colleagues. Forcing his mind into the conversation his mates- Emil, Helbert, and Edward were having, he realizes they were talking of the existence of the unknown. His mind races as he blurts out…

“Where is everybody?” -– Enrico Fermi, physicist, 1950

Have you had that eerie feeling when home alone? At first, you’re excited that there is no one to boss you around, you have free will to do pretty much anything, but a couple hours in- the dead silence sinks in.

Previously seen in my blog- The Search for Life: The Unlikely Chance of Being Alone in the Vast Universe. We talked about some statistical facts about aliens. Mathematically, us being alone in this universe is close to impossible. Then why have we not found anything? Why is it so eerily quiet? Where is everybody?

Enrico asks this question in reference to the lack of knowledge we have regarding the extraterrestrial. The universe is super old, huge, and contains like a billion planets (ummm… I found stats saying that there are more than sextillion planets) then why have we found no one or why has no one found us yet?

The Fermi Paradox asks a dangerous question, to the answer we know not of — yet. It is scary to think of us being alone and even scarier of not. I think of this as a feeling you get when you are in the dark alone. You’re not scared of the dark. You’re scared of what’s in it.

“It’s like the universe threw a huge party and forgot to invite us — or worse, we’re the only ones who showed up.”

Here’s the problem with paradoxes — the more you think about it, the more it’s hard to find an answer. There are a few theories explaining this, but nothing has been proven to be correct.

The great filter- this theory states that there is a barrier in a timeline of an intelligent species- like blowing the species up with tech.
We’re early- maybe life is rare. Maybe we’re the first intelligent species to be formed.
We’re looking wrong- the only types of life we have seen are the ones on earth. Maybe life on other planets have different needs- such as carbon dioxide instead or oxygen. Fire instead of water. Soil instead of food.
What happens now? Personally, I dislike leaving paradoxes unresolved, but curiosity must remain regarding this one. No one can truly answer it. The day we do find the answer will undoubtedly be both the most exciting and the most frightening day!