Why Possible Terraformed Alien Empires in the Milky Way Might End Up Like the Islands of Oceania
Theincredibly insightfulanimated seriesKurzgesagtcolorfully posited whether there are other living beings similar to human living somewhere out in the Milky Way and how these populations might or might not survive in such a hostile environment despite their undoubtedly superior technological knowledge.
What if there are thousands of alien empires in the Milky Way,each spanning a few to maybe tens of star systems, chatting, trading,sometimes shooting or ignoring each otherpolitely? And if so, why is nobody visiting us? ... What if the universe is full of life, but no matter how technologically advanced you are,space is never easy?
They use the historic example of Oceania, a chain of Pacific islands that were colonized by Polynesians. Some of the islands thrived, while others deteriorated and were abandoned.
Some 5000 years ago the first people set out to colonise Oceania. ...The Polynesians colonised them...And although thousands of kilometers apart, even the most remote islands were connected with at leastsome trade and exchange....But it didn't always work out. Theextremely isolated Pitcairn islandswere settled for hundreds of years and reliedon trade with each other and bigger islands hundreds of kilometers away. And then the local population vanished.
View this post on Instagram
they conjecture that a similar event might take place in the vast space. That there might be a temporary terraform but it could not maintain itself, like Oceania in the long run.
There it would be relativelyeasy for a high tech civilization to jump from one good star system to the next, creating connectedempires. ...Then it just may be the nature of civilization to becomeunsustainable or self destructive...There are numerous existential risks, cultural, technological and environmentalthat any civilization has to deal with. Andsmaller colonies on new planets would likelybe less resilient than their homeworlds and in bigger danger of dying out.
