tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7480207999294007243.post5043155767708486228..comments2024-03-28T04:18:16.323-04:00Comments on The Liberal Pulpit: Fermi and the Nature of Intelligent LifeRev. Meredith Garmonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09600609816550758194noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7480207999294007243.post-32778495146653492312014-06-20T14:45:07.058-04:002014-06-20T14:45:07.058-04:00So maybe ET gave us a fly-by, back before we had t...So maybe ET gave us a fly-by, back before we had the ability to detect them, but either they didn't land, or, if they did, they didn't leave behind any trace that our current tech would have much likelihood of discovering. Is that it?Meredith Garmonhttp://www.liberalpulpit.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7480207999294007243.post-28502296822765014362014-06-20T13:22:46.518-04:002014-06-20T13:22:46.518-04:00Great summary of the Fermi Paradox, including one ...Great summary of the Fermi Paradox, including one of the most frequently given resolutions. Actually, at least 50 answers to the Fermi Paradox have been proposed ("Where Is Everybody: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life" by Stephen Webb, Praxis, 2002), and Dirk Schulze-Makuch and offered what we consider the 5 most plausible explanations in our book ("Cosmic Biology: How Life Could Evolve on Other Worlds, Praxis, 2011) on pp. 289-292. In brief summary, I believe that the low density of technologically capable life (despite its large absolute numbers) in combination with the vast distances between habitable planets and narrow time window within which we have been able to recognize alien visitors accounts for the 'apparent' lack of evidence for life on other worlds. Our analogy is the failure of discovery of the Hawaiian Islands for more than 1500 years after their colonization by technologically-advanced Europeans capable of ocean voyaging.Louis Irwinnoreply@blogger.com