The subject of my latest podcast is the Great Filter Hypothesis, where I discuss the subject with Robin Hanson – the man who proposed it back in 1998. This proposed resolution to the Fermi Paradox (aka. “where are all the aliens?”) basically states that if like is so ubiquitous in our Universe (and we have every reason to think it is), then there must be “a great filter between death and expanding lasting life.”
In other words, the reason we aren’t seeing advanced alien civilizations is that there’s something that prevents life from reaching an advanced, installer phase. What could that be? And as Hanson asks in his original paper, “how far along this filter are we?” We also got into his more recent study that places estimates on when we might actually hear from an advanced civilization.
Where to Listen:
Stories by Williams 