Why Won’t Aliens Talk to Us?

It’s called the Fermi paradox, named after Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi.

We know there are billions of planets in the galaxy. According to the famous Drake equation, many of these worlds probably developed alien life. So… where are all the aliens?

There are many possible solutions to the Fermi paradox. Here at Discover Sci-Fi, we’d like to offer ten hypotheses. Which one is true? We don’t know. What do you think?

1. WE’RE TOO PRIMITIVEWhen is the last time you had a conversation with an ant? When you see an ant on the street, odds are you ignore it and keep on walking. Maybe compared to aliens, we humans seem as inconsequential as ants. Space-faring aliens might be far, far more advanced and intelligent than us primitive humans. We’re just not worth their time. The aliens are out there. They just don’t bother talking to us.

2. THEY’RE STUDYING US FROM HIDINGTo be fair, some humans are fascinated by ants. They collect them in ant farms and study them. Meanwhile, the ants bustle about, blissfully unaware of the giant humans peering in. Maybe the aliens are out there. And they’re studying us. They’re simply doing it discreetly.

3. WE’RE THE FIRSTMaybe there are plenty of aliens out there, but they’re no smarter than pigeons. Or maybe they’re intelligent but still in the Stone Age. We humans might be the first species to develop spaceflight. In this case, it’s up to us to contact them.

4. THEIR FREQUENCY IS TOO DIFFERENTThe SETI program has been attempting to detect alien radio transmissions. So far without any success. Maybe we’re just not listening properly. We humans transmit our data on certain frequencies. Maybe some alien species live for millions of years, and they only transmit one packet of data a year. They take their time. It takes them a century just to say “hello.” We humans, with our short lifespan, must seem as ephemeral as mayflies to them. We can’t distinguish their sloooow trickle of information from background noise.

5. THEIR TECHNOLOGY IS TOO ADVANCEDMaybe SETI is approaching this all wrong. Maybe aliens aren’t using radio signals at all. To advanced aliens, radio might seem as quaint as smoke signals. They could be using communication technology we humans don’t yet have. They’re transmitting, we simply can’t detect it.

Want to know the scariest aliens we could find in science fiction lore?

Here is our list of the Ten Scariest Aliens.

Like what you're reading?

If you're enjoying this top 10 list, why not join the DSF community for more awesome content? You'll get to be notified whenever a new top 10 list, or any other articles of interest goes up on our site. It's free to sign up and you'll also get recommendations for new releases and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems.

6. THEY LIVE IN VIRTUAL WORLDSWho cares about the physical universe? It’s dark, dangerous, and depressing. Maybe aliens abandoned their clunky biological bodies and uploaded their consciousness into virtual worlds. Why live in harsh reality when you can enjoy a cushy virtual world? It’s possible aliens haven’t contacted us because they’re busy enjoying life in the Matrix.

7. THE DISTANCES ARE TOO VASTSpace is big. Really big. To quote Douglas Adams, “You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” Maybe aliens are out there, but nobody can travel faster than light. So all civilizations are essentially bound to their local star system. We’re all too far apart to ever meet.

8. THEY’RE HIDINGHere is a disturbing possibility. Alien civilizations might be hiding. Maybe there is a danger out there in space we don’t know about. Some intergalactic apex-predator, prowling the galaxy for victims. All the other aliens are hiding from this predator. Maybe we should be hiding too.

9. THEY DESTROYED THEMSELVESHumans can be self-destructive. We fight wars. We build nuclear weapons. We pollute our planet. Someday we might even destroy ourselves. It might be the nature of intelligent civilizations to self-destruct. Maybe alien civilizations rise many times, but they never get far. They invariably wipe themselves out.

10. WE’RE TOO NEWThe distances in space are vast. Even at the speed of light, it takes years to travel among the stars. We humans have only been around for a short while. We’ve only existed as a species for about 200,000 years. In cosmic terms, that’s the blink of an eye. And remember—for most of that time, we lived in the Stone Age. We’ve only been sending radio signals for a few generations. Our broadcasts have only reached a handful of nearby stars. Our civilization has only just emerged. We’re newborns blinking in the sun. Maybe the aliens haven’t even noticed us yet . . . but they will. Any day now, they might come knocking.

What do you think? Why won’t aliens talk to us? Share your theories in the comments!

Looking for some books to read on the topic of first encounter, alien oddities, and invasions?

Here is our list of the Top 10 Most Terrifying Aliens in Sci-Fi Books/Series.

Here is our list of First Contact Settings in Literature.

Daniel Arenson is a bookworm, proud geek, and USA Today bestselling author of fantasy and science fiction. His novels have sold over a million copies. He's written over sixty novels in multiple series.

He is best known for Earthrise, the story of Earth struggling to rise after a devastating alien invasion. The Earthrise universe is explored in three series: Earthrise The Original Series, Soldiers of Earthrise, and Children of Earthrise.

In addition to Earthrise, Daniel has written the comedic sci-fi trilogy Alien Hunters.

He's also written several epic fantasy series: Kingdoms of Sand, Moth, Requiem.

You can follow Daniel on Facebook, Twitter and his website.