Free Astronomy Magazine May-June 2024

27 MAY-JUNE 2024 ASTRO PUBLISHING two authors suggest that the Fermi paradox can only be answered with the zoo hypothesis. As a result, there should exist countless ETCs at vari- ous stages of evolution, and the only alternatives would be either the utter uniqueness of our civiliza- tion or, at most, the extreme rarity of contemporary ETCs in the Milky Way. In the latter case they would be so spatially dispersed that any contact between them would be impossible. The zoo hypothesis does not seem to allow for middle ground, because it is based on the existence of a galactic (if not univer- sal) cultural or legal policy among a plurality of civilizations in contact with each other. Accordingly, there would exist a sort of government that gives precise directives to the more advanced civilizations, so that they ignore the more backward ones. In short, something similar to the Prime Directive of “Star Trek,” issued by the United Federation of Planets and inspired by paragraph 7 of article 2 of the United Nations Charter − another clear example of an anthropocentric vision of the problem. Although, as Carl Sagan reminded us, the absence of evidence is not proof of absence, it is even more true that presence is not to be found in the absence of evidence. Aware of this, Crawford and Schulze- Makuch seem to support the zoo hypothesis only because the alter- native scenario is the desolate soli- tude of our civilization. Unfortunately, its very assumptions make the zoo hypothesis weak. It requires, for example, the existence on a multitude of worlds a plurality of cultures capable of developing and sharing common values, some- thing that could only be achieved if those cultures received a sort of common imprinting from those who should refrain from interven- ing. This has certainly not happened BUT OFFICER, I JUST PULLED OVER FOR A QUICK TAKEOUT ORDER, AND I EVEN USED MY EMERGENCY FLASHERS! THIS IS WHY I SAID YOU COULDN’T HAVE A PONY FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY. NEVER MIND ABOUT “COMING IN PEACE”! TELL ME YOU BROUGHT ALTERNATIVE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY! IT’S 9 PM AND NOW YOU TELL ME YOU NEED A HUMAN FOR A SCHOOL SCIENCE PROJECT TOMORROW ? BEFORE YOU GO, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO FILL OUT THIS ABDUCTION SURVEY AND SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER. WE HAVE THEIR LEADER!