The Great Silence: Science and Philosophy of Fermi’s Paradox

424 Pages·2018·5.812 MB·English

by  Milan M. Ćirković

The Great Silence

THE GREAT SILENCE
The Science and Philosophy
of Fermi’s Paradox
milan m. ćirković
1
1
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© Milan M. Ćirković 2018
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First Edition published in 2018
Impression: 1
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2017954178
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To Jelena Dimitrijević,
Who reads by flashlight and time-travels in libraries, with kittens

How many kingdoms know us not!
Blaise Pascal
The void is the only great wonder of the world.
René Magritte
Man is a very small thing, and the night is very large and full of wonders.
Lord Dunsany
Every classification throws light on something.
Sir Isaiah Berlin

CONTENTS
Introductory Note xiii
Acknowledgements xxv
1. Introduction: The Many Faces of Fermi’s Paradox 1
1.1 The Famous Lunch 1
1.2 Different Versions of the Paradox 4
1.3 Spatio-Temporal Scales and the Real Strength of StrongFP 13
1.4 Structure (and Culture) of Fermi’s Paradox 19
1.5 Philosophical Assumptions 21
1.6 The Null Hypothesis 27
1.7 Why Now? 31
1.8 Two Is Equal to One: Fermi’s Paradox and the Success of SETI 36
1.9 X-Factors and Navigating Spaceship Earth 40
2. ‘What’s Past Is Prologue’: Cosmological and Astrophysical
Background 43
2.1 The New Standard Cosmological Model 45
2.2 The Size and Age of the Galaxy 48
2.3 The Galactic Habitable Zone 52
2.4 Horizons and Temporal Scales 61
3. Speaking Prose: Realism, Naturalism, Copernicanism,
Non-Exclusivity 69
3.1 Why Philosophy? 69
3.2 Philosophical Naturalism 74
3.3 Scientific Realism 77
3.4 Copernicanism 78
3.5 Gradualism (and Red Herrings) 81
3.6 The Non-Exclusivity Principle 85
3.7 The Continuity Thesis 91
3.8 Postbiological Evolution 92