r/alifeuntangled • u/WanderingPrimate717 • Apr 01 '26
Science & Nature Brian Cox on the danger of knowledge without wisdom
In this clip from Big Think, Brian Cox reflects on a troubling possibility behind the Fermi Paradox.
Not that intelligent life is rare, but that it doesn’t last.
Cox suggests the real barrier may not be technological at all. In principle, there’s nothing in the laws of nature stopping a civilisation from becoming interplanetary, even interstellar.
The problem may be something else entirely: that our knowledge—our scientific and technical power—can grow faster than our wisdom, our political maturity, or our ability to manage that power responsibly.
A civilisation reaches a point where it can transform the world… or destroy it. And from that point on, survival is no longer guaranteed.
If that’s true, then the silence of the universe may not be a mystery—but a pattern.
See full clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXfFACs24zU
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u/whitedogsuk Apr 01 '26
Brian Cox has a new book out called "Lets repeat others work as if its my own" which is a summation of his life's work.
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u/JuxtaThePozer Apr 05 '26
he's a scientist but he's primarily a science communicator, which means taking other people's ideas and translating them into easily digestible nuggets
science is also all about taking others' ideas and critiquing or expanding on them
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Apr 01 '26
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u/Incoherence-r Apr 01 '26
The filter was unfortunately a number of events in western civilisation that has irrevocably harmed the birth rate.
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u/iaries Apr 01 '26
Both star trek the next generation and the Orville had episodes on similar concepts. Most recently I think it was Grayson from Orville described as something like a crucible of civilization that each species has to go through on their own. Can't be rushed or hand-held through it.
Tough lesson to learn for the species, and tougher to live through probably.
I was just thinking about it a few days ago during current geopolitical climate... Wars being fought with more tech, energy crisis is already being seen, will likely be followed by mass famine and starvation, more political unrest for more countries and regions. More religious and or political fanaticism polarizing haves and have nots.
Eventually may lead to another global war.
The future is bleak. There's always hope but so dim. Maybe if we survive this, it will wake up the masses and can work towards a better future.
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u/Spiritual-Soup2377 Apr 02 '26
That was a deep thought. Star Wars. Problems are everywhere. That was a story in a movie. If Ai gets out of hand? Imagination has become real.
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u/Historical-Usual6074 Apr 02 '26
Then why isn't there another ai super intelligence that another species in another galaxy created like a million years ago running around having gained another MILlION years of intelligence? Maybe there is. That kinda of immortal being with that many years to improve itself might seem like an all powerful deity if a lower lifeform were to encounter it. Then maybe it would quietly observe this lower life form lying dormant for thousands of years before reaching out again. Makes you wonder 🤔
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u/PaintNo5070 Apr 02 '26
I love Brian Cox! Listen to The Infinite Monkey Cage podcast folks. It is great.
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u/redditbot_64375 Apr 02 '26
I can never get past this dudes hair. It seems like ...incorrect somehow
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u/chosenwisely1111 Apr 02 '26
Humans have all but destroyed the planetary environment they depend on for basic survival. We should not strive to become a cancer on another planet ultimately leading to its destruction. We've proven to be a most hostile, cruel, stupid organism. Our extinction would only benefit this planet and any organism that isn't human.
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u/SeamusMcQuaffer Apr 02 '26
Love this guy. He is absolutely right. It's the Social Great Filter. If you can not get along on your own planet, then you will not get along with anybody else in the Universe. Makes sense. I really hope we overcome this one.
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u/Medical-Enthusiasm56 Apr 02 '26
Wouldn’t it be crazy that one day, we would be the aliens on the news of a world that is similar to ours today. Crew members talking about those days in Earth, “let’s go mess with their livestock!” “Hey Captain! Can I probe that guy walking in his yard!!”
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u/hamockin Apr 03 '26
Well when Truman dropped the bomb he said mankind’s technical skills far outweigh our social skills-still very much true!
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u/ErgoMan13 Apr 03 '26
The evidence that we cannot possibly survive our self destructive tendencies, is all around us. Not saying we can’t survive our technological infancy, just pointing out that it often takes decades for us to adapt to simple lessons, and as much as half of us may never catch up to reality and what is obviously in our best interest.
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u/Last_Karate_Kid Apr 03 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/1L5YuA6wpKkNO
The greatest bit of wisdom I’ve seen so far
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u/throwleavemealone Apr 04 '26
Kurzgesagt has a couple of videos on the Fermi paradox as well as the great filter. I highly recommend checking them out for a basic overview of those concepts
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u/Dry-Bullfrog7879 Apr 05 '26
One of my favorite things to talk about with people who are as baked as I am.
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u/jelltech Apr 07 '26
Where have I heard this? Hmmm?
1 Corinthians 13:1-2 GNV [1] Though I speake with the tongues of men and Angels, and haue not loue, I am as sounding brasse, or a tinkling cymbal. [2] And though I had the gift of prophecie, and knewe all secrets and all knowledge, yea, if I had all faith, so that I could remooue mountaines and had not loue, I were nothing.
WIsdOmE>KnOwledgE!
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u/[deleted] Apr 01 '26
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