A New Law of Nature Attempts to Explain the Complexity of the Universe
1 min read
Summary
In 1950 Italian physicist Enrico Fermi posed the question: If there are alien civilizations in our galaxy, why haven’t they communicated with or visited Earth?
This so-called Fermi’s paradox has inspired many possible answers, including the suggestion that intelligence is unlikely and therefore rare in the universe.
But a new “law of nature” says there is an inevitable increase in complexity over time.
This should mean advanced, complex life is very likely, and the rarity of intelligent life in the universe is simply a reflection of how unusual and recent human evolution is.
The idea is that biological evolution is a special case of a more general process of greater complexity increasing over time.
This process forms its own future and creates new possibilities for the universe, meaning the development of life and intelligence is somewhat inevitable.
The work is controversial and whether the idea can be properly tested remains to be seen.
