Are you relieved that aliens probably don't exist

Are you disappointed that Oxford University researchers don't think that intelligent life exists "out there" in the universe. Or just relieved. Or skeptical.

According to this article on Quartz Media about the Fermi Paradox aka "Where is everybody", Oxford University researchers submitted a paper to the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. The paper, titled "Dissolving the Fermi Paradox", basically says that other intelligent life is unlikely. I'm paraphrasing here because I'm not a physicist. The article says that there's a 53-99.6% chance that ours is the only intelligent civilization in our galaxy. But what about the rest of the observable universe, you ask. If you include that, the percentage drops to 39-85%.

In my opinion, if intelligent life did exist elsewhere, I doubt they would help us (living beings on earth, as one category). It's more likely that they destroyed themselves than never existed at all. Can the scientists ascertain whether intelligent life did exist at some point but is now all gone? Maybe it's just an act -- a vanishing act. Why would they want to be found?

Cybersecurity is a big deal these days. You can't talk about extraterrestrials without thinking about cybersecuirty. Privacy and anonymity are on everyone's minds. BTW, there's a difference between anonymous and confidential. Don't let someone trick you into believing that your words and conversation are "anonymous" even though you have to first sign up with your email address to have that conversation.

Back to why extraterrestrial intelligence would want to be found by people on Earth. Are they trying to promote themselves? That's applying today's capitalistic human mindset, of course -- you want to be found only if you're trying to sell something, exploit someone or expand your reach and influence (aka market share or prosletize). Or maybe you're seeking someone, such as a mate or an employee ... but then you'd be a seeker, with a motive.

When I first moved to New York City, my uncle (a long-time New Yorker) warned me to be wary of strangers, the subway, crime, etc. There are a lot of good people in the city, he said. And there are a lot of bad people. The difference, he warned me, is that the bad people are actively looking for you, whereas the good people mind their own business.

Maybe intelligent life would want to find us just for their own amusement (like kids touching colorful sea anenomes at an aquarium) or to fukc with us (like kids collecting starfish and cutting off a leg to see if it will regenrate) or maybe just because they can be punks (kids setting an ant on fire using a magnifying glass on the hillside and ending up inadvertently setting the hillisde in flames, with the fire department rushing in as the smoke started to drift into the valley).

If they're advanced enough to travel through space and time to reach us, why would they need our help or want our knowledge. Maybe they want our gold, which they depleted. And somehow couldn't manufacture spontaneously. Then they wouldn't be that advanced, go back to top.

My personal theory is that intelligent life, if unfindable, are pulling a hiding act. They're already here, right now, hiding in plain sight. Riding around in a giant, indestructible invisible cloak.

Image: This is an illustration I did for classwork for an architectural drawing class.