Are WE the bad guys? Theoretical physicist predicts humans will DESTROY aliens to fuel growth of our own civilisation
Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
A Russian theoretical physicist has put forward a remarkable theory that we humans may be the universe's bad guys after all.
Alexander Berezin, a prominent scientist from Russia’s National University of Electronic Technology Research has published a grim article outlining his solution to the so-called "Fermi's paradox".
In a nutshell, the paradox asks the question that if the universe is so vast (and increasing all the time) why haven't we detected any other forms of alien life. Mathematically speaking, the chances of other life forms evolving elsewhere in the universe is almost guarenteed.
According to Berezin, the reason we haven't contacted aliens yet is that they haven't evolved to our level. That is, they haven't developed space travel or intersteller communication through things like radio waves.
But he goes on to say that the first species to develop this technology will naturally eradicate those it comes into contact with as a means of fuelling its own survival.
(Image: NASA)
Berezin doesn't say that humankind will do this out of malice or anger - just that it is the natural way of things.
"They simply [will] not realize, in the same way that a construction team demolishes an anthill to build a property because it has no incentives to protect it," he explains.
Essentially, it's Darwinian principles taken into outer space.
Berezin says that he "hopes to be wrong" about his theory, but given the way humans have colonised this planet, it doesn't seem too far-fetched.
(Image: iStockphoto)
It will, he says, become a race to be the first with capable interstellar technology.
“The only explanation is the invocation of the anthropic principle, we are the first to reach the [interstellar] stage and, most likely, we will be the last to leave," he wrote.
While the article has been published in the ArXiv digital archive , it hasn't yet been peer-reviewed by other scientists.
Many scientific luminaries have spoken out about our need to colonise other planets in order to ensure our survival.
Famously, Professor Stephen Hawking said we need to explore our technological capabilities to the fullest in order to avoid extinction.
(Image: Science Photo Library RM)
If we do not find another planet to live on , climate change, over population, pandemics and our warring ways will get us in the end, he said.
This was explored in this year's BBC Two documentary 'Expedition New Earth' , in which the professor enlisted engineering expert Christophe Galfard to explore the feasibility to interplanetary travel.
In an interview with Wired he also said he believed the planet had "reached the point of no return".
Of course, the situation could easily be reversed if an advanced alien civilisation came to Earth looking to colonise it for their own survival.