Thursday, December 3, 2015

Burst 10 - Nick Nielsen on the Wilderness Hypothesis



Released: 3 December 2015
Duration: 13 minutes, 43 seconds

Download the .mp3

Is the cosmos a trackless wilderness in which apex predators, in the form of advanced extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs), roam at will, and vulnerable civilizations (like ours) learn to maintain a low profile? Nick Nielsen considers some variations on the theme of the 'zoo hypothesis' of John Ball, each being a response to the Fermi paradox, and how we might prefer to 'play dead' as a civilization given the potential dangers of the cosmos primeval.


Links

The Zoo Hypothesis by John Ball (PDF)
The Wilderness Hypothesis post at the Grand Strategy Annex
Another Astrobiological Thought Experiment and a Comment Response
If the Universe is Teeming with Aliens, Where is Everybody?
Observational Signatures of Self Destructive Civilizations
The Cosmos Primeval

Credits

Writer and Presenter: Nick Nielsen
Producer: Paul Carr
Music: Jason Robinson


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