#the fermi paradox

[tshortik]

Some aliens I worked on for the game The Fermi Paradox by Anomaly Games 2/?

[sciencestyled]

The Curious Case of the Missing Aliens: A Deduction Fit for the Bizarre

There I was, seated in the familiar confines of 221B Baker Street, fingers steepled in the pose Watson has often described as my "thinking machine" at work. On this particular afternoon, I found myself wrestling with a most irritating question, one that had been gnawing at my mind for some time: where the devil are all the aliens?

Now, I know what you must be thinking. Holmes, you’ve solved all manner of convoluted criminal cases, yet here you are concerned with little green men. But allow me to enlighten you on the circumstances that led to my strange preoccupation with extraterrestrial mysteries. It all began after a most peculiar visit from an acquaintance—a certain Professor Fortescue, the kind of chap who seems to have misplaced his common sense somewhere between his study of physics and an apparent inability to tie his own shoelaces.

The man burst into my rooms, knocking over a stack of precariously balanced books that I had so carefully arranged, bellowing something about the Fermi Paradox. Naturally, I ignored him at first, believing this to be yet another nonsensical distraction from the simplicity of human reasoning. I had been in the middle of a delightful experiment involving tobacco ash and different brands of biscuits, determining the most effective combination for sustaining creative thought.

"Holmes!" he shouted. "Holmes, we should be swimming in alien civilizations by now! The numbers—the numbers, man!" He waved a chalkboard covered in indecipherable squiggles that were either equations or a summary of the man's latest nervous breakdown.

As Fortescue babbled on about the staggering number of stars in the galaxy and the inevitability of extraterrestrial life, my curiosity was reluctantly piqued. What bothered me most was not the professor's ramblings (though they were quite insufferable), but the sheer logical absurdity of it all. If the galaxy is so packed with habitable planets, where are all the letters from our cosmic neighbors asking to borrow sugar or, at the very least, demanding to know how Earth managed to produce such an utter lack of taste in popular music?

I dismissed Fortescue with a wave of the hand—he left, after knocking over my violin in an unfortunate act of clumsiness—and I proceeded to investigate. The Fermi Paradox, as it turns out, was named after some other poor soul who’d been equally perplexed by this cosmic silence. Armed with this new puzzle, I began applying my deductive reasoning to the matter.

I must say, it was quite a refreshing departure from the tedium of solving murder—really, how many times must a man be stabbed before people grow tired of it? The very idea that there could be countless civilizations out there, all hiding from us, was almost too tantalizing to ignore. I imagined alien committees gathered around in some interstellar version of Scotland Yard, flipping through dossiers of Earth’s greatest catastrophes and deciding, en masse, that we were best left to our own devices. Can’t say I blame them, really.

But the question persisted: Why? Why, with all the potential for contact, have we heard nothing? I explored every angle. Perhaps they were here but had mastered the art of invisibility. Or worse, perhaps they had simply been observing us, chuckling from behind some quantum curtain as we bumbled about our daily lives, occasionally electing disastrous political figures and creating self-driving car accidents.

And then it hit me—a realization so absurd, so bizarre, it could only be true: we were simply...uninteresting. Oh, the profound humiliation! Aliens, upon watching our species for mere moments, had probably decided Earth was the galactic equivalent of an awkward school dance where no one had quite learned the steps. Why visit a planet where the inhabitants argue over the shape of their Earth and willingly consume food labeled "gluten-free"?

The problem wasn’t that aliens were avoiding us; they were ignoring us. We were the neglected shelf at the cosmic library—a volume that had been read once, deemed thoroughly boring, and put aside to gather dust for millennia.

This conclusion, shocking as it was, led me to an irrefutable decision. Clearly, the public had to be informed of this cosmic slight. I could not sit idly by as humanity remained blissfully unaware of its standing as the galaxy’s most forgettable species. But how? How to spread the word? And then it came to me: the internet. The breeding ground of conspiracy theorists, amateur sleuths, and people with far too much time on their hands.

And so, I set about producing this video. It is my duty, after all, to enlighten the masses about the fact that we are quite possibly the universe’s least exciting discovery. Watson was dubious, of course. He always is. But that’s beside the point. In the end, the truth must be shared, no matter how painful it is.

So, dear viewer, I present to you the answer to a mystery far greater than any mere murder or scandal: why the aliens, in all their hypothetical glory, have failed to show up at our doorstep with fruit baskets or invasion plans. The truth is out there—and it’s desperately trying to avoid us.

Enjoy.

[bun-parade]

I've been learning about a lot of hard sci-fi theories lately and by far my favorite is the Dark Forest Theory of the universe.

Like, what if the reason we haven't contacted aliens despite sending signals and broadcasts from Earth into Space begging for intelligent life to respond is because THEY DON'T WANT TO BE FOUND? What if the Universe is hostile and any civilization that broadcasts that they're intelligent enough to traverse space and thus pose a risk to other civilizations is hunted down and annihilated?

What if all of our screaming into the void of space like foolish children is doing nothing but putting a target on Earth's back? Multiple technologically advanced species could be on their way to us right now through the vastness of space seeking to exterminate us before human society advances enough to travel outside our solar system?

We wouldn't know until it's too late. It could take them decades, even centuries to reach us through the vastness of Space. We wouldn't even know of their existence or their intent to wipe humans out until it's too late.

[malaisequotes]

“It is the nature of intelligent life to destroy others. Periodic extinction by natural events. Inflation hypothesis and the youngness argument. Intelligent civilizations are too far apart in space or time.”

The Fermi Paradox, Wikipedia

[thevideogamebroadcast]

Apologies for the lack of polls recently! Life got increasingly busy, but here’s a game to end that break! Some info below the cut

As a reminder, this blog still would love your submissions for different video games! They don’t have to be particularly niche, but if they are, all the power to you! This blog is about broadcasting and chatting about beloved games :) so send in your submissions! The ask is open!

Do you like aliens? Are you a big fan of simulator-style games? Do you wanna play god to a universe of unique creatures? Then The Fermi Paradox is the perfect game for you!

The Fermi Paradox is a game all about looking after and guiding a unique system of different alien species as they evolve and develop. Help them avoid extinction, develop unique societies and governments, and get them to interact- either through peace, or war.

Platforms?

The game is in early access on Steam!

Cost?

18.99, with the soundtrack available as an added 10

Personal Experience?

I’ve played this game and can say it is a wonderful game to play and knock a few hours out on. The different alien species are all wonderfully different and special in their own ways, their societies become interesting and fascinating as time goes on, and you tend to pick favorites and root for them as the game progresses.

It is a simulator game however, so I will warn you about potential repetition/feeling stuck (especially if one of your species go extinct). The game tends to combat this though, with so many unique events and experiences that leave you shocked and hook you in. I definitely enjoy that aspect, and I think you will too.

Fun facts?

The game has multiple quotes and lyrics from songs/different texts, with there even being a playlist on Spotify with all the references! Their soundtrack is also on Spotify as well, I definitely reccomend checking both out.

[im-just-kinda-here-k]

The Fermi paradox (the game) is a wild ride. Near the end of my current playthrough, a civilization known as the Rao spheres, who had gotten to their home system via a generation ship sent by the solar nomad compact (they were called something like the Rao fertility conglomerates when they sent the ship) had developed a form of rock and roll, their hyperintellingent AIs had gotten into it resulting in a rock and roll cultural revolution, as well as the resulting signals sweeping across the local star cluster and inspiring many other species.

Roughly a thousand years later, they had unlocked the secrets of instant wormhole travel, a technology that could unify all species under a utopia. But in a moment of uncharacteristic fear and xenophobia, they decided to use antimatter charges to detonate the sun of every other system in the local star cluster, making sure no interstellar invaders could slaughter them. They even blew of their ancestral system! Keep in mind up to this point they were utopian hedonists

Actually, I just remembered, their current home system wasn't their original target, they had charted course to a different system prior, and it's inhabitants promptly told them to fuck off, so I guess they do have SOME bad blood with aliens

[videogamewhales]

[ID: An image of a dolphin from The Fermi Paradox. End ID.]

Dolphin from The Fermi Paradox (2021)

[momotech764]

that first one is just an Esh from The Fermi Paradox

[tshortik]

Some aliens I worked on for the game The Fermi Paradox by Anomaly Games 1/?

[writerintheworld]

Are We Alone? (Fictional- Fermi Paradox Answer)

“We got the result back!” Manie shouted, as nine scientists came rushing toward him to see what he had found. 

“Click on it!” Dr. Kermie shouted excitedly,

He was a slim 70-year-old man who wore a white coat in which he carried a vintage iPhone 27 sticking out of the front pocket. 

As Manie moved the mouse and clicked on the planet, writing be appeared on the screen: 

Proxima Centauri B contains microscopic organisms (microbes). This planet is habitable for humans as temperatures range from 10 degrees - 20 degrees.

“Dang it! I thought this planet could contain living species, not just unicellular organisms!” Dr. Kermie said, and all the scientists nodded angrily in agreement.

“Yeah! I thought so too, I even made a bet!” Dr. Berch shouted, she was sitting near the back of the room, typing on a laptop covered in stickers. 

“Well, at least I won the bet,” Manie shouted back, and everyone started laughing. He thought that this planet would contain more too, Manie just made the bet due to everyone else thinking the opposite.  

“Welp, better luck for the next Planet,” Dr. Kermie said, clearly disappointed.

As Manie moved the mouse and clicked on the next Planet, writing appeared:

Kepler-62f contains microscopic organisms (microbes). This planet is habitable for humans as temperatures range from 10 degrees - 20 degrees.

“Hmm.. that's weird,” Manie muttered,

His research had stated that the chances of temperatures being the same are one in a billion.

“Coincidence, I guess,” Dr. Fermie said, reassuring the scientist.

As Manie moved the mouse and clicked on the next Planet, writing appeared on the screen:

Trappist 1e contains microscopic organisms (microbes). This planet is habitable for humans as temperatures range from 10 degrees - 20 degrees.

“Guys… I don’t think this is a coincidence,” a little girl said. She was with her father, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, a researcher from Harvard, who has been teaching about the Fermi Paradox. 

“That's odd,” Manie muttered, as he clicked on the next planet, the same sentence appeared:

Trappist 1f contains microscopic organisms (microbes). This planet is habitable for humans as temperatures range from 10 degrees - 20 degrees.

“Maybe there is a problem with the computer,” Manie said, while observing the computer, all the components were there. 

“But how can we be the only intelligent species in the universe?” Dr. Kermie asked, clearly upset,

“I don’t know,” Manie mumbled.

With the realization that we aren’t alone in the universe, but that there is no advanced civilization that we had hoped for. Manie couldn’t help but feel hollow. This universe is like a wasteland, with most galaxies being empty only containing stars and planets, no thoughts. 

This brings Manie to the question: Are we the first intelligent beings or the last?

[bun-parade]

I've been learning about a lot of hard sci-fi theories lately and by far my favorite is the Dark Forest Theory of the universe.

Like, what if the reason we haven't contacted aliens despite sending signals and broadcasts from Earth into Space begging for intelligent life to respond is because THEY DON'T WANT TO BE FOUND? What if the Universe is hostile and any civilization that broadcasts that they're intelligent enough to traverse space and thus pose a risk to other civilizations is hunted down and annihilated?

What if all of our screaming into the void of space like foolish children is doing nothing but putting a target on Earth's back? Multiple technologically advanced species could be on their way to us right now through the vastness of space seeking to exterminate us before human society advances enough to travel outside our solar system?

We wouldn't know until it's too late. It could take them decades, even centuries to reach us through the vastness of Space. We wouldn't even know of their existence or their intent to wipe humans out until it's too late.

[mckitterick]

in case you'd like to know more

From the Wikipedia page about the Fermi Paradox: Given the high scientific probability for alien existence, why can we find no evidence of their existence whatsoever?

[malaisequotes]

“It is too expensive to spread physically throughout the galaxy. Human beings have not existed long enough. Humans are not listening properly. Civilizations broadcast detectable radio signals only for a brief period of time.”

The Fermi Paradox, Wikipedia

[observerpix]

Reincarnation

I visited my dad this past week, and we always end up having the strangest conversations. We start off talking about why food should be good, (He thinks it's just for energy, and I'm a total foodie.) and end up talking about the meaning of life. This time, his ideas of reincarnation lit a spark in my writer brain. And I think I might end up creating a script involving the ideas he presented. So, yeah, get ready for some philosophical afterlife alien sci-fi whatnot from me in the future!

[parrotvoid]

These go hand-in-hand.

[everydayarsonist]

“alright, listen up. we haven’t left our home systems in eons, and we only came over here to help you out. we’re all going to pretend like this didn’t happen, okay? set up some system defenses and stop letting signals go outside your system, because if you draw attention to yourselves, then one of us might have to get rid of you. understand? nobody knows about anyone else, because if we knew about eachother we’d have to kill eachother.”

“Three days, August 13th, at 21:31 standard time, Earth was attacked by hostile alien forces. We defended ourselves. We did not expect to win. We also did not expect sixteen other species to show up and kick out of the snot out of the invaders.”