Part 6 of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. To see all entries,
click here. The theme of paradoxes continues! And with all
paradoxes it is best to conclude, even before beginning, that
we, as a species, know absolutely nothing. With that pleasurable
introduction, let us begin. This particular paradox, noted by
Enrico Fermi in 1950, states that given the statistical
probability of life on other planets why have we not encountered
any alien species. First we must address the claim of a
"statistical probability of life." Our observable universe hints
at there being 200-400 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Even a child can realize that numbers 200 billion apart means
that someone is just guessing, and that's accurate. So let's
just stick with "a really, really big number of stars." From
that point you play the 1% game. Let's imagine that of 100
billion stars (so I low-balled the guess of the smartest humans
on the planet) one percent have any type of life. From bacteria
all the way up to god-like beings. The r