What if the Great Filter is explained by civilizations gradually declining in reproduction due to societal and climate factors, leading them to stagnant or collapse before they can reach interstellar exploration?
There are already countries experiencing population decline which suggests this could be a real, observable trend.
Let’s be honest though, the ruling class would never allow it. They would ensure reproduction by force, if necessary.
That is a very human centric way to approach it. For starters, we don’t even know if other life has to be carbon based, let alone in which environments it exists. There could be an entirely different ruleset to their reproduction and of course their society. And even ignoring all these things, they could simply advance a lot faster, outpacing climate change and declining populations. Heck, we could be outpacing these problems if we never stopped puring endless ressources into space travel, but alas, capitalism deemed it unworthy.
Don’t apologize, I didn’t mean to invalidate your thoughts. Until we’ve found other life, everything is possible. Maybe they all are slightly different humanoids with similar problems. In fact, many theories about why we haven’t found anything yet are based on the very same assumption.
I just meant to add some additional food for thought.
No, no worries. lol
I recognize that realistically that’s not reasonable on a universal scale, even if humanity were to follow that path. It’s just an interesting thought experiment.
What if the Great Filter is explained by civilizations gradually declining in reproduction due to societal and climate factors, leading them to stagnant or collapse before they can reach interstellar exploration?
There are already countries experiencing population decline which suggests this could be a real, observable trend.
Let’s be honest though, the ruling class would never allow it. They would ensure reproduction by force, if necessary.
It’s certainly a thought experiment, though.
That is a very human centric way to approach it. For starters, we don’t even know if other life has to be carbon based, let alone in which environments it exists. There could be an entirely different ruleset to their reproduction and of course their society. And even ignoring all these things, they could simply advance a lot faster, outpacing climate change and declining populations. Heck, we could be outpacing these problems if we never stopped puring endless ressources into space travel, but alas, capitalism deemed it unworthy.
Yes, as a human, i usually have human-centric thoughts.
You are right, of course.
Sorry for sharing my thoughts.
Don’t apologize, I didn’t mean to invalidate your thoughts. Until we’ve found other life, everything is possible. Maybe they all are slightly different humanoids with similar problems. In fact, many theories about why we haven’t found anything yet are based on the very same assumption.
I just meant to add some additional food for thought.
It’s fine, I’ll just go cry.
No, no worries. lol
I recognize that realistically that’s not reasonable on a universal scale, even if humanity were to follow that path. It’s just an interesting thought experiment.
It’s hard to beat carbon as a building block though.
In theory, other elements are possible. There’s even a list available on wikipedia.