We are always excited about the idea of discovering aliens. As much as it sounds thrilling, the Dark Forest Theory speaks otherwise. According to it, we should pray that aliens will never find us, as it will likely increase our chances of getting wiped off entirely.
The Milky Way
When we look at space, the Milky Way consists of 200 billion stars and almost 100 billion planets. If these planets harbored even a fraction of life, an intelligent being of some other form, the chances of our galaxy teeming with alien civilizations are high. Interestingly, the Drake equation determines the probability of finding out the number of alien civilizations the galaxy consists of. It turns the factors mentioned above into variables. And transforming them into a formula, you will find that there should be around 20 civilizations in the cosmic neighborhood.
In other words, there is a high possibility that someone is outside us. It increases the chance of finding out advanced civilizations in space. However, the lack of evidence is called the Fermi paradox. And it has created numerous hypotheses and potential solutions over time.
In the Drake equation, the solutions are targeted toward a singular variable that reduces the number of civilizations. It is one reason that makes it difficult for us to come to the point of meeting someone.
Others believe there may not be any life apart from us. The creation of intelligence is the bottleneck. Some believe civilizations may have only survived for a brief period, coming to an end by blowing themselves up. Or they must have failed to develop any device that could help them connect with us.
The Dark Forest Solution
According to The Dark Forest Solution, we haven’t heard from the aliens until now because they are keeping quiet.
The universe is nothing less than a dark forest potentially filled with other life forms, probably looking for survival. They don’t want to become a target of threat and, therefore, might destroy the other life form in the fear or concern of saving themselves. Since humans lack assurance, it is best to prevent knowing others from finding out about our existence.
Takeaway
If you are a science fiction fan and want to read something extremely interesting, read The Fourth Signal by Mark Daniel Proulx. It is based on all things alien, strange happenings, and conspiracies. The author also explains how not allowing aliens to know about our existence can be the right choice for humanity. Although we have been broadcasting our presence for almost a hundred years, we haven’t heard anything. The question remains, should we continue to do it?