Posted on 04/07/2015 10:29:47 AM PDT by BenLurkin
During the walk to the Fuller Lodge, the physicists discussed a recent spate of UFO sightings, and a cartoon in the New Yorker Magazine depicting aliens and a flying saucer. Although the topic of conversation moved on as the group sat down for lunch, Edward Teller recalls in the middle of the conversation, Fermi came out with the quite unexpected question Where is everybody? The result of his question was general laughter because of the strange fact that in spite of Fermis question coming out of the clear blue, everybody around the table seemed to understand at once that he was talking about extraterrestrial life.
In his account of the famed luncheon, Teller wrote I do not believe much came from this conversation, except perhaps a statement that the distances to the next location of living beings may be very great and that, indeed, as far as our galaxy is concerned, we are living somewhere in the sticks, far removed from the metropolitan area of the galactic center.
York recalled a somewhat more expansive discussion in which Fermi followed up with a series of calculations on the probability of earthlike planets, the probability of life given an earth, the probability of humans given life, the likely rise and duration of high technology, and so on. He concluded on the basis of these calculations that we ought to have been visited long ago and many times over.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
They are not visiting us to study us, we are the garbage dump of the universe...
Some have a hard time grasping that this the only planet with intelligent life.
There may be others out there — but we’re not likely to ever meet them.
Nope.
Interesting observation - not sure upon what, perhaps other than cynicism, it is based, though...
Ah yes, the smug certainty that you know everything. Any scientifically literate person who has any other response than “we have no way of knowing” is delusional.
...already?
The distances are beyond incomprehensibly vast
and humans with writing
have been here only for a geologic ‘second’.
I heard from a comic a while back poking fun at all the UFO’ers.
Have you been to all umpteen katrillion planets to verify your statement ?
Provide evidence of said “grasping” that you have done.
I just had to...
umpteen katrillion planets
I have to disagree. There are umpteen katrillion planets plus one.
5.56mm
You remind me of the people who wanted to close the patent office after in the late 1800’s because everything was already invented, after all we had the steam engine!
Has you ever considered we may not know everything there is to know about math and science? And FTL travel may exist? (and is already been proven mathematically to be possible)
Besides, Bob Lazar told everyone the government already has alien spacecraft with gravity-propulsion systems, and I believe him (seriously, I do)
The problem with Fermi’s paradox is it ignores just how big space really is. Assuming our earliest radio transmissions (first thing we ever did that could be detected by extraterrestrials) are out there in a readable form right now they’ve covered less than 1% of the galaxy. So “they” could simply be in the other 99% of the galaxy and haven’t had the chance to hear us yet.
Okay.
When do you or I get to meet one?
Read the book.
The galaxy center may not be livable. The stars are too close together and radiation levels may be too high.
Well, then ... the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob picked an odd place for the restoration of the universe to be centered, with the Messiah of Israel coming back to earth and setting up his Kingdom which will last forevermore, right here on earth.
He sets it up in a garbage dump ... eh?! ... LOL ...
Read the book.
It’s all in the book.
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