The apparent contradiction between the high probability of extraterrestrial civilizations existing in our galaxy and the lack of evidence for or contact with such civilizations. Named after physicist Enrico Fermi's famous question 'Where is everybody?'
Named after Enrico Fermi who posed the question during a 1950 lunch conversation, though the formal paradox was articulated later by others. The term combines Fermi's name with 'paradox' (Greek 'paradoxon' meaning contrary to expectation).
The Fermi Paradox suggests that even if intelligent life is incredibly rare, our galaxy is so old and large that we should still see evidence of millions of civilizations—yet we see nothing! This 'Great Silence' has spawned dozens of proposed solutions, from self-destruction scenarios to zoo hypotheses where advanced aliens deliberately avoid contact.
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