Q: Aliens. Are they out there?
A: In short, yes. Scientifically speaking, we have proof that water and organic compounds exist in space. We have a growing body of evidence that planets are plentiful and that they do exist in the habitable zone of solar systems. Which means life is almost a certainty. If life exists, there’s no reason to think technologically advanced life wouldn’t also exist. I think the one dimension not spoken of in the Fermi Paradox is time. Life has existed on earth for four billion years and in all that time a technologically advanced species has only risen on the Earth once and only in the last 100 years. If we add a time dimension to the Fermi Paradox, I think it answers the question quite nicely of where is everyone. They either have already existed or have not yet evolved. If you add to the Fermi paradox the odds to have developed technology and managed to do so in the same 100-200 years that Humanity has, the millions of alien species that should exist are so spread out over time that their odds of crossing another species are likely pretty remote. We also have no idea of the longevity of a technologically advanced species.
George Allen Miller’s story “Just Five Minutes” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 3 March 2017. Subscribe to our e-mail updates so you’ll know when new stories go live.
