Where Is Everybody? - The Fermi Paradox Explained

Enrico Fermi once asked a simple question during a luncheon. 'Where is Everybody?'. Since then, scientists around the world have been scratching their heads to find an answer.

Where are all the aliens? Are we alone in the Universe? Do Aliens Exist? If you ever look up at the night sky in awe, chances are you have had some version of the questions above.

Many scientists believe we are not alone in the universe. It's probable, they say, that life could have arisen on at least some of the billions of planets thought to exist in our galaxy alone -- just as it did here on planet Earth. This basic question about our place in the Universe is one that may be answered by scientific investigations. – NASA

The Fermi paradox or Fermi's paradox, named after physicist Enrico Fermi, is the apparent contradiction between the lack of evidence and high probability estimates, for the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations.

In this episode of Journal of Things (s2e04), we are going to discuss the Fermi Paradox, Drake Equation and delve deep into the universe in search of the extraterrestrial lives, our place in the Universe, what the future holds for us, and various reasons for which we haven’t yet come in contact with other intelligent civilizations.

'Where Are All The Aliens? - The Fermi Paradox Explained'

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Music Credit:

RickLan – Royalty Free Music

Epilogue by Visager – Royalty Free Planet

Sound Effects:

Radio Static by Gowler Music

Exlipsiae – Hello Reverb

Whoosh Motron Very Low – melissapons

Video Credit:

Shuttle Launch Footage – NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Kennedy Space Centre Spaceport – NASA

Earth to Moon Flight – NASA

The Sun - NASA

Aurora Borealis from Space - NASA

AUT University – Seeing Further Into Space

Earth Pass by William Ehrendreich (CC BY 3.0)

By TEDx Talks

Earth Full View by Mattia (CC BY 3.0)

Naked Science – Angry Skies

2001: A Space Odyssey – Stargate Sequence

People walking along London Street by Simon Waldock
Creative Commons 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)

Blackpool Illumination TimeLapse by Nature Clips (CC BY 3.0)

NYC Traffic Time Lapse Night by Beachfront (CC BY 3.0)

4 Year TimeLapse of Shanghai Tower Construction – Rumble Viral

Evolution of the Personal Computer – Error 418

Beyond the Visible: The Story of The Very Large Array by The NRAO

Found the Second Earth by Real Space

Lightning Storms – Tornado Time Lapse by Open Space

Zooming into the Helix Nebula by djxatlanta

Radio Telescope by Astronomy Magazine

[NorthernDiaries]

I am currently reading this trilogy called 'The Three Body Problem' by the Chinese author Cixin Liu. It is a translated book from Mandarin. I highly recommend that book, if you're interested in extra terrestrial intelligence, technology evolution, quantum entanglement etc. I think you can get it in Amazon or even in your local library if you're in a big city.

[NorthernDiaries]

Hello everyone, I am so floored by the amount of people reached out to ask about the next episode and my well being. I am so thankful for your support. I moved to another country to start a new job. The past year had been incredibly busy, with adjusting to the new schedule and all. But slowly things are calming down. I found a coffee shop near my house, where I can write new stories and episodes. Life is normal again. You will start seeing new videos from this channel very soon. Please stay tuned. Much love - Sudharsanan

[sunofgod]

You, sir, are a born documentarian...keep up the awesome work...tons of interesting topics to cover and you cover them in an absolutely dazzlingly, thorough, simple, thought provoking and visually stimulating manner.

[bassmason]

Has anyone ever considered that maybe the life we are looking for can't be seen because it exists on a light spectrum we are incapable of seeing?
A butterfly doesn't see us due to its also limited ability to observe the entirety of the light spectrum...so does that make the butterflies reality false? If it can't see us does it mean we aren't there? If we aren't observable to the butterfly then what makes us think that there isn't a possibility that there is something invisible existing on a separate band of the light spectrum unobserved by us while we remain observable to it?
Any thoughts anyone? I may be missing something here but that's why I'm asking the question and curious to hear anyone's thoughts, counters or possible insight to what I just said?
Furthermore...how do we design a lens to observe something we light we can't see? How do we know that what we are seeing when we turn on a lens or instrument for this purpose is actually showing us what's supposed to be seen? Without having ever physically seen the unobserved light spectrums through the human eye which we can't detect with our inferior eyes, how can we rationally determine that the image we receive is even correct?
Furthermore, wouldn't the round shape of our eyes and retina paired with our brain processing that flips the image 180 degrees and "focuses" the image be deceiving us from the start (meaning everything we see is technically upside down and processed by our brain giving us the image we see right now that we believe is reality) so in turn might we possibly not even be interpreting reality correctly from the very start due to our brains instinct to rationalize and calm us so we aren't in discomfort?
Sorry if that came off confusing to anyone reading, I tried to lay that out as simple as possible.

[singingmyblue]

I love you. I wish you never stop making these videos. You're purely an artist.

[infiniteimal]

I've been looking at videos of this topic for hours now (i'm a space nerd with existencial crisis at 3:00 a.m.) and this one is by far the best one I've seen. Good job, this video gave me chills

[Yogiraj]

I always love your presentations and I'm a fan. You play a great role as an artist, a scientist, an educator and a philosopher in whatever "this" is. Thank you for being a Light.

[JckSwan]

Good video, but the background music is a bit distracting.

[videogamescausentviolence]

This video gives me chills for some reason.

[donaldbarrett]

Having had a 40 year career in film and television, I compliment you on a well structured visually engaging presentation. Keep in mind the speed of light. A civilization must be close enough to receive our television signals and hopefully can decode them. The accepted fact that we are broadcasting our presence to the universe, according to the guys at the Jet Propulsion Lab, is close to mythological. We have radar that's powerful enough to ring somebody's bell, but television signals need only be strong enough to reach the satellites that relay them back to Earth.

[Ismail-Yahya]

I really like your videos and your style of editing - would be interesting in knowing what equipment you use and what setup and tools you use 🙂

[utkarshsingh]

You are genius you are helping me understand everything so good

[royalnovember]

one thing came to mind when he mentioned the super predator theory: The Reapers from Mass Effect.

[philheaton]

Based on our own example, our solar system is about 4.5 billion years old. We have had a significant scientific civilization for, at mot, 100 years. That means that we can expect about two scientifically based civilizations in the galaxy at a time. Even if civilizations last for thousands of years, we can't expect them to be close by.

I don't see a paradox. It would be amazing if we say any signs of another civilization. Even more to the point, the number I just set out doesn't make room for Goldilocks zone planets that never developed life, never developed sentient life, had that life destroyed by a catastrophe, or that destroyed itself. There might be sentient life that doesn't feel the need to leave their planet, or that did leave their planet and decided that is wasn't worth the effort.

I would be amazed if sentient aliens are found some day. If that happens, I'm afraid for what would happen to the human race.

[kobalt]

Always well researched and very well presented .... good luck with all your endeavours my friend. :)

[SidMajors]

Good video :) maybe a few tips: I didn't really like the music and I like to hear the voice way harder than the music. Maybe make it harder in 'pauze' moments and when you talk very soft? Anyways I like the content! :)

[reowhite]

What if they are there but we are slightly out of sync with thier reality so we could be very close to them and just not see them. Could there be many many civilizations out there each existing on a slightly different spectrum of reality. And we have to evolve to point where we can not only explore space but also other realities . Or times. We may be so special that life can only exist on only one planet at a time when our time ends so begins the cycle again elsewhere and so on and so forth.

[snapperlee]

Or, maybe, because space is so vast and the distance to travel is so great that it takes 4.25 light years for the light from the nearest star to reach us.That being said, if it dies today this very second, we wouldn’t know for another 4.25
What if all the stars we see in the sky are allready gone, but because the distance is just to great, and takes all those light years for their light to reach us we just don’t know their tomorrow they start disappearing...
The only star we know to be true and actually still here is our own, the
Kinda freaky if ya think about..
I’m sure that’s not the case....well I hope anyway

[Felipe-zlrj]

Great video as always, man! The one thing I didn't understand is this part: 9:45 . How are we supose to live inside a black hole outside of spacetime? LOL. Damn, that would be pretty awesome whatever the hell that means. Is that a livable scenario? Keep the awesome job!

[dennistucker]

I have 2 solutions to the Fermi paradox. 1) We have not yet discovered any effective means of communications that works well for extreme distances. I do not believe using EM waves(light or radio) are an effective means of communications over extreme distances. 2) Normal planetary life cycles for planets that develop advanced civilizations have relatively short time periods that allow that advanced species to survive.


Like other advanced civilizations in the universe, the doomsday clock is always ticking. We do not have any chance of survival if we fail to recognize all threats against our species or fail to take the needed actions(in time) to mitigate each and every threat.