Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2019

Disciplines

Other Astrophysics and Astronomy

Abstract

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project has been scanning the heavens for signs of intelligent life for almost half a century. So far, nothing. This raises the question physicist Enrico Fermi asked, "Where is everybody?" The probability of intelligent life on another planet is high so why the silence? Technological civilizations may be short-lived. The mechanisms of evolution that lead to intelligent life and technological development also lead to propensities traditionally labeled as sin. These propensities make it difficult for technological civilizations to survive long enough to escape their home planet.

Comments

This is the author's version of an article that was subsequently published as:

Noreen Herzfeld (2019) “Where Is Everybody?” Fermi’s Paradox, Evolution, and Sin, Theology and Science, 17:3, 366-372, DOI: 10.1080/14746700.2019.1632547

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