The Great Filter--Gil

The Fermi paradox is the contradiction that exists from the fact that despite the universe being so vast, containing large amounts of planets similar to Earth that are capable of sustaining life, life that could be capable of interstellar travel by now, our Earth has not come into any form of contact with any of these civilizations. There have been many theories and explanations for this paradox that include the idea that we are the first advanced civilization, or that other civilizations see no benefit in contacting us. However, of all of these theories, the most ominous one is the theory of The Great Filter. The idea behind The Great Filter was that all advanced civilizations would come across an obstacle so immense, that it destroy all life before it had the chance to become interstellar. The year is now 2250, and it appears that our civilization, the homo sapiens, has arrived at this filter. There were many theories and ideas as to what this Great Filter could be that could cause the downfall of all major civilizations. Many believed that the filter would be a massive plague that would come down upon the masses like an angel of death, sputtering out the lives of billions of people unlucky enough to be infected, leaving behind a crumbling society too decrepit for the few that may have survived. Others believed that the filter would come in the form of nuclear Armageddon, brought about by the greed and paranoia of a people against others of the same species, cleansing countless lives and histories in what would essentially be a blast of atomic hellfire sent from the heavens to cleanse the universe of sin. Scarier still than these would be the theories that the filter would come in the form of something that we could not control, that could not be averted, something that was not caused by our tragic flaws, theories that included a massive asteroid strike, or a stray blast of gamma radiation that sterilizes the planet of all life. Unfortunately in our case, the filter is none of these theories, our downfall was brought about by our sins and evils. The death of our species and all that it accomplished will be due to the greed of a few and the apathy of many, leaving our legacy to be forgotten forever. Our end did not come about as some apocalyptic event that quickly brought about our demise leaving us no time to react, instead it came slowly, deliberately, and obvious enough that had we actually heeded the warnings, we would still be around. Our filter came in the form of the slow degradation of our home, Earth, through the constant and obscene use of fossil fuels that slowly made the climate of our own habitat so inhospitable that through our ambition, we made ourselves extinct. Through our unrelenting dependence on fossil fuels we created enough greenhouse gases to increase the temperature of our planet to levels so high, droughts became commonplace, wildfires occurred year round, and major cities became unable to provide enough water. Through our unrelenting dependence on fossil fuels, we created so much plastic that it eventually polluted every last square inch of planet in some way or form, making its way back into nature and our diet, resulting in the fact that humans eventually began to consume the equivalent of a credit card’s worth of plastic a week, and in the process, disrupting precious ecosystems and killing millions of animals.

Through our unrelenting dependence on fossil fuels, billions have died due to famine, illness, and war. The end of humanity is nigh, and as of now, it is too late for us to do anything apart from watching our slow demise as we feel a pang of regret for having done nothing to prevent this. The sun has set on the empire of mankind, and now all that is left is for us to die off in the cold of night. The Great Filter has once again done its job, and now it awaits once more for the next civilization to let its hubris grow too large, to then bring them down like Goliath and repeat the cycle anew. Perhaps some civilization may be able to surpass the filter in the future, learning from the errors of those that came before them, learning to leave behind all feelings of greed and envy, and to work as one. Sadly, for us however, we did not learn, and have become another tally in the filter’s death count.