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Sean Carroll

What Sean Carroll thinks about space

@sean-carroll · 20 positions · 0 changes of mind

Theoretical physicist at Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy, host of the Mindscape podcast and author of Something Deeply Hidden.

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2 dated positions, 2024, in their own words. Our reading of what Sean Carroll has said — not written or endorsed by them.

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  1. Our readingThe simplest explanation for why we have never noticed an alien civilization is that there are none out there.

    Their wordsBut I think your intuition is right that it would’ve been easy for there to be lots of civilizations then we would’ve noticed them already and we haven’t. Absolutely the simplest explanation for why we haven’t is that they’re not there.

    ↗Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com 2nd of 20 in this recording

  3. Our readingA great filter is a weak explanation for the silence, because it would have to work every single time — one civilization with self-replicating probes could fill the galaxy.

    Their wordsThat is absolutely possible. I’m actually putting less credence on that one just because you need to happen every single time. If even one, I mean, this goes back to John von Neumann pointed out that you don’t need to send the aliens around the galaxy. You can build self-reproducing probes and send them around the galaxy.

    ↗Sean Carroll: General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Black Holes & Aliens | Lex Fridman Podcast #428youtube.com 3rd of 20 in this recording