0:01

The more we humans look out into the sky,

0:04

the more it becomes apparent that there is nothing

0:07

looking back at us. We seem

0:09

to be utterly alone. This

0:12

is, to say the least very weird.

0:15

Our universe is big enough and old enough

0:18

that it should be teeming with life. Lots

0:20

of people have come up with answers. Perhaps

0:23

the aliens are hiding from something we don't

0:25

know about, or maybe we're being

0:27

kept in a galactic zoo without our

0:29

knowledge. But maybe

0:31

the simplest answer is the right one in this

0:33

case. Perhaps we humans

0:36

really are the only intelligent life

0:38

in the universe. What if

0:40

the only reason we humans are alive

0:43

is because of a series of flukes and coincidences

0:45

so improbable that they will never

0:47

be repeated again anywhere else. Well,

0:51

that would make us pretty special, and

0:53

it would also put the entire future of

0:55

intelligent life in the universe squarely

0:58

on our shoulders. One

1:06

we humans are on the eve of spreading out

1:08

into the galaxy, of freeing ourselves

1:10

from the bonds of Earth. To settle new planets

1:13

and secure the future of intelligent

1:15

life. All we have to do is

1:18

survived that long existential

1:21

risks are a distinctive

1:24

Or maybe unique kind of risk in

1:26

that we're playing for everything. If

1:28

we screw it up, we screw it up for a

1:31

large chunk of the universe. One thing is

1:33

certain is that there's a huge amount of energy in it,

1:35

and it's expanding it very question

1:37

the speed of light, and so you would have no warning

1:39

of it coming. And basically

1:42

Earth will be sears to pieces

1:45

and we just don't know. So I

1:47

just don't think it's worth taking the chance. Join

1:50

me. Stuff you should know is Josh Clark

1:52

for the End of the World, a tempart

1:55

podcast series that explores all

1:57

the ways humanity could come to an

1:59

abrupt an untimely end.

2:02

Sure, we're all going to die someday,

2:05

let's make sure it's not on the same day. M