Reason we've never found aliens: humans are already going extinct

[RadasNoir]

There was another theory that aliens were aware of earth but we are nowhere near advanced enough for them so we're on our own. After all, you wouldn't be aware of a singular ant from an ant colony in your garden and we're the ants in this scenario ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

I've heard a similar theory, coming from the perspective of us ants. An ant colony right next to a highway is incapable of perceiving the fact that they are right next to a highway, since they aren't intelligent enough. Likewise, it's possible that there is evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life staring at us in the face, but we're still not yet advanced enough to perceive it. Like Stone-age level tribesman living in an isolated part of the world unable to realize that there are radio transmissions between more technologically-advanced cultures traveling over their heads.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Humans just don't have anything they could gain from nor can we hurt any of them. For the most part I would say humans would be mostly ignored by advanced civilization for those two reasons. I mean I doubt a ship flying by the solar system would stop in and be like "oh shit you know you can burn dead animals and planets to make steam to turn a turbine to move a magnet to make electric power!!!?!?!?!?!! Lets go down there and give them interstellar technology for the how to book on that shit!!!!"

[Deleted]

I'll still hold on to my Star Ocean's UP3 theory.

[Dr Assbandit]

I've heard a similar theory, coming from the perspective of us ants. An ant colony right next to a highway is incapable of perceiving the fact that they are right next to a highway, since they aren't intelligent enough. Likewise, it's possible that there is evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life staring at us in the face, but we're still not yet advanced enough to perceive it. Like Stone-age level tribesman living in an isolated part of the world unable to realize that there are radio transmissions between more technologically-advanced cultures traveling over their heads.

Pretty much. Not to mention we are aware of there being more than 3 dimensions while only being able to perceive an imprint of a shadow a 4th dimensional object would leave, so anything beyond 3 dimensions is literally incomprehensible to us as it currently stands.

There are so many factors and our knowledge is so very limited if you think about it. Trying to explain computers or smartphones to someone far in the past would be literally impossible for them to grasp unless you showed it to them. Something technology wise or even physics wise that seems impossible to us today might not be tomorrow.

[Granyala]

It may very well be that there is no way of FTL travel or FTL communication. If that is the case, it's quite likely that the distances between populated worlds alone are enough to effectively isolate them for the entire life cycle of any civilization.

[Deleted]

The biggest dissapointment would be that aliens would turn out to be humans as well and that we are just decendants of some shipwrecked crew.

Xenogears intensifies...

[Deleted]

Reason we've never found aliens: Aliens do not exist.

[bufferunderrun]

Plenty of people love animals that could kill them.

ok but why everyone think they are some sort of ghandi? i mean everyone i know who think there are aliens is convinced they are good and won't harm humanity, wtf?

What happen if they really come and are a bellicose civilization and enslave us ? there is no way to claim alien exist and even less to claim that if they exist they are good like ET or bastard like the Predators.

[purebalance]

But remember that we are isolated from them by vast distances in all four dimensions. That's the most likely resolution of Fermi's "paradox".

And yes, we don't know what the average lifespan of an advanced civilisation is, if there is one. That's one of the components of the Drake equation I think.

This. Until a group of beings determine a way to beat the distance factor, there's really no way to interact unless they're in this galaxy or solar system at best. Even communication is not really a consideration unless in this galaxy given what we know in terms of light.

So unless they or we can move through space in a more expedient manner, meeting won't happen.

[Wolfman31]

The real reason aliens haven't made contact is that they've intercepted our broadcast signals and don't like what they see. Between politics and the Kardashians, I'd stay the fuck away too.

[Mormolyce]

This. Until a group of beings determine a way to beat the distance factor, there's really no way to interact unless they're in this galaxy or solar system at best. Even communication is not really a consideration unless in this galaxy given what we know in terms of light.

So unless they or we can move through space in a more expedient manner, meeting won't happen.

Another possibility: if life really is plentiful then we aren't that special so the Great Spacefaring Civilisation of the Perseus Arm isn't in any great hurry to catalogue "sub interstellar primitive culture #344".

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Reason we've never found aliens: Aliens do not exist.

I looked in my backyard all day, never found any. Even went down the road to the shops to be sure. Aliens definitely do not exist.

[Shadowferal]

It never fails to amuse and disgust me that those that claim scientific impossibility, simply refuse to realize the limitations that they've just stated.

[Darsithis]

You are ignoring a whole slew of other factors:

- Humanity may simply be the first to emerge.
- The Earth has been through no less than 5, if not more extinction-level events.
- The configuration of the Sol system can be unique, offering us protection and in turn giving us time for complex life to evolve.

there are many, many more.

I doubt number 3, at least. With the incredible number of stars and planets in just our galaxy - requiring mathematical abstraction to comprehend - no matter how "unique" the Sol system is, there has to be others like it, others with belts, with "sweet spot" orbits. We can't be the only one in all of that.

[Doctor Amadeus]

Because Aliens like Big Foot and a lot of other faiths, don't exist just because people tell you a story. They might exist, but their is no clear objective evidence of such.

Conjecture is not evidence.

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Reason we've never found aliens: Aliens do not exist.

This distinction eludes most people because despite the reality of the fact we have no evidence, the conjecture is well it's highly likely that we would or do, THAT IS NOT EVIDENCE.

[Banshee Prince]

This is why nobody takes climate change seriously. They'd have us believe aliens don't want anything to do with us because we're 'extinct' in their eyes.

Silly kids. Maybe it's time we got rid of some of these nutjobs.

[Hell-Nicø]

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...01/243/083/519

(Infracted) - Minor Spam

Wait, so now a perfectly adequate reaction image is considered "minor spam"?

Or is it just some misplaced anti pepe bias?

[Phookah]

"Us" going extinct or not would have nothing to do with aliens finding us or not. That doesn't even follow.

[Khadgar]

There's gotta be life on these Kepler Planets, aka Earth's cousin, too bad there lightyears away

[Fargus]

- The configuration of the Sol system can be unique, offering us protection and in turn giving us time for complex life to evolve.

Unique?

In a galaxy where scientists estimate there's at least one planet orbiting every sun?

Where there'd be billions of planets in this galaxy alone?

I don't think so.

[Zecora]

The most certain sign that there is intelligent life beyond Earth, is that no-one has contacted us.

-Put differently, we might be so destructive, so rude and uncultured, so barbarian that we're viewed as a plague. We're the galactic equivalent of a "bad neighborhood", that will be "cut back" if it tries to spread out.

I honestly couldn't blame them.