Is Earth really doomed? Is the human civilization on its way to extinction? What has happened to other cosmic civilizations? Are there any survivor of the great filter? There are endless questions when it comes to answering what we are, and we are still in isolation.
In my previous article on cosmic civilizations, the types of civilizations were debriefed. To understand what the great filter does you will need to know about these types of civilizations.
In short, Kardashev classified 3 types of civilizations based on their technological advancements.
Type 1:
They will can harness the entire energy of the home planet and all the energy that reaches it.
Type 2:
They can harness the energy of an entire star and be able to transfer it back to home planet for use.
Type 3:
They will be able to harness the energy of an entire galaxy.
As humans, we stand at 0.7 on our way to type 1 kind of civilization.
Given the possibility of existence of other civilizations, the question that arises is why hasn’t anybody contacted us yet?
To this, scientists have come up with an answer. They think that there are no super intelligent civilizations like Type 3. Despite math proving that there is a 100% chance there are more than 100 billion billion Earth like planets in the safe goldilocks zone and life is prone to thrive, why are we isolated?
One such theory is The Great Filter. This theory says that at some point of time from pre-life to type 3 civilization, there is a wall all attempts at life are hit. This is that stage in the long evolutionary process where it is extremely unlikely or impossible for life to get beyond.
Depending on when in the timeline the great filter occurs, the fate of the human civilization is decided. Since, we have no idea what, how or when the great filter will occur, scientists have proposed three possibilities.
FIRST POSSIBILITY: We are RARE
The great filter has already occurred at some time in the past. We were extremely lucky and able to get through it while all other civilizations were not. This would make us special and one of a kind. Scientists call this the “observation selection effect”, according to which, thinking about such a possibility alone makes us a part of the success story. Therefore, our thoughts and the conclusions that are drawn from them are always similar. Now that we believe we are special, we must go back to thinking when exactly we became special. What were we capable of that all other civilizations were not, in order to survive?
SECOND POSSIBILITY: It was at the beginning of time
Life has taken billion of years to take shape on planet Earth after the big bang. Failed attempts at recreating this scenario in the labs shows that the great filter happened at the very beginning of time. It leaves us as the only form of intelligent life and there is none other that have survived the great filter enough to establish life again.
Deep in the universe and in many distant galaxies, there are still occurrences of Gamma-ray bursts that incinerate any possibility of development of life. Maybe this is the first time that life has been able to develop for so long without interruption.
THIRD POSSIBILITY: We are doomed
The great filter can be in our future. All other life forms have evolved as much as we have but there is something that is stopping them from reaching high intelligence levels. One possibility for the great filter can be the Gamma-ray bursts. They haven’t occurred yet in our part of the galaxy, but there is a high possibility for one to occur and wipe out life on Earth.
Another possibility is that, once a civilization reaches a level of technological advancement, they end up destroying themselves.
Whatever the news is, it’s still bad news. That’s why the silence of the night sky is rendered golden.
