Is Earth a zoo for aliens? Researchers believe so
Have you ever wondered why, in the middle of 2019, we still haven’t received any messages from extraterrestrials (ET Bilu doesn’t count), considering they really exist? According to a hypothesis raised by international researchers, it may be that no alien species has come into contact with us yet because we are really just animals caged in an intergalactic zoo.
This was one of the possible scenarios imagined at a meeting of METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence), a non-profit organization that aims to understand and communicate to society the implications and relevance of the search for life beyond Earth. The meeting took place on March 18, in Paris, and was attended by 60 scientists researching the possibilities of communication with a hypothetical intelligent alien life.
While they were debating the fact that no alien species had come into contact with us to date, the “zoo hypothesis” was brought up again, an idea proposed in the 1970s that states that Earth is a planet under constant observation by “caretakers”. interplanetaries”, which are hidden just watching us and
making us believe that there is no alien interference on the planet. Thus, not only would the ETs already know of our existence, they would also be watching us closely, just as we do with animals in a zoo.
The possibility, raised by METI President Douglas Vakoch, was cited as a possible reason why we as humans need to put more effort into showing our intelligence and getting our “caregivers” to notice us. He cites as an example a zebra in a zoo: if, for some reason, that zebra happened to slam its hoof into the cage in a prime number pattern, we would be forced to rethink all our knowledge of the animal’s cognitive functions, and we would try to establish some kind of communication with him.
Another possibility raised at the event is that we are not “animals in a zoo”, but that we have been assessed as dangerous by the other intelligent life forms in the universe, and we are in a kind of “quarantine”, where we are prevented from having any contact with them. beings from other worlds. Who believes in this possibility is Jean-Pierre Rospars, honorary director of research at INRA (Intitut National de la Recherche Agronomique), further stating that this “quarantine” may have been created for our own good, as we would not be ready for all the cultural change. which would mean the discovery of alien life beyond Earth.
Other possibilities raised as to why we haven’t made contact with other life forms in the universe were that these aliens are trapped under layers of ice in underground oceans, trapped by the immense gravitational pull on “super-Earth”-type planets, or dead because they self-destructed by over-consumption of their planets’ natural resources—just as humanity can on Earth.
Although the idea that, among billions of planets in the universe, Earth was the only one that developed intelligent life is highly unlikely , scientists keep asking themselves why so far we haven’t been able to establish communication with any of these other civilizations, even confirm its existence at a distance. But perhaps all scientists need is patience: after all, we’ve been actively trying to communicate with these civilizations for less than a hundred years, so it’s possible that we’re being too hasty to expect alien contact happening so soon.
Source: LiveScience
