Fermi Paradox: The Impossible Earth hypothesis

Is Earth impossible? An exploration of the impossible earth hypothesis and its implications on science and existence.

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[tayzonday]

Our only exit into an interstellar future with known physics is to master timescales beyond a human lifespan. We either need to genetically engineer our sentience to last for millions of years, or build sentient machines that can last that long.

[TheSCPStudio]

I wholeheartedly believe that the rarity of life is entirely relative. Meaning it may seem rare to us but in the grand scale of things, there could be a universe teeming with advanced life. For example, if two ant hills are 100 miles apart, it would seemingly be impossible for an ant to travel to or experience the other anthill in any way. But if you hop in an airplane, the 100 mile distance between the anthills would seem almost inconsequential from that perspective.

I think it’s the same for the universe as a whole. Earth is an anthill and there may be another anthill out there, so far we can’t even imagine seeing it. But if we could ‘zoom out’ our perspective, we would see our two species closer together than they are in their own perspective.

[NoPulseForRussians]

To be alive and experience consciousness for any amount of time here on this planet is a true gift. We get to observe this wonder that made us. We get to stare right back at the very matter that created everything we know and see. That bends the mind to think about too deeply but every second of life is a true gift here in this universe.

[colinp]

The Fermi Paradox could be a misconception. Our search for life in the Universe seems to be more our search for life like us, so maybe aliens are doing the same, searching for life similar to their own. This would be like arranging a meeting between two people living thousands of miles apart and stating a time but not being specific to which time zone is being referenced. Both parties are right but both are also wrong, and never meet up.

[Psychoactive]

I think there are two factors which may explain the Fermi paradox.
1. The odds of a rocky world forming at exactly the right distance around the right kind of star are much slimmer then we realize.
2. The odds of environmental factors allowing for more complex stages of life to emerge are even slimmer. And the odds decrease the more complex you go.
So if you were to find life on other planets, the odds are it would be of the most basic kind like Bacteria. In contrast, sentient technology producing lifeforms like ourselves are the rarest kind.

[mrEofPlanetEarth]

I don't like how when people talk about there being infinite copies of earths and even us, they usually neglect to mention the "close copies". So refreshing to hear John mention these.

[stevenbecker]

"Rare Earth" doesn't necessarily mean that we're utterly alone in the entire universe, just that intelligence may be rare enough that there's essentially no hope of ever contacting - or even detecting - another advanced civilization. Across the vastness of the universe with it's sextillions of star systems, I'd personally be surprised if Earth were the only place that intelligence or even life itself arose. But unless other life is within a few hundred light years of us, we'll probably never know it (unless of course it comes to us). And intelligent life (and perhaps life itself) is probably rarer than that. I'd love for that to be wrong, but there's no evidence to the contrary at present.

Of course if the universe is actually infinite, as some cosmologists think, it's a near certainty that there's other life out there, and lots of it. But it would still be too far away for us to know it.

[happyhammer]

Being alone is the most terrifying prospect to me. That means we, as the only technological species there is are the vanguard of life. I'm not misanthropic or a self loathing human like a lot of people. I do think we have made great strides in being better stewards of the land, but if we are the only ones, if this planet is that special, we have the ultimate responsibility.

[trickvro]

The point about life possibly spawning on Mars and then spreading to Earth raises a really interesting question—if we find life on, say, Europa, how would we determine whether it's distantly related to us or just happened to arise independently? That would be a really cool video topic!

[sam_s_]

I really wanted his coffee analogy to turn into a slick sponsored ad.

[isaacbruner]

To me the simplest explanation to the Fermi Paradox is that extraterrestrial civilizations are common, but the universe is so big that communication, let alone travel, between civilizations is impossible on the timescales that these civilizations exist.

[bipolarminddroppings]

Would just like to say that in Star Trek, at least, replicated food and drink doesn't come for free. When the ship is low on anti-matter reserves, like Voyager was at points, replicators were rationed and they had to eat mostly real food and drinks.

I always liked that touch, no matter how implausible replicators are.

[marcocraine]

"There is no free cup of coffee." Of all the existential fears induced by discussions on the Fermi paradox, this one somehow hit hardest.

[hdufort]

I'm glad that the question of available phosphorus is brought up more often. Without phosphorus it is difficult to build a DNA or RNA equivalent, although there could of course be completely different chemistries out there.

[ZER--]

Arthur C Clarke said something like "We are either alone in the universe or we're not. Either possibility is quite frightening." Loving your videos.

[LAMPROS]

"Perfectly tuned" for me is that you uploaded your video about an hour before I woke up in the morning to have my coffee and prepare myself for school (where I work as a teacher for children with autism-some of them obsessed with space, actually.). Greetings from Greece, John, and thank you.

[BlackPilledWhite]

You could say that it is nearly impossible but at the same time you have to think about the fact that the earth has endured 5 major extinction events and all five times earth has been repopulated with flora and fauna. I believe that is not figured in as a variable in the Fermi Paradox.

[davifiks]

I can imagine a alien civilization observing Earth and saying that the planet is probably unsuitable for complex life because is too small and would have almost none atmosphere and tectonism, and because of the moon being so big, it would suffer tidal effects that would not make possible to terrestrial life to exist, and that is a funny scenario. (ps: sorry for my english)

[remygallardo]

Something I enjoy thinking about when considering the possibility that we are either alone or exceedingly rare is whether it is morally good for us to colonize and seed life in hospitable zones or morally bad because it would prevent the potential for abiogenesis to occur. Regardless of the answer our desire to not be alone is sufficiently strong enough that I feel inevitably we would create other intelligent life if only to have a companion or opponent and give ourselves further purpose.

[madhamish]

Wow…the freakiest thing happened when watching this one! At 6:30 when JMG says “and time stops” my video froze…I thought it was part of the video for about 5 seconds until the “No connection” warning popped up! 🤣 Seems the internet gremlins have a sense of dramatic timing…