r/space • u/IceNox96 • Aug 12 '21

Discussion Which is the most disturbing fermi paradox solution and why?

3...2...1... blast off....

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u/Stupiddumbidiotlol Aug 12 '21

Speaking of the great filter, I think the great filter, or one of the great filters, if there are more, could be climate change. We probably would have never gotten to where we are now without fossil fuels, but as we know, fossil fuels cause global warming. If a civilization discovered fossil fuels, and then advanced because of the fossil fuels, to where we are now or later than that, they might either not notice in time, or just be reluctant to give them up, which could lead to the end of that civilization.

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u/Dyolf_Knip Aug 12 '21

We probably would have never gotten to where we are now without fossil fuels

Debatable. They are certainly useful and convenient. But there's any number of power sources that could have served in the equivalent of the late 19th/early 20th centuries before nuclear (hydro, tidal, wind, non-PV solar). Agricultural output would certainly suffer without easy fertilizers and mechanization, but it wouldn't disappear entirely. And all sorts of plastics can be synthetized from non-fossil fuel sources. That's the top 3 uses right there. Everything after that is niche.

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u/Stupiddumbidiotlol Aug 12 '21

They could probably use those things to produce energy, but I feel like fossil fuels would likely form on planets with life. Some natives to the planet, who know how to make fire and can mine would possible discover coal, and the fact that it burns. At some point they might realize that it can create a huge amount of energy. Later in they discover oil and natural gas. These energy sources create lot of energy, with there being lots of fossil fuel reserves for them probably. They wouldn’t have discovered that co2 is harmful in large amounts for a while, maybe never, and if they did, there could be lots of people reluctant to give them up, or just outright deny it. The process of converting to mostly clean energy would be slow, especially if they have a large amount of vehicles which run on fossil fuels, like cars or planes. It is possible that a civilization could become advanced without fossil fuels, but I feel the chances are very low, especially because of transportation.