Posted by Bob on 7/30/2007, 5:20 am, in reply to "Re: Fermi's Paradox, Cosmology, and, Are We Alone?" He scaled his parameters down to what he believed were the minimum, and still concluded that, by now, every planet in the galaxy should have been colonized. Given recent advances in technology, one might also assume that ancient extraterrestrial civilizations would, by now, have constructed un-"manned" space ships that would serve as observation and communication platforms, which would be orbitng every planet in the galaxy, and sending signals back to the "home" planet. This corresponds somewhat to the "zoo" theory. But a very intriguing possibility is described in another post in this thread. All techno-civilizations may inevitably reach the point of self-bionizing, that is, the creatures may incorporate their technology into their bodies, and cease to be driven primarily by biological imperatives. Without those imperatives, the creatures may lose all interest in colonization. That we are ourselves are so close to doing this (albeit in very primitive early stages) makes plausible the idea that this is a universal feature of technological creatures everywhere. If these creatures come to see the universe in a radically different perspective than we do--- for example, concluding that the universe is primarily composed of thought, or other ideas we consider abstract--- then we might be unable to make any assessments of their motivations. It is, as you say, all speculation at this point. Of more immediate concern is the question of where our own society is headed in the next few years. It is frighteningly possible that at some future point, a consortium of powerful interests could effectively seize control of all (or most of) the world's resources, control all information flow, and thereby establish a worldwide oligarchy that might be benevolent or not. That people of Fermi's caliber have given serious consideration to such questions is sobering.
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Of course it is all speculation, but Fermi did apply some reasonable assumptions to his theorem. These include the age of the galaxy, the estimated appearance of the earliest life-capable planets, the travel time involved and so forth.
