Space is big. That’s where everybody is. If our very first radio transmission ever was strong enough to remain detectable in space (which it wasn’t, not even close, we weren’t hitting things that hard until early in the 20th century) less than 1% of the Milky Way galaxy could detect we’re here. And we don’t have the technology to be able to detect ourselves from more than about 20 light years away.
It would be sad if were were alone. It’s a big universe, what a waste of space to only have one marginally intelligent species in it.
Waste of space? By whose standards? Jody Foster? I don’t find it sad at all. I am in awe of a God that can create this vastness of space. He can do with it what he wishes, not ours.
There are well over 16,000 known extra-terrestrial species in the Milky Way alone.
I know this as a fact because it is in my book.
We announced ourselves to the galaxy in 1945 to the early seventies. Nuclear explosions send a burst of gamma rays into space. An intelligent species would pick this up and know what it is. The first atomic test was in 1945. Thus our signal to the galaxy is about 79 light years. The diameter of our galaxy is about 100,000 light years.
Time is big too.
Given the size of the universe and the fact that we’ve been around for a tiny blip of time, what are the odds that two life forms with different origins are close to each other at the same time?