🛸 Why aliens may not want to talk to us

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, could harbor hundreds of intelligent civilizations. Yet, after decades of scanning the skies, no signal has been captured. This silence, simply called the 'Great Silence', may not come from an absence of intelligent life, but from a deliberate choice not to communicate with us.

A Norwegian researcher puts forward this idea: aliens would observe us and consider that we do not yet deserve contact.


In a recent study, Erik Geslin, a professor at Noroff University, thus adds a new factor to the famous Drake equation: the 'will to contact'. His hypothesis is that advanced civilizations could be cautious, not fearful, but aware of the risks represented by a species like ours, still marked by anthropocentrism and conflicts.

Erik Geslin explains that societies capable of traveling between stars would have probably moved beyond stages of conquest and ecological destruction. Their biocentrism would lead them to observe before interacting. Rather than being shy, these civilizations would show 'planetary prudence', comparable to a non-interference principle.

To our eyes, we send friendly messages like the Pioneer and Voyager probes, but from the outside, our signals could reveal an inventive but ecologically unstable species. An advanced civilization would scrutinize our media, our social networks, our games, to understand who we really are, before any attempt at dialogue.

Despite this reserve, curiosity remains a powerful force. Some civilizations might consider that the benefits of contact outweigh the risks. Erik Geslin acknowledges that exploration always carries an element of uncertainty. However, he thinks that sustainable societies would prioritize selectivity in their interactions.


Ultimately, this new approach questions our place in the Universe. The silence could be a mirror: it is not the aliens who are hiding, but we who are not yet ready to be contacted.

The Drake equation: estimating extraterrestrial civilizations

Frank Drake proposed this famous formula in 1961 to estimate the number of intelligent and communicative civilizations in our galaxy. It multiplies several factors such as the rate of star formation, the fraction with planets, the proportion of habitable worlds, the average lifespan of a technological civilization.

Each parameter is uncertain, leading to widely varying results, from a few tens to millions of societies. The equation does not claim to provide an exact answer, but serves as a framework to structure research and discussions on extraterrestrial life.

Its main interest is to reveal major unknowns, such as the probability of life emerging or the longevity of civilizations. Today, researchers like Erik Geslin propose adding psychological or ethical factors, such as the will to contact.

The Fermi paradox: where are they?

Physicist Enrico Fermi posed this paradox in the 1950s: if the Universe teems with intelligent civilizations, why do we have no evidence of them? With billions of stars older than the Sun, a civilization would have had ample time to colonize the galaxy, leaving visible traces.

Yet, our observations remain silent. This apparent void has generated many hypotheses: civilizations quickly self-destruct, or we may be the first. The paradox stimulates imagination and research.

Geslin's proposal fits into this reflection: the Great Silence could be a deliberate choice, a form of prudence. Thus, the paradox would not be a problem of numbers, but of willingness to communicate.