The Fermi Paradox: A Song

[mlemleh]

It's possible some aliens out there are communicating to each other with nothing but brainwaves, and all the crazy people on our planet are in constant discussion with them. Except the ones who successfully construct a tin foil hat.

[MrAerosmith19]

learned this on guitar by looking at his hands!!!! i cant stop playing it



[smilejustbecus]

NO EDGE o.o

[NawnExistent]

*chuckles* Oh Hank, wait until 2013. <3

- Random Time Traveller

[digdigdigidy]

i have a friend whose parents are (illegal) aliens, so i guess I've made contact with aliens.

[Reader4077]

Dude, no edge!!!!!!

[awesomeDJisme]

We are, of course, assuming that whatever is out there is similar to us.

[HaldirMark]

You have made me a lot more intelligent today. Thank you.

[PsykoDay]

DUDE, NO EDGE!!

[thecanadianDJ]

NO EDGE!!!!!!!

[Plyrx08]

It's kind of impressive how many syllables Hank can fit into one beat.

[StuckInaStory]

this song helped me ace my science test. Thanks Hank. DFTBA

[bubblewandd]

dude... no edge.

[SUPERE1998]

Or they have came but in the past and they helped early humans and left after we were put on the technological path

[kristineshaheen]

You should check out some crop circles. They might be talking.

[brownsugar1542]

NO EDGE!

[emmagraceling]

DUDE! No Edge!

[PykohYT]

I bet theere's donzens of Sentient aliens out there and they're not allowed to interfere in inferior species worlds.

[zombiecamelzzz]

dude no edge

[Speilbilde]

I went here because I thought about the "almost has no edge"-line and I am very happy to see that other Nerdfighters has commented "DUDE. NO EDGE." on this video. :3 I love Nerdfighteria.

[theveryrandomones]

Hey Mrbagofchips don't forget pizza john and humpy hank

[4geofox4]

1:34 yeah, right

[everestgirl13]

0:41 DUDE, NO EDGE

I felt really original thinking of this, but obviously fellow nerdfighters beat me to the punch.

[mjsrocks97]

DUDE. NO EDGE.

[artsymarisa]

DUDE... NO EDGE!... I<3 NERDFIGHTERS!

[IloveCopicmarkers]

"This universe that almost has no end." ALMOST?

DUDE! NO EDGE!!!!!

[JaylaCucu]

@VeryCupoardy I also love that you have a favourite paradox. :)

[ShaiChanOreo]

Hank!! You have teh same piano as me!! :D I got mine for my 12th birthday :)

[VeryCupboardy]

my fave paradox is the Liars Paradox

[ThisIsMalice]

@VeryCupboardy I love that you have a favourite paradox. DFTBA.

[oreokitty333]

I love this song! I listen to it far too often.

Also, half way through my physics midterm, I realized I was totally screwed (like, able to do a quarter of it), so I sat there and wrote the lyrics to this on scratch paper and turned it in with my calculations. I got five points for it. Thanks, Hank!

[MrBagofchips69]

DISCLAMER: you must be a part of or a member of the awesome "nerdfighter" community to make jokes about the following subjects: french llamas giraffe sex anglerfish wearing things on your head putting book titles in your pants and finally EXCESSIVE HEADDESKS!!!!

[mystikdragonfly]

This is ridiculously catchy.

[Minano]

OMIGOSH A HALLWAY.

[Ehliafly]

how can it be that i'm not allowed to watch the previous video (The Terrible Burden of Destiny: Chicago and Waupaca ) in germany? it's a nerdfighter video, not some tiresome and illegal pop song!

[mrcoggerman1]

can someone tell me what guitar hank uses?

[OoASIANSoO]

Anybody know the chords??????

[Guerrillablackdog]

@OoASIANSoO pretty much only G, D, C, and F.

[wolverineblue18]

The only thing we know is that we are the most advanced of the 30 million species (of non-plants) on earth. It is possible (albeit improbable) that we are the most advanced species in the universe. All things being equal, we have a much greater chance of being the most advanced than any other possibility, because we can observe creatures that are less advanced than us. Even considering this, there is ample chance that there are more advanced races, and it is almost certain we are not alone.

[lifesgoodpeep]

Vlogbrothers Wednesday videos are over! D:

[MagicalPonyFromMars]

when...a song...is stuck inside your head...lol

[JoyousCaz]

We have the same keyboard. That made my feel super dooper special.

[sciencenerd111]

they might just not care, if there so advanced and know so many difrent aliens maybe we look like ants to them, or not interesting at all... or it could be they dont communicate the same way we do (I.E. they may not use waves or have eyes and/or ears)

[24nerdfighter]

My parents are wondering what I'm doing in my room that is causing me to sing exceedingly loudly about fermi's paradox.

:D

[alicattor1469]

I want song wednesdays back.

[BNBazel]

What if we're the first sentient species? Could be that the other ones don't exist yet.

[jackkatez]

@BNBazel not likely. earth is quite young compared to other planets.

[KoolThing14]

Aww, I thought you were going to say good news for people who love bad news :(

[kittiesue123]

@BobOfWOGGLE  hahah totally

[skasis72]

when you google fermi paradox, the first suggestion is now "lyrics"

[blueishblackrain]

LOL "or maybe God sent them all to Hell" *some people really believe this.

[BobofWOGGLE]

the doctor listens to this song and laughs

DFTBA guys.

[BeatrixNemesis]

@BobofWOGGLE You win at life.

[RabidKitten24]

@BobofWOGGLE you are fantastic. DFTBA.

[MysteriousBrownEyes1]

@BobofWOGGLE That comment is pure win.

[mArT1n1112]

chords?

[Gamebrat1]

ummm can we have the lyrics??? :))) (this is my girlfriend currently she is a bigger nerd fighter then i am)

[bluenelephant]

If we could hear them they would be breaching the prime directive. fermi paradox = solved.

[MissMaryssa]

I'm from Los alamos!!!

[BeatrixNemesis]

Yesterday I started my first NaNoWriMo. Every time I write 300-400 words, I reward myself by listening to one of Hank's songs :)

[BlackPhoeniification]

The 'Species losing interest in reproduction' part would definitely happen to the Vulcans if Pon Far (AKA Plak Tow) didn't exist.

[keymoon124]

This is like the 5th time I've watched this today.

[xCurlGrlx]

Magic. *snort* *snort*

[mpiikge]

Lol glasses started falling off hate it when that happens

[theclaycharmzgirl]

i have like 3 songs by you stuck in my head. i was singing this in biology and my teacher called me a nerd. no one else knows what the fermi paradox is. lol

[britishpeoplerule7]

Noobs :) jk

[joys4peace]

The latest XKCD is about this. :D



[yutirew]

this is so cool cause it was posted on my birthday

counting on you again this year hank

[vasemedroserii]

More about science!!!!!!! Chem or bio!

[ALLCAPSfan98726]

It opens at the close.

[Beacuzz]

what if we cant understand there comunication?

[rainabraina]

*adds to favorites*

[AntimonyInSushi]

I can sing along to this from memory, I've listened it so much. I love your songs!

[KaptajnGraevling]

I miss Song Wednesday...

[AnotherEli]

@KaptajnGraevling Cannot thumbs up enough.

[castraveteable]

i think you're cute. ^^

[videoGunZ]

i think my girlfriend lost interest in reproduction.......

[bloodshedder021]

Fermi's calculations where flawed. There are trillions, but why would there planets within twenty lightyears, that A) support life, B) have produced life, C) produced intelligent life and D) are capable of scanning for the frequencies we emit E) recognize them as intelligent communication and F) care enough to respond?

[ISBN1231]

Now, I know it's a minute thing, but it's actually Pandora's pithos, which is a large holding jar (storage of stuffz). Pandora's Holding Jar doesn't have quite the same ring to it, though :P

[Invisiblelighter]

Has anyone consider maybe we're the most technologically advance species in the universe?

[TheDrMcawesome]

@Invisiblelighter its not a bad idea but imo its the fact that if some planets are closer to the center of the universe they would have formed and cooled faster therefore starting producing life faster(by faster i mean billions of years) and some planets wouldnt have had a cataclysmic event like we did with the dinos so life wouldnt have stalled and evolved reptiles dont want anything to do with us

[LifenProse]

@TheDrMcawesome but even if they did form and cool quicker (btw, who says there is a centre to the universe?) whats the chances of them having the exact conditions needed for life to evolve, it takes a whole lot of chance. plus who says life would evolve in exactly the same way on every planet? maybe they never had any dinosaurs.

[rockyrigby]

I'd have opened Pandora's Box.

[TheDoctorWholigan]

@rockyrigby ohh you

[fairiesinspace]

there's only about 3 or 4 different chords! i can't wait to learn this...

[MrRydude17]

i actualy found myself playing along to this.

(i dont play the guitar, i play the drums, so i just tapped along to the beat.)

[Lightavion]

I hope they never find life on any other planet because sure as hell our government will start sending them money.

[BLOODELFSRULE]

@Lightavion either that or they will conisider them a threat and try to eliminate them

[birthdaygirl1126]

THE FERMI PARADOX IN YOUR PANTS!!!!!!

[CUPCAKESandPIZZA]

Pandoras Box reminda me of Doctor Who..

[DeidaraIsHot154]

"This Machine pwns noobs" Epic guitar

[Balmmaker]

Please do a song about Schrodinger's Cat!

[Redwhiteblue8]

Makes ya think....

[ApplausableGuy]

omg a music about fermi paradox, awesome hank xD

[voidshot]

not to sound like i was educated by god of war, but haven't all the horrors of Pandora' box already been released into the world? i thought it was empty

or only retained hope

or something like that...

[DevilsMegaCreations]

@voidshot Pandoras box let out all the evils in the world but was shut because Pandora the woman who opened the box was horrified of what came out of the box .she shut it trapping all the good that was in the box as well. To put it simply the box had an even amount of good and evil but only the evil stuff got out and the good stuff is still in the box because Pandora shut it too early.

[voidshot]

@DevilsMegaCreations Thank you sir or ma'am, you are now responsible for making my day better

:)

[DevilsMegaCreations]

@voidshot :) no problem DFTBA!

[nostalgiamyantidrug]

Pandora's box? Or the Pandorica? Wait. That was before this...I meant after.

Why would you want a Pandora's box?! It contains all of the bad things in the world!

[BinghamVlogs]

Its not like this song has 56 plays on my iPod or anything....

[emoluvistrueluv]

My baby cries when she hears this. lol

[TheSugarRay]

Okay, I thought it was "ferby" paradox *rolls eyes at self.

[philipbtsien]

Its actually 1940

[jazmin2hip]

Hello??? haven't you seen Doctor Who???

[jazmin2hip]

It starts at 0:29

[camilaherrerapardo]

Hank's answer to Fermi's paradox is the best: "the way that we listen is defined by our ears"....simple, elegant, cool,

[GONEmypurpleflapjack]

@camilaherrerapardo Like a bowtie, or a fez.

[EmmyBea]

I WANT THESE CHORDS!!!

[KillerPacifist1]

I doubt that any alien race would be afraid of us and purposely avoid us if they discovered our existence, despite our violent tendencies. If they're capable of interstellar travel then our technology would be about as threatening to them as a man with a wooden stick would be threatening to a battle tank.

And if they're not capable of traveling between the stars then the worst we can do is send each other angry letters from across the infinite gulf of space.

[ReKrisB]

Never stop writing Nerdy songs, Hank.

Never.

We need an Anthem for Nerdfighteria...oh wait, you took care of that already.

Keep the nerdy songs coming ^_^

[sciencenerd111]

@ReKrisB what is the nerdfighteria anthem?

[KillerPacifist1]

My answer to the Fermi paradox is that we can't even begin to imagine what to look for. For example, alien races probably do not even use radio waves. Imagine if they were able to manipulate the photons in a laser and used each of the photons to write a message. They'd be able to send much more information much faster than our conventional radios, but we'd never even notice it, much less understand it. The same might be true in reverse

Like this: xkcd.com/638/

[ReKrisB]

Song Brain Crack! I have that with lyrics...but I can't write music for crap, lol. I should probably learn to play guitar/piano XD

[1AlonziAlonzo1]

Does anyone have the chords for this? I'm completely inept at trying to figure this stuff out by ear...

[taylortetris]

We were discussing the Fermi Paradox in school a few months ago, and I had my guitar at school that day, so I whipped it out and sang this song. (:

[coollord300]

@taylortetris i bet you got either A.) a lollipop or B.) an A

[taylortetris]

@coollord300 Actually, I got a sticker and an A. (: Haha.

[ericellisarmor]

@taylortetris lier

[BigTigga3]

@taylortetris *bows*

[jaziybabe]

well you fail. cuz you are cute :]

[MapiesMaster]

I'd imagine that humans being among the first sentient species might be a possible explanation.

[KillerPacifist1]

@MapiesMaster The universe is approximately 13 billion years old, while the human race has only been around for about 200,000 years. To say we're among the first sentient life that has developed while ignoring the last 12.9998 billion or so years prior to our race's existence simply doesn't make sense when you look at the numbers.

[EffingTank]

Do you guys remember the delphic expanse in star trek. I think that's what it's called. It's a completely uncharted area of space. It would make sense that we haven't been visited often if we are in uncharted space.

[ThatMattChannel]

Well, so much for not learning anything this summer.

[catboy9653]

spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace so much space got to see it all spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa­aaaaaaaaaaace im in space

[bannanamouse]

i dont think you should open pandoras box...

[caseyjz1]

Considering that humans have been around for the last 200,000 years and have only had the technology to even GO to space in the last 60 years, shouldn't we assume that other life sustaining worlds have life that is about as young and about as technologically deficient as ours? I mean, if the big bang really did start everything rolling, shouldn't life be advancing at about the same rate everywhere? I mean, I think it's silly to assume life elsewhere would automatically be MORE advanced.

[bannanamouse]

@caseyjz1 yeah that is true but earth is a new planet we assume that other planet's are older all though we dont actually no it also other planets may have more advanced creatures on them

[KillerPacifist1]

@caseyjz1 I disagree. Your assuming that all planets capable of harboring life were formed at the same time, but in reality, life probably already existed in the universe when earth was still a molten ball of lava, incapable of supporting life, automatically giving that planet at least a 500 million year head start on us. Can you imagine how much more advanced the human race would be in just a 10,000 years, let along 500 million? 10,000 years is nothing on the cosmological time scale.

[electricbubbles]

I heard "Furby Paradox" in the reunion video! Darn. I think something in me just died a little.

[MvuaNdege]

@electricbubbles What's wrong with little-known scientific phenomena?

[19sasukelover]

That machine does pwn n00bs

[sodapop279]

someone finally used the word moot out of the phrase "moot point"

[Isitonacornflake]

Hank Green:

Dominating little known scientific phenomenon, songs about

[uvularbjk]

Perhaps we are just so ignorant in comparison to their civilization that they just don't take any real interest in a self-destructive and arrogant species such as humans.

[thebookworm05]

If you were an extraterrestrial, would -you- want to come to a planet like this one, with creatures like humans on it?

Because I certainly wouldn't. I'd want to steer well clear of it. Humans can hardly curb their desire to kill each other, so what makes anyone think that aliens would be welcome?

[MrBlobman4]

@thebookworm05 you cant say that a lot of people say things like that but its not a valid oppinion youve nothing to compare us to for all we know extra terristrials are a lot worse than we are and maybe thats why they havent come therye to busy killing each other to notice us

[PurpleMust]

What's that chord your playing when you sing the line, "I just can't believe"? It almost looks like a c but it's not.

[ssbaum]

@PurpleMust Fmaj7. Played XX3210.

[Lightavion]

Fermi's Paradox? How about Fermi's Pair o' SOCKS? No? Okay, that was lame...

[Dramaismyife]

@Lightavion I laughed wayyy too hard at that...

[Wman621]

I hate when most people try to fit multiple syllables into one beat, but with you its fun.

[watchstuff13]

did you know a few weeks ago they stopped the project that used normal peoples computer power while they weren't being used to read the skies and seperate natural radio waves from planets from any possible unnatural ones the program was about to move to another "slice" of the sky too

[watchstuff13]

very true dolphin very true

[dolphin64575]

If they're smart enough to be able to reach us, they're smart enough to stay away from us. Humanity's main response to something new is to ATTACK IT.

[watchstuff13]

who says they don't talk the crazy people might not actually be crazy but are being trasmitted to

[lolroflftw1]

If civilizations outside our solar system were advanced enough to visit us, they would almost undoubtedly be capable of doing so without us knowing.

[spidermanandsnape]

DAmn, trying to sing along with you is really hard

[BeeHermione]

MOOT. that word makes me happy.

i quoted this song in my academic decathlon speech. unfortunately, my academic decathlon speech never goes well, so i have been avoiding listening to it for fear of rekindling the old nightmare. it's too delightful to stay away forever, though =D

[blujay8442]

this song most definitely made my night and I'm quite sure it will be stuck in my head all week.

[hpfan0926artlover]

i'm just thinking like we say they should come find us, but why can't we find them? also maybe they have the same sort of level of technology as us so they're just improving their technology like us and then one day perhaps we will meet, whether we find them or they find us

[MarikTweetums]

The biggest proof of intelligent life is out there, is that it doesn't want anything to do with us~

[shellgirl97]

Hank, you should do a song or video about The Big Crunch.

[LordVexlor]

Or maybe they don't feel like wasting the massive amounts of energy involved in space travel just to visit a species that hasn't even managed to stop fighting its self?

[esalaesman]

is there any way i can get the tabs for this pleasee? :)

[yellowchair23]

Ice Cream Chords?

[SirTeeGeeEss]

This is one of my favorite songs. I miss song Wednesdays.

[Mylifeofdragons]

Question: how would they get here? They are amazingly far away....and (according to one theory) the closer you get to light speed the closer time around you, but excluding moves, up to the point when you are moving at the speed of light, which makes any length of time traveling the speed of light (theoretically impossible) infinite (it just approaches infinity, but doesn't reach it)

[YNot1989]

Personally I'm willing to bet that very few species survive to become an advance civilization for a number of reasons: In our planet's short history of existence there have been no less than 5 Mass extinctions, multiple natural climate shifts, countless asteroid strikes, and a few that were big enough to rip the crust from the surface of this planet (one of which made the moon). And that's just natural phenomena. So its a good bet that many civilizations are extinguished before they can begin.

[devonriley415]

Maybe they can't afford to travel hella light years for nothing? Or maybe they're so far away they haven't seen that life exists on Earth yet?

And perhaps that's for the best. I mean, look at all of the crazy senses and defense systems that animals have--like the duck-billed platapus thing where they can sense the electric signals when you MOVE YOUR MUSCLES??

How can you cominicate with something that has senses which you can't even comprehend?

Just some thoughts....

[ExpectoPatronads]

how am i headbanging to this?

[LifeMustard]

@ExpectoPatronads Haha, me too! I love being a Nerdfighter.

DFTBA

[ScaraFiggy]

I have to thank Hank for the fact that I made it to my school's speech finals. I did my speech on paradoxes and I was inspired by this video.

THANKS HANK <3

[TheParadoxSocks]

I can't wait for the day that we (peacefully) escape Fermi's Paradox.

[killdynamite]

we will get first contact on april 5th 2063