Fermi Paradox vs discretion: Are we alone, or are we just the only ones shouting?

I have been thinking about the possibility of intelligent life in the universe a lot recently, and it occurred to me, maybe the reason we are not picking up any signals that we can readily interpret or even recognise as being sent by an intelligent civilisation, is because they (advanced civilisations) may be far more discreet than we are. Think about this: we transmit virtually all of our communication into space for whomever happens to be listening. We are like those annoying neighbours who are constantly arguing in earshot of everyone else, who leave the curtains open at night and who play obnoxiously loud music at all hours. We advertise our hopes and our dreams, our weaknesses and our fears. We even present the nastiest parts of our nature, like a complete psych profile for the taking.

One thing is certain - if we are ever visited openly by a foreign race with the intention of establishing diplomatic ties we would be at a phenomenal disadvantage, to say the least.

Submitted March 01, 2016 at 05:14PM by WonkeyChikin http://ift.tt/1ONcnVP