WEBVTT - How Does the Zoo Hypothesis Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, science fiction has populated our

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<v Speaker 1>galaxy with countless extraterrestrial civilizations and interplanetary conflicts. In the

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<v Speaker 1>real world, however, we have yet to encounter even the

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<v Speaker 1>most basic form of microscopic alien life, much less a

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<v Speaker 1>technologically advanced and conveniently human shaped one. So why is this?

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<v Speaker 1>One possibility is that habitable planets are rare, and that

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<v Speaker 1>intelligent life itself is an anomaly. In other words, we

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<v Speaker 1>might truly be alone. It's also conceivable that other technically

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<v Speaker 1>advanced civilizations are simply too far away for either party

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<v Speaker 1>to know of the other. But what if alien life

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<v Speaker 1>is widespread through the galactic neighborhood and we've been intentionally

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<v Speaker 1>excluded from the block party? Behold the zoo hypothesis. The

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<v Speaker 1>essential idea behind the Zoo high apothesis has been the

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<v Speaker 1>subject of scientific and science fictional cosmology for decades. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>see fiction from authors like Olaf Stapleton in the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>thirties and Arthur C. Clark in the nineteen fifties. But

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<v Speaker 1>M I T. Radio astronomer John Ball is often credited

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<v Speaker 1>with laying it out in ninety three. In essence, the

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<v Speaker 1>zoo hypothesis serves as a possible solution to the Fermi paradox,

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<v Speaker 1>named for scientist Enrico Fermi. The Fermi paradox refers to

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<v Speaker 1>the contradiction between the high likelihood of systems spanning intelligent

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<v Speaker 1>life according to some interpretations of the Drake equation, which

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<v Speaker 1>is used to estimate the potential number of communicating civilizations

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<v Speaker 1>in our galaxy, and the lack of evidence for such

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<v Speaker 1>intelligent life. The aliens might be there, this hypothesis suggests,

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<v Speaker 1>and they might be intentionally hiding from us, as the

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<v Speaker 1>name implies. One way to imagine such a scenario is

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<v Speaker 1>that Earth could have been set aside as a sort

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<v Speaker 1>of zoo or nature reserve. Perhaps the aliens just prefer

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<v Speaker 1>to observe life in a closed system, or they could

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<v Speaker 1>have ethical reasons for not interfering in our technological and

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<v Speaker 1>cultural progress, akin to the prime directive from Star Trek. Potentially,

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<v Speaker 1>more sinister interpretation can be found in balls laboratory hypothesis.

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<v Speaker 1>The aliens don't talk to us because we're part of

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<v Speaker 1>an experiment they're conducting. As astrophysicists William L. Newman and

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<v Speaker 1>Carl Sagan explained in their night paper Galactic Civilizations, Population Dynamics,

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<v Speaker 1>and Interstellar Diffusion, it's ultimately impossible to predict the aims

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<v Speaker 1>and beliefs of a hypothetical advanced civilization. However, they stressed

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<v Speaker 1>that such ideas are worthwhile in that they help us

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<v Speaker 1>imagine quote less apparent social impediments to extensive interstellar colonization.

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<v Speaker 1>In other words, if we're putting all ideas on the

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<v Speaker 1>table concerning the possibility of advanced alien life, then the

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<v Speaker 1>Zoo hypothesis has a place on the cosmological lazy Susan

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<v Speaker 1>But we have to be careful about avoiding anthropost centrism,

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<v Speaker 1>the tendency to assume that human beings are at the

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<v Speaker 1>center of cosmic concerns. For the article this episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on how Stuff Work. Spoke with particle physicist Daniel Whiteson.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, I think that's pretty unlikely. I don't like

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<v Speaker 1>that the Zoo hypothesis puts us at the center of things,

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<v Speaker 1>and it also seems implausible because it requires a vast

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<v Speaker 1>galactic conspiracy. When was the last time anybody worked together

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<v Speaker 1>to keep a secret? The best argument against having secret

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<v Speaker 1>aliens visiting the Earth is just that governments are not

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<v Speaker 1>capable of maintaining secrecy like that, especially over decades. You

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<v Speaker 1>might be tempted to argue that, well, we're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>alien governments here, not human governments. But our contemplation of

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<v Speaker 1>possible alien life is largely based on the only existing

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<v Speaker 1>model we have us. If we can't maintain vast conspiracies,

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<v Speaker 1>then what chance to aliens have. All Whiteson said, I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's very unlikely that aliens are somehow capable of that,

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<v Speaker 1>though perhaps they are. I like that the Zoo hypothesis

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<v Speaker 1>tries to answer this question in a whimsical, creative way.

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<v Speaker 1>It's fun for telling a story, but it puts a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of human motivations in the minds of these unknown aliens. However,

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<v Speaker 1>as Newman and Sagan pointed out, the idea isn't entirely untestable.

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<v Speaker 1>If we could one day detect alien communications, the Zoo

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<v Speaker 1>hypothesis would be falsifiable, and the nonprofit group Messaging Extraterrestrial

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<v Speaker 1>Intelligence or MEDI, advocates the creation and transmission of interstellar

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<v Speaker 1>messages that could, in theory, let any cosmic zookeepers out

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<v Speaker 1>there know that we would like to see beyond our enclosure.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is b based on the article the zoo

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<v Speaker 1>Hypothesis Are aliens watching us like animals in a zoo?

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<v Speaker 1>On how stuff Works dot com written by Robert Lamb.

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<v Speaker 1>For more from Robert, tune into his podcast to Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow your Mind and to hear more from Daniel

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<v Speaker 1>whiteson tune into his podcast Daniel and Orgae Explain the Universe.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang and Ramsey Yeah. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,

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