According to the Fermi paradox, there are multiple filters and a great filter that civilizations have to pass to keep evolving. What are these barriers?
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The Drake equation lets us hypothesize how many planets exist that can have life (or even intelligent life).
The Fermi paradox says “if there are potentially so many of these planets why haven’t we seen any evidence of life outside Earth?”
The answer to that is The Great Barrier. We haven’t seen evidence of life outside Earth because of reasons. We can only guess at the reasons.
Perhaps life from non-life (abiogenesis), which is how we think life may have happened on Earth is unbelievably rare. We haven’t been able to reproduce it.
Perhaps going from single-cell to multi-cell to intelligent life is so rare we may be the first to have done it. Not that it’s impossible but maybe it’s not out there yet.
Perhaps life that becomes sentient and intelligent always destroys itself before it can become a type 2 or 3 civiization.
There can be more. The main concept is that there must be barriers to becoming noticed by us, and we don’t know if we have passed our barrier, or maybe our barrier is out there to destroy us in the future.
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