Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T07:08:55.525Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Information-driven societies and Fermi's paradox

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2013

Michael Lampton
Michael Lampton*
Affiliation:
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA e-mail: mlampton@SSL.berkeley.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Fermi's paradox is founded on the idea that one or more Galactic extraterrestrial civilizations (ETCs) existed long ago and sustained exploration for millions of years, but in spite of their advanced knowledge, they could not find a way to explore the Galaxy other than with fleets of starships or self replicating probes. Here, I question this second assumption: if advanced technology generally allows long-distance remote sensing, and if ETCs were motivated by gaining information rather than conquest or commerce, then such voyages would be unnecessary, thereby resolving Fermi's paradox.

Keywords

extraterrestrial civilizationsFermi's paradoxinformation societies
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , October 2013 , pp. 312 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bezsudnov, I. & Snarskii, A. (2010). Where is everybody? – wait a moment… new approach to the Fermi paradox. Preprint, arXiv:1007.2774.Google Scholar
Bjoerk, R. (2007). Exploring the Galaxy using space probes. Intl. J. Astrobiology. 6 #2, 89–93. Preprint, arXiv:astro-ph/0701.238.Google Scholar
Brin, G.D. (1983). The great silence – the controversy concerning extraterrestrial intelligent life. Q. J. R. Astron. Soc. 24, 283–309.Google Scholar
Carroll, S. (2004). Why is the universe accelerating?Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics Series 2, ed. Freedman, W.L., Cambridge University Press; Preprint, arXiv:astro-ph/0310342.Google Scholar
Cotta, C. & Morales, A. (2009). A computational analysis of galactic exploration with space probes: implications for the Fermi paradox. J. Br. Interplan. Soc. 62, 82–88.Google Scholar
Haqq-Misra, J. & Baum, S.D. (2009). The sustainability solution to the Fermi paradox. J. Br. Interplan. Soc. 62, 47–71.Google Scholar
Hart, M. (1975). Explanation for the absence of extraterrestrials on Earth. Q. J. R. Astron. Soc. 16, 128–135.Google Scholar
Komatsu, E. et al. (2011). Seven-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) observations: cosmological interpretation. Astrophys. J. Suppl. 192:18, 1–47. Preprint, arXiv:1001.4538.Google Scholar
Landis, G.A. (1998). The Fermi paradox: an approach based on percolation theory. J. Br. Interplan. Soc. 51, 163–166.Google Scholar
Maccone, C. (2010). The statistical Fermi paradox. J. Br. Interplan. Soc. 63, 222–239.Google Scholar
Newman, W.L. & Sagan, C. (1981). Galactic civilizations – population dynamics and interstellar diffusion. Icarus 46, 293–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prantzos, N. (2013). A joint analysis of the Drake equation and the Fermi paradox. Int. J. Astrobiol., Preprint, arXiv: 1301.6411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sagan, C. (1963). Direct contact among galactic civilizations by relativistic interstellar spaceflight. Planet. Space Sci. 11, 485–499.Google Scholar
Sagan, C. & Newman, W. (1983). The solipsist approach to extraterrestrial intelligence. Q. J. R. Astron. Soc. 24, 113–121.Google Scholar
Shostak, S. (2009). Boldly going nowhere, NewYork Times, 14 April 2009.Google Scholar
Tegmark, M. (1997). On the dimensionality of spacetime. Class. Quant. Gravit. 14, L69–L75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tipler, F. (1980). Extraterrestrial intelligent beings do not exist. Q. J. R. Astron. Soc. 21, 267–281.Google Scholar
Webb, S. (2002). Where is everybody?. Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox. Copernicus Books, New York.Google Scholar
Wiley, K. (2011). The Fermi paradox, self-replicating probes, and the interstellar transportation bandwidth. Preprint, arXiv:1111.6131.Google Scholar