The ‘Great Filter’ theory says that many other civilisations have existed during the history of the universe (Credits: Reuters)
While Nasa has ramped up efforts in trying to find alien life, they now seem to have a theory as to why we haven’t found any yet.
According to a research paper, alien life might have eluded us because intelligent societies tend to wipe themselves out. Meaning, the human race could be next.
The report named ‘Avoiding the “Great Filter”: Extraterrestrial Life and Humanity’s Future in the Universe’ suggests the human race might be heading in the same direction.
The ‘Great Filter’ theory says that many other civilisations have existed during the history of the universe but ultimately wiped themselves out before they got a chance to make contact.
‘We postulate that an existential disaster may lay in wait as our society advances exponentially towards space exploration’, said the report.
Alien life might have eluded us because intelligent societies tend to wipe themselves out (Picture: GTA Wiki)
‘The Great Filter has the potential to eradicate life as we know it, especially as our rate of progress correlates directly to the severity of our fall,’
The phenomenon is said wipe out civilizations before they can encounter each other, which may explain the cosmic silence.
The Great Filter theory was first proposed in the late 1990s by Robin Hanson, an economist at George Mason University.
The paper serves as a timely warning for our society as past civilizations may have been responsible for creating the conditions leading to their own demise.
‘Evidence of life should exist in abundance in our galaxy alone, and yet in practice, we’ve produced no clear affirmation of anything beyond our own planet. So, where is everybody?’ asks the paper.
The report which has not yet been peer-reviewed, cited dangers including asteroid strikes, nuclear war, pandemics, climate change and artificial intelligence.
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Intelligent societies tend to wipe themselves out.
