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00:00 The Fermi Paradox famously asks, "Where are all the aliens?" Despite the overwhelming likelihood
00:06 that they should exist, why haven't we discovered them? Over the years, a number of potential
00:10 solutions to the paradox have been put forward, but really, we're still scratching our heads,
00:16 confused by the so-called "Great Silence". This is Unveiled, and today we're answering
00:22 the extraordinary question; is alien life avoiding us?
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00:36 Earth is our home, the only place we've ever known, and the one planet amongst trillions in
00:42 the universe that we know we can survive on. But it's also small, a tiny speck on the cosmos,
00:48 and probably not that special at all. Earth is at once incredible and incredibly insignificant,
00:54 which is one reason why the search for alien life has so captivated our species - humankind -
00:59 throughout history. If we were to find another world with life, then our sample size would
01:04 immediately double from one - here - to two - here and there. And from there, it's a good bet that
01:11 more and more worlds populated by aliens would be uncovered. But again, that's not where we are
01:16 right now. Right now, as far as we know, we're still entirely alone. The idea that alien life
01:23 could be avoiding us is rooted in a couple of theories - the Zoo Hypothesis and the Dark Forest
01:28 Theory. Both can be combined, however, in the minds of some, to suggest that the real reason
01:33 we haven't met any aliens yet is because we are a pretty terrifying prospect. Broadly, the Zoo
01:39 Hypothesis is a famous concept in science fiction, but also a genuine, scientific approach to how
01:45 alien life might work. It says that any intelligent alien life that is out there does already know
01:51 about us and our planet. However, it continues to keep its distance because we are, to them,
01:57 something like a caged animal in a zoo. Earth is our enclosure, and they - the aliens - simply
02:02 watch us from afar. One potential, and relatively peaceful, reason for this is that it's a set-up
02:08 that would significantly reduce the risk of cross-contamination. Again, because life on
02:12 Earth is all we know, we perhaps tend to think that it works pretty well. And maybe it does,
02:17 but a watching alien group wouldn't necessarily know that. And so, the Zoo Hypothesis imagines
02:22 that the fact that we haven't discovered aliens yet is really only proof of an abundance of
02:27 caution on their behalf. However, there are some sinister applications for this way of thinking,
02:32 as well. For example, the Zoo Hypothesis might actually have nothing to do with contamination
02:38 fears and everything to do with an alien group - the zookeepers - viewing Earth as some kind of
02:44 entertainment. It's another popular science fiction trope, whereby watching aliens follow
02:49 the events of Earth and earthly life simply because it amuses them… until such time as
02:54 they become bored and just get rid of us in one way or another. Failing that, the Lab Hypothesis
03:00 is another variation on the theme. This time, the idea is that watching aliens might have much more
03:05 control over what exactly happens on Earth, because everything here is in some way an experiment
03:11 conducted by them. Now, Earth is no more than a petri dish, and we're the equivalent of a perhaps
03:18 slightly interesting smear of mould that's emerged in the middle of it. With all of the above,
03:22 however, while the Fermi Paradox is answered, it's never because the absent aliens are especially
03:28 afraid. If they are avoiding us, it's because that's the way they specifically want it to be,
03:33 whether for their zoo-like exhibit to thrive, or their ongoing, potentially demented experiments
03:39 to yield the best results. Consider it all alongside the Dark Forest Theory, however,
03:44 and you get a pretty important change in perspective. The Dark Forest Theory is one
03:48 of the more recent attempts to answer the Fermi Paradox. Although the general idea does date back
03:54 to at least the 1980s, the term by which it's now known, the Dark Forest, was first used in a 2008
04:01 novel, also called The Dark Forest, by Chinese author Lui Shixin. And as far as speculative
04:07 hypotheses go, it's a fairly paranoid one. It again suggests that actually, alien life might be
04:13 abound in the universe. It's just that we haven't heard from it because nothing wants anything else
04:19 to know that it's there. Reason being, because any intelligent species would immediately view
04:25 another group as an existential threat - not just humans or life on Earth, but any other
04:30 civilisation or lifeform in the universe, period. The model asks us to picture intelligent alien
04:36 groups as though they're stealthily tiptoeing through a dense forest, being ultra-careful not
04:41 to ruffle any leaves and blow their cover. According to proponents, that's why we haven't
04:46 seen or even heard from aliens yet. Everyone's in hiding. It's a little unsettling, though,
04:51 because it also means that an alien group could be very nearby but still undetectable.
04:56 Meanwhile, the position of humans within this particular setup isn't exactly encouraging,
05:01 either. For more than a century, we've been making noise via radio waves, and in more recent times
05:07 we've actively sought to release messages out into space alerting potential aliens to our presence,
05:13 and even directing them to our position. If the dark forest theory were ever found to be a fair
05:18 reflection of what's really happening, then all of that will have been very naive. But, finally,
05:23 there is something of a crossover between these two modes of thought - the zoo hypothesis and
05:28 life in the dark forest. For some, the truth could be emerging of both of them, whereby a
05:33 watching alien group does know that we're here, as per zoo, but as a result of that knowledge is
05:39 extremely frightened by us, as per dark forest. A 2022 paper, co-authored by Gordon Gallup and
05:45 Hesper E. Falavino, both of the State University of New York at Albany, took a closer look at how
05:51 this particular setup could take hold. While the paper as a whole discusses what we might be able
05:56 to learn from human evolution with regards to alien development, one conclusion it draws is
06:02 "maybe intelligent extraterrestrial life does not want to be found", citing Stephen Hawking's famous
06:08 reference comparing a potential alien arrival to the landing of Christopher Columbus in the Americas.
06:14 A moment in time that, as Hawking says, "did not end well for the native people".
06:18 Gallup and Falavino suggest that any alien group would be very keen to dodge our gaze,
06:24 or else "eventually suffer the same fate as befell the natives of Mexico and Peru".
06:30 In this scenario, humankind certainly isn't just an insignificant strain of mold. Instead,
06:36 with its war and disease and environmental issues, it's perhaps more like a potential
06:41 contagion that the rest of the universe needs to keep from spreading by avoiding crossing paths
06:46 with us. At the close of their paper, Gallup and Falavino write "if there is intelligent life
06:52 elsewhere, they might view humans as extremely dangerous. Maybe this is why there's no proof or
06:58 compelling evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. We pose too great a risk,
07:02 and they do not want to be discovered". But what's your view? Is that final thought just a
07:08 little bit too harsh? Is humankind really terrible enough to scare away a watching alien force from
07:13 even contacting us? Or is the lack of alien proof more likely the result of one of the other two
07:19 approaches - the Zoo Hypothesis or the Dark Forest Theory? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
07:25 For now, what is clear is that, for whatever reason, we still haven't discovered alien life.
07:30 In the event that it has never been to Earth, as most mainstream models imply, that means that
07:36 more than ninety-nine percent of the life that's ever lived here has been and gone before alien
07:42 life arrived. So, what are the chances that we'll be alive if and when it does make its grand
07:47 entrance onto our Earthly stage? Statistically, it's not actually likely at all. On the other hand,
07:53 we've never been more prepared to find aliens than we are right now, with countless, cutting-edge
07:58 telescope missions and astronomical studies ongoing. Perhaps it's only a matter of time…
08:04 or maybe we'll never meet at all. Because that's why alien life could be avoiding us.
08:10 What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments,
08:14 check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell
08:18 for our latest content.