Where are the aliens? | Tim Urban and Lex Fridman

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GUEST BIO:
Tim Urban is the author and illustrator of the popular blog 'Wait But Why'.

PODCAST INFO:

SOCIAL:

[VisionaryVet]

Time separates civilizations more than distance .

[stoneylonesome]

Lex needs to have John Michael Godier on to talk astronomy, science fiction and speculations of alien life and the Fermí paradox.

[tylerthompson]

You could equate it to how Orcas can’t communicate with us even though they’re clearly capable of communicating with each other on a much deeper level.

[C.Fecteau-AU-MJ]

"They Live was a documentary." Rowdy Roddy Piper.

[sleeplosangeles]

I’ll have a crazy thought, and see something in the corner of my eye. Could be a dust particle,
Most likely a very tiny spaceship.

[Petequinn]

Distance..I think it's that simple

[damonm]

Seems like this is lex’s # 1 question. It’s a good one🍻🍻🍻

[michaelwashington]

Maybe the UFO sightings we see are more so them trying to communicate, not necessarily physical live objects.

[LouCyfr]

I just hope I'm alive long enough til when our planet comes into contact of another civilization

[ColbyBlack]

I’ve thought something similar to Lex. What if earth is the organism and us wondering why no aliens are talking to us would be similar to the bacteria in our gut wondering why they are alone in my universe and no other species are trying to communicate with them, when really they are a part of the larger organism that gets communicated with independent of them.

[kilenum]

Great podcast! Can you please get Brian Cox on.

[sidesplitters]

Question: "Where are the Aliens" Answer: 02:47 The most extrapolated way of saying "we don't know" ever.

[tonyfoggia]

Maybe aliens are here and they're moving so fast that we can't perceive them. And from their perspective we're barely moving. That was a plot on Star Trek but I think it's possible.

[mohammadbehdad]

It's not about individuals even crashed members of their own species would be left alone to fend for themselves It's about letting humans make their own choices and suffering or being rewarded for their own actions

[Austinite]

One needs to consider the seemingly abstract possibility that life in a certain form exists in different frequencies. Some call these frequencies dimensions making this life possibly inter dimensional. I saw something 35 years ago that makes me question reality and the fabric we think it is made of.

[sinPi]

Thanks Tim, for citing the MC paper, and for offering a rare counter argument to Lex's argument "we're too stupid to perceive alien communication".

@LexFridman, we, in 2022, can very well communicate w/ indigenous ppl w/ smoke signals if need be. We communicate w/ other animal species all the time, we taught gorillas sign language for crying out loud. So, a super intelligent civ. who wants to communicate w/ us will find a way. The lack of alien comm, imho, means one of 2 things:
1. They don't wanna communicate /w us just yet, we're just too aggressive of a species, and we're not wise enough. Wisdom is not a freebie that comes w/ an arbitrary degree of intelligence or advanced technology. They also may not give a crap about us. How much do u hear ppl in the US talking about or caring about daily events in 3rd world countries? Vast majority of Americans wouldn't know what is Ghana.
2. As was stated in the MC paper, we might be the only advanced civ. in this galaxy. Another paper concluded that we may be too early, universe might be too hot, and our sun is not a typical star. This possibility includes the great filter scenario being behind us, e.g. (from another paper) phosphorous, albeit common in this solar system, is quite rare otherwise. Phosphorous might be the only element that enables cells to store and cycle energy, allowing more complex cellular lifeforms, otherwise u end up w/ viruses, simple organisms.

[TeacherMom]

Very good points, guys -- I love this clip! 🤗

[needmetal]

We always think of aliens as having humanoid characteristics. What if they dont have eyes, legs, DNA etc?

[JP]

Is it possible that if another life form was too intelligent that we couldn't communicate because our technology is too far behind, then is the opposite also true that our technology is too far behind for them to communicate with us using our tech? So sort of an inverse of our problem?
Just a thought

[alanmckinnon]

My own gut feel is "Life is ubiquitous, intelligence is rare."

I can't explain why I think this, one day the thought popped into my head and it won't go away. At least we know it is true for Earth at lease