All spiritual traditions of our world feature apocalyptic end-times scenarios. The Jews expect the Messiah, their Redeemer, by the year 6000 after Adam, that is, within the next 200 years at the very latest. Christians have been expecting the Parousia, the Second Coming of Christ, their Redeemer, ever since his Ascension. Muslims await the return of the 12th Imam, their Mahdi, who will accompany the Messiah, their Redeemer. And even Buddhists wouldn’t object if the Buddha, their Redeemer, were to briefly return from Nirvana once again.
So much for history, for religion. Now for the story, for physics, for the paradox of the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi:
Our universe is of almost infinite size. In light of this, the probability of extraterrestrial life is incredibly high. But where is everybody?
There is apparently a powerful filter that prevents any advanced civilization from leaving its own planetary system—otherwise, we would already be aware of other civilizations. This deadly filter of annihilation can be triggered by catastrophes (global pandemics or meteorite impacts), by technology (artificial intelligence or bioterrorism), or by self-destruction (nuclear war or climate change).
There are only two possibilities for this filter: Either it lies in the past, in which case our civilization of Homo sapiens sapiens would be the first and only one to have already overcome it. The probability of this is rather low. Conversely, this means that this deadly filter of annihilation still lies ahead of us.
“Live every day as if it were your last.” This advice has never been more relevant than now. Perhaps the Messiah will arrive just in time…
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Vienna Calling 