mellowtigger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mellowtigger) wrote2009-12-30 08:38 am
mellowtigger) wrote2009-12-30 08:38 am
sustainability solves a paradox
We haven't even adopted it as our paradigm yet, and it's already solving problems. ;)
A month ago, I told readers here about my idea that the reason we haven't encountered aliens yet is because they're hiding until we prove our ability to adopt a sustainable lifestyle.
In flights of fancy, I also easily wonder if other spacefaring civilizations wait to see the outcome of this very decision before they make contact. Species that opt for perpetual growth, after all, would need to use resources outside their native star system. Enforcing isolation seems a very efficient way to let unrestrained species burn themselves out (by destroying the ecosphere of their homeworld) without endangering the rest of the galactic neighborhood.
- http://mellowtigger.livejournal.com/118559.html
For those unfamiliar with the Fermi paradox, it's a logical argument about the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations. The paradox is a result of a contradiction: there is a high probability that other civilizations are out there, and yet we have failed to detect any trace of their existence. How can we appear to be "first" in the universe when that status would be so unlikely as to be impossible?
I learned yesterday on National Public Radio that some scientists back in June explored the idea that sustainability is the solution to the Fermi paradox. They point out that the paradox assumes exponential growth.
Amen! They're preaching to the choir, here. It remains to be seen if there is actually intelligent civilization on earth.
A month ago, I told readers here about my idea that the reason we haven't encountered aliens yet is because they're hiding until we prove our ability to adopt a sustainable lifestyle.
In flights of fancy, I also easily wonder if other spacefaring civilizations wait to see the outcome of this very decision before they make contact. Species that opt for perpetual growth, after all, would need to use resources outside their native star system. Enforcing isolation seems a very efficient way to let unrestrained species burn themselves out (by destroying the ecosphere of their homeworld) without endangering the rest of the galactic neighborhood.
- http://mellowtigger.livejournal.com/118559.html
For those unfamiliar with the Fermi paradox, it's a logical argument about the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations. The paradox is a result of a contradiction: there is a high probability that other civilizations are out there, and yet we have failed to detect any trace of their existence. How can we appear to be "first" in the universe when that status would be so unlikely as to be impossible?
I learned yesterday on National Public Radio that some scientists back in June explored the idea that sustainability is the solution to the Fermi paradox. They point out that the paradox assumes exponential growth.
Drawing on insights from the sustainability of human civilization on Earth, we propose that faster-growth may not be sustainable on the galactic scale. If this is the case, then there may exist ETI that have not expanded throughout the galaxy or have done so but collapsed. These possibilities have implications for both searches for ETI and for human civilization management. ...
Collectively, these possibilities suggest the "Sustainability Solution" to the Fermi Paradox: The absence of ETI observation can be explained by the possibility that exponential growth is not a sustainable development pattern for intelligent civilizations.
- http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/0906.0568
Collectively, these possibilities suggest the "Sustainability Solution" to the Fermi Paradox: The absence of ETI observation can be explained by the possibility that exponential growth is not a sustainable development pattern for intelligent civilizations.
- http://lanl.arxiv.org/abs/0906.0568
Amen! They're preaching to the choir, here. It remains to be seen if there is actually intelligent civilization on earth.