Burst 10 - Nick Nielsen on the Wilderness Hypothesis

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