According to one astrophysicist, the entire universe might be one giant alien.
Is it possible that the entire universe is one massive alien entity? Caleb Scharf, an astronomer at Columbia University, thinks it’s conceivable. According to Scharf, the near-infinite intellect of an extraterrestrial civilisation so old and advanced that it transferred its whole existence into the quantum domain may be the driving force behind the entire cosmos. Scharf claims in a thought-provoking piece published in Nautilus that an extraterrestrial species may evolve to the point where it is indistinguishable from magic. Alternatively, physics, since the way it operates is pure magic.
“If you walked up to a group of Paleolithic farmers wearing your iPhone and a pair of sneakers, you’d definitely appear quite magical,” Scharf wrote. “However, the difference is just mediocre: the farmers would still recognize you as someone who looks a lot like them, and they’d be shooting selfies in no time. But what if life has progressed to the point that it no longer looks mystical, but rather physics?”
We don’t know what much of the cosmos is comprised of, Scharf points out. We don’t know how or, more importantly, why it works. Regular matter makes up just 5% of the cosmos, with the remainder consisting of an unusual mix of dark matter and dark energy. “Some astronomers have argued that dark matter has a deeper inner life, citing minor discrepancies between measurements and models.”
The physical reality we see is dark and full of terrors, much like the night in Game of Thrones. “In that case, dark matter may hold a lot of complexity, and it’s possible that it’s where all technologically evolved life ends up, or at least where most life has always been. What better way to avoid the perils of supernovae and gamma-ray bursts than to take on a shape that is impervious to electromagnetic radiation? Upload your universe to the vast dark side real estate and call it a day.”
The conversion of the mundane into the heavenly, or as Scharf put it, the “normal-matter-to-dark-matter data-transfer system,” might potentially be recreated in a different, far safer medium if a civilization lived long enough to decipher the plethora of intricacies life includes. Perhaps the notion that dark matter is being intentionally controlled from within is what confuses astrophysicists and muddles any link between astronomical models and observations.
We might not detect advanced life because it is an integrated and unsuspicious component of what we’ve thought to be the natural world, according to Scharf. Dark matter and dark energy shape and maintain our universe together; gravity is just too weak, and galaxies would disintegrate if these unusual components were not there. It’s possible that the hyperadvanced aliens allowed life as we know it to manifest itself by moving themselves into this environment. Scharf concludes, “Perhaps hyper-advanced life isn’t only external.” “Perhaps it’s already everywhere. It’s in everything we think of as physics, from the fundamental behavior of particles and fields to the processes of complexity and emergence.” This fascinating hypothesis is one of the most intriguing I’ve ever heard. It investigates and verifies all of the options. It informs us that aliens exist in their purest form. They are and are not at the same time. They are both living and dead at the same time. They made us by allowing us to make ourselves. They are both everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
