If I were an alien passing by earth, I'm pretty sure I'd be tempted, very strongly tempted I might add, to just lock my doors and drive faster..

This guy's awesome. He sounds like he's just a super genius who's also incredibly polite. He humors you until you finally shut up and listen so he can share his brilliant answers in their entirety, in peace.

Considering how much of the universe we even know about, it's like scooping up a cup of the ocean, looking in it, and asking where all the life is.

Jaron is one of my all time favorite people. Never heard this idea. Amazing

That lunatic proposal didn’t disappoint. Lanier is great

Our technology to observe and detect “signals” of the universal is still so primitive, and we are claiming we cannot find any evidence of intelligent aliens? How absurd.

Interviewer: Why aren't aliens already here? Alien: I really don't know.

If we cover a babies eyes through the first 6 months of its life, it will never see, the nerve cells won't receive the needed stimulus to function. It's totally plausible that there are thousands of species that don't have the luxury of clear skies and a transparent atmosphere, therefore instead of over stimulated external perception, they develop over sensitive 'internal' perception and know everything about us via that link. They may even have been trying to communicate for centuries and we seem deaf to them, because we have virtually ignored our inner perception for centuries in the name of survival value in external perception. Species which live mainly inside their home planets could be on our doorstep and it'd be near impossible to detect without physically being there.

The scariest thing I can imagine is that humans are the most advanced beings.

8.7 million species of life on earth and only one has higher technology. A similar disparity probably exists among inhabited worlds as well, the VAST majority containing simple life forms only.

They've been here for Centuries. 👽🛸

I feel like we’re stuck on radio signals and carbon based life I think that limits us in our understanding of what could be out there even intelligent life could be non-carbon-based who are we to know.

How do you even know if they are here or not? Or you can't hide from monkeys if you want to?

We may also be overestimating how easy it is to develop advanced technology and the desire of species to colonize space etc. We ourselves have not achieved anything of significance and may already be on our way out due to the effects of industry and technology on our world/civilization. Truly intelligent species may have no need for outward expansion/colonization and these type of questions like "are we alone?" may be very obvious and even non important to them. We seem to be trying to find ourselves out there.

Reality is crazier then you'd ever imagine

So galaxies could actually just be super intelligent beings organizing the cosmos for an optimization of intelligence

What makes these gentlemen think they aren't already here but relatively discreet.

Maybe they are here. Any life form that has the ability to transcend interstellar space and/or can manipulate extra dimensional space/time could likely mimic human appearance quite easily.

I think technological civilizations have a very limited amount of time where they can be found. They either die out or evolve past technologies we could possibly search for. And since time is so great they are like flashing Christmas lights in the universe. And since distance is so great it would be extremely rare for two nearby civilizations to flash at the same time.

Regarding our radio waves which began emitting in the 1920s, the furthest they have traveled is less than 100 light years from earth. Considering the galaxy is 100,000 light years across, these radio signals are still practically in our back yard. I believe intelligent life is exceedingly rare. Perhaps occurring only 2-3 times in entire galaxy. Knowing that, it could take up to 100,000 years for any radio wave emanating from earth to be detected by another civilization.

Love this theory and train of thought. So out of the box of conventional thoughts that it’s plausible…. Thanks for this! Love the channel

This man is on another level

Ima new sub to your chann,because I find your content fascinating, so thanks for the great vids..

It may sound grim, but I love the idea that planet earth is really a freak accident and we really are alone in the universe…how special we would be if we are the only life out there

The man's an underrated genius.

How about the simple answer that the universe is big? Period. The solar system is orders of magnitude smaller as compared to the universe than a grain of sand as compared to the earth. How would a civilization on a grain of sand on a beach in Nice, France discover or notice a civilization on a grain of sand on a beach in San Diego, California?

Who says they're not? Look at all the ancient writings... They could have a base on the moon, deep in the Marianas trench. They could be interdimensional. There are a number of different theories that don't require faster than light travel.

This was awesome. Love this channel

They are here. They've always been here. We only exist because of them. We do see them, but either don't realize it, or don't remeber it. Humans are so delicate and fragile mentally and emotionally. We can't handle the truth. THAT is why we typically don't see them. There are exceptions of course

And who told you they aren't here, when the US government for the first time ever admitted to having been confronted with extra-terrestial entities?

Irony. Children in kindergarten wondering where the adults are... when they're happily watching.

While i FULLY appreciate the simplicity of the paradox, there are sooo many legitimate possible answers that the question simply doesn't bother me

Evolution leads to species that can survive and reproduce in their given environment. So why do we assume that natural selection will lead to alien species that have similar forms of intelligence - and thus, desires and motivations - to us? Wanting to find and communicate with other civilizations is really quite a specific quirk for a species to have, surely? In fact you could even argue that spending loads of resources on attempting to contact distant civilizations out of, largely, intrigue, rather than spending those resources on increasing survival on earth is unintelligent from an evolutionary point of view. Why should we expect aliens to have the same desire, even if they're massively intelligent in a whole bunch of ways?

I LOVE Jaron! What an awesome human being!!!

Love these dialogues. Big fan of Robert.

THE ISLAND OF SICILY 1995 . I was left bewildered once again while taking this video . My father and I were returning from a sanctuary called "Tindari" my father decided to stop at a feed and seed store , to get seeds to plant at our farm. He was in the store and , I stayed in the car , I was puzzled by an intermittent reflection in the sky ahead and above me , so since I had the video camera on my lap that I used at the sanctuary , I decided to get a closer look... As to this day this is my only tangible evidence of just one of many true U F O and , paranormal encounters in my lifetime. Starting 3 months after my birth , first recalled encounter happened in 1965 in Northern Italy , last encounter happened in the 2000s in the state of Florida. While I was zoomed in at the end of the video , it moved diagonally up to the 10 to 11 o'clock position and further away , it made a sound at the end , I have never heard before or since , listen for it and you will hear what I mean. , the sound clearly came from the direction of the UFO. The shape of this thing seemed rectangular , cube , yet diamond shaped as well , as if it was shitching its center of gravity as it hovered . I had a kind person take some still photos and he gave me the best 2 from the video footage , and I will attach them as well.. To see the UFO at the end of the video , may i suggest wearing a ps4-5 3d visor as you will clearly see the ufo much farther away and climbing diagonally to the 10 or 11 oclock position from center. At the end i was shooting blindly with the cam . It had one or more reflective sides . With the sun squarely at my back , and a clear sky I took the non HD video on VHS then converted it years later when the technology became available. The footage is shaky at times , and I zoomed in too much other times , and the image became temporarily blurry at times ..but it was the best I could do at the time , under the circumstances.. The size of the object remains undetermined to me , and it was not close , and did not seem really big... nevertheless it was there .. I saw the same object years later portrayed in a television documentary about UFOS , it was a perfect match , the one in the documentary was over a desert and taken by conventional motion camera from the air looking down.. I have had more than 6 lifetime encounters . I'm 63 now and ready to share all my information that I was given from my benefactors in an exchange program ( for experimental research on my endocrine and immune systems ) regarding these phenomenons..including my other encounters .... The link below will bring you to the video. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mZmkkt18lpOqn2w.html

Why is the human species the only one with high level intelligence? There are +5000 mammals but only humans have achieved communication, reasoning, engineering, science and philosophy. Humans and other mammals are built the same but due to some freak accident...here we are.

I believe if we are going to physically reach out through the cosmos and discover other species we are going to have to learn to transcend our own biology first. I imagine here in the near future we will start to see a subtle shift towards body mods. Permanent modifications of our bodies to accommodate machined peripherals that help us engage our environment.

They are… “There are Angels and other entities, some are neighbors, others our enemies. Pray for faith to uproot trees… and plant in seas. “

I like this channel Closer To Truth. How far away could a civilization at our level be able to detect life here on earth?

We are the aliens. 🖖👽

Lanier of course is right about communications technology. A truly advanced civilization will not use electromagnetic energy to communicate over long distances. Quantum level pairing might be one solution, but that requires the physical placement of paired particles. That leads to the next point. What has been observed in our skies that we can't explain? It seems that it's quite possible that they have long since made it here with technology far beyond our own. To reject that possibility is denialism which is a known human characteristic. Asking the question about the lack of evidence for extraterrestrial life is an example of it.

The issue is that the Fermi paradox isn't actually a paradox. That's a huge misunderstanding, of decades. It's just a question that starts from the premise that there are alien civilizations out there and then asks "where are they?". So, it accepts any answer, even the silly ones. Even this like the First Directive from Star Trek. So... Basically you would need to change the question in a very smart way so it works as a paradox. Another issue is the affirmative that we should already have detected them. But we don't even know what to look for! Perhaps we even detected something... But decided it was a natural phenomenon. (With good reason, of course, but it still could've happened and we wouldn't be able to tell it happened.)

I need more Jaron in my life. Thx

Life is out there, they leave us alone. If you are an advanced civilization, you probably don't broadcast your existence and you don't mess with fledgling civilizations. Less risky in both cases

The best way for an alien to hide is to come out and ask, "Why aren't aliens already here?"

We only been on the moon. Our robots and satellites been on other planets.

Thank you

When aliens see how self destructive and stupid we are, they keep on going

We are looking in the wrong place... the phenomenon we are seeing currently like the tic tac video and uap's could actually be our future selfs that traveled back in time to ensure we are not making the same mistakes they made during their timeline.

USA SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY , 1969 Our family had just come to America about 1 year before , i was 10 years old then .. We eventually moved to Southern New Jersey , in a town called Millville.... The house was old and in need of many repairs . I helped my dad clear the overgrown weeds in the yard , and in a few days the yard looked pristine.... About a week later I awoke from a sound sleep and bright lights were shining into my room from the back yard... I got up and looked out the window into the yard and , i couldn't believe at what I was seeing , there appeard to be two translucent spheres just sitting still inside our yard , they had a soft white glow to them.... i quickly went downstairs and went out the kitchen , which led to the backyard.... I simply could not believe what I was looking at........ Two shed sized spherical objects were hovering inches off the ground , right next to each other , they made no sound , and there were no recognizable writing anywhere on them . I reluctantly touched them and they felt warm to the touch , and very smooth , you could almost see inside them but not quite , like they had a light frosted texture to them with a familiar shadowing , that made it difficult to completely see inside them... and this may sound crazy , but they both completely resembled like our moon , let me repeat that ......the shadowing was a perfect match for the shadowing of our moon , craters and everything , and if I didn’t know any better I would swear they were miniature replicas of our moon... I know how bizzare that sounds....but that particular fact haunts me to this day... There was enough room for me to walk between them as I touched them... and I know this is going to again sound as crazy as this story , but I felt as if my brain was being flooded with some type of incomprehensible information , at least incomprehensible for the time being .... I can't recall exactly how long I was out there but , I do remember my feet getting wet from the patches of grass that had already grown , it was a summer night and the air was muggy.... It seemed like I was out there forever , but if i had to guess i would say , for at least 20 minutes . At one point the intesity of the light of both spheres intensified to a much brighter hue... and , I instinctively backed off several feet..... Without any other warning both spherical objects both shot straight up , and in a fraction of a second totally disappeared , leaving me in the dark ... I stared at the night sky for a few minutes trying to process all of it...I had a sense that this was an experience of a lifetime and , felt lucky... With that , I made my way back through the kitchen door and looked at the clock on the wall , it was exactly 3:30am .. I grabbed a towel from the closet and dried off my feet... and , laid back in my bed .... I couldn't go back to sleep , I just kept thinking about what had happened and I never uttered a word of it in the morning to anyone.... I went out in the backyard and looked where the spheres were located but there was not even a hint of a sign , that anything had been there... This event made me seriously think about all the images that ran through my head as I was touching the spheres..... I had no idea that the information would make sense years later..... This particular encounter has been key to come to a most logical conclusion about the birth , life , and death of our known part of this observable measurable universe ...... I have placed a generic picture that most closely resembles what I witnessed . What are the odds that I would find a picture on the internet that exactly matched my encounter ? .... yet there it is..... totally incredibly coincidental.... ?

There is a good chance that visitors to our planet may be like going on a trip to the zoo.

Jaron has made my life a joy in many ways and his open mind is refreshing in this age of spoon-fed media. VR has given me a great outlet for relaxation, exercise, education, and entertainment. Jason's AI is probably all that will remain if we don't find peace and harmony with Earth, maybe it will be able to start life again if we mess up??

Making a "Batman Signal" out of stars, asteroids and planets to manifest destiny is the kind of thought experiment I crave listening to this type of content.

What a great idea! Love it.

Awesome video

If they're advanced enough to create ships capable of interstellar travel they may be explorers not conquerors. So let's say they have been to Earth and are peaceful. Humans might well be the most violent and aggressive species they've ever encountered. If they find violence abhorrent, they might have decided to study us rather than contact us. Would you want to associate with an alien race so brutal and warlike they kill members of their own species enmasse? The other option and I might add the more likely one is that they haven't visited us at all and/or are as of yet unaware of our existence. The universe is a vast ocean of systems but very few of them are capable of sustaining life as we know it. The nearest sentient race could be so far away it would take them a long time to get here if they're even aware of us that is. Then there is the least likely scenario that many ufologists don't wish to or refuse to consider. Maybe we are either the most advanced species in the galactic neighborhood or the only sentient species in said area. Worst case scenario we are the only advanced sentient species period. That is statistically unlikely but nonetheless possible.

JaRon! Passion is exquisite, ecstatic, spot on. Good mind

I would say that because the universe is so immense and unbelievable big… the distance between planets and galaxies are also immense so we don’t have the technology to be able to see other civilizations.

Thank you my friend

Speaking of aliens this guy looks like a character from Star Wars. 😂

Lanier is a human treasure! I love listening to his gentle, strong flow of thought.

Humans have been around for an infinitesimally small amount of time. It's funny that we're so arrogant to think that in the fraction of a second we've been around, we're shocked that we don't know everything and that we haven't found other life or other life hasn't found us. That's like me walking outside at 2am, looking up for 0.0000000001 milliseconds and thinking, "I don't see a sun. I guess it doesn't exist."

Fabulous - as ever - thank you

I think it's highly likely they've been here for a very long time, Pierre Sabak has done great work in interpreting ancient texts relating to this field.

I think Jaron Lanier is one of the most interesting public intellectuals alive today and so glad Robert that you have him on. If you haven't heard his views on social media they are definitely worth a listen though controversial. The most important thing he said in this interview is "I'm an optimist about the amount of ignorance we posess". We really need to maintain an attitude of humility as to what we "know" and avoid the opposite extremes of scientism on one hand and religious fundamentalism on the other. My best guess is that we are alone. which doesn't bother me at all, just makes me wonder why the universe is so immense, or causes me to take the simulation argument more seriously.

How long would it take for civilization from planet one million or one billion years older than humanity on earth for light or other signal to travel to earth?

thank you again for bringing me closer to truth!!

The problem everyone has is that they think there’s a difference between here on Earth and out there in space. But that’s our viewpoint. From the viewpoint of a truly spacefaring civilisation with who knows what technology, where distance becomes trivial, there is no difference. If we run with that idea then not only are they “there”, they really are everywhere. So maybe we are so familiar with them that we don’t recognise what they are. Like the mice in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Universe. An analogy would be showing something red to a robin. It thinks it’s another robin. Maybe we are just too dim witted to realise that “they” are all around us. Another thing I don’t understand is why, when we are having these erudite discussions, no one takes UFOs seriously. Haven’t they been paying attention?

"Why Aren't Aliens Already Here?" Very funny question. They are already here.

The reason is fairly obvious, why would aliens stop off and get out of their car on a disease infected and violent cesspool that which we call earth.

These two say we've seen no signs of alien life here. The Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman interviews with navy pilot David Fravor have been viewed by 13 million people. These two guys apparently couldn't be bothered.

The manoeuvring of stars to make some beacon of intelligent presence seems a bit overkill. More advanced cultures had no problem finding less advance cultures here on Earth, none of them needed to make an effort to announce their presence. The composition of our planet's atmosphere is probably enough to get us past the first filter of an alien civilization looking for potential contact. The second would be detachable evidence of technology. Ours is only about 100 years old in the form of radio waves, and if even detected in that window of time it would be evidence of how primitive we are most likely. Third filter would be the investment of time to get to us, our tech is likely the equivalent of trading for beads. Fourth filter: are we the most interesting option to travel to.

Possible reasons: When we look into space we are looking back in time and there may not be any advanced life or any life 'near' us. Or interstellar travel might be a lot more difficult than we know. Or truly advanced life my intentionally be avoiding us for any number of reasons. Or life is so incredibly rare and poorly spaced out in location and/or time that we don't overlap. Or we might be all there is, which I doubt, but it's possible.

Title is like the kid on a cross country trip asking, "Are we there yet?" before they even get out of the driveway.

100 billion galaxies is an outdated number, the current estimate is 2 trillion galaxies.

Jaron is obviously the kind of guy who walks directly to the first chair he sees after his arrival.

I like the way Jaron thinks, true genius at work.

Didn't the TV show Picard, season 1, have exactly this premise, where a set of stars (8?), had been put into a special geometric arrangement as a kind of beacon?

Is it possible that the Great Void is the result of something similar to the action described in the lunatic proposal from 6:06-8:31?

Once you remove the human element from the question, you realize it's not so unreasonable to be alone and have come from nothing.

They are here look up

Ok I haven’t heard a worse idea in my life

How do you know they aren’t already here? They are probably just observing us from a distance.

The Fermi Paradox is one of my favorite subjects.

In consideration of the age of and size of the universe, there could have been an almost infinite number of civilizations that could have started up, progressed to well past our level of technology and could have even gone extinct by now.

By the time aliens spot us, and then get to us we will be extinct.

dang. never thought of that. trippppyyyy

What if we developed the means to signal the far reaches of space, and the first message we received back said, “Be Quiet, They’ll Hear You.”

I think one issue is that we tend to go with what we know and the only technological life we currently know is us. When people are looking out into the universe they are looking for planets that we can live on and they are looking for atmospheric signatures made by terrestrial life and fossil fuels and we are looking for radio transmissions because that is what we use. Imagine if an alien species developed senses different to ours and they didn't have what we consider as hearing, do you think they would be listening for our radio broadcasts?

Jaron is as sweet as he is brilliant. I could listen to him all day every day.

Is it safe to assume that Kuiper Belt-like formations exist around all (or most) stars? That's kind of essential to this scheme, isn't it?

In the grand scheme of things we are at the very beginning of the life of the Universe, given it's projected lifespan is something ridiculous along the lines of 10^80 years. We may just be one of the first, the others being too far away for us to see evidence of. Although I think we'd be unlikely to see anything even if more time had passed. The distances involved just make it extremely unlikely we'd detect anything less than what Jaron is talking about. We've only been broadcasting for a couple of hundred years, enough time for light to make it out of our neighbourhood but that's pretty pitiful compared to the size of the Milky Way.

Imagine an ant colony on an island wondering if there are other ants on earth. I’m guessing the scale is infinitely bigger than that. (I get it, “where are the signals,” but I feel like even the limits of our communication technology hold to that basic metaphor)

Who says they aren't here and havent been here before humans?

I never expected Comic Book Guy to stoop to this level ;)

They are already here. They are just watching and interacting humans with the "capabilities to communicate with them" or technologies Nuclear in the bunker.

THEY ARE! Who the hell thinks they're not here already?

Are there any special effects that computers make that would be detectable across long distances of outer space?

Those Aliens are here since very long time.