Released: 3 December 2015

Duration: 13 minutes, 43 seconds

Is the cosmos a trackless wilderness in which apex predators, in the form of advanced extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs), roam at will, and vulnerable civilizations (like ours) learn to maintain a low profile? Nick Nielsen considers some variations on the theme of the 'zoo hypothesis' of John Ball, each being a response to the Fermi paradox, and how we might prefer to 'play dead' as a civilization given the potential dangers of the cosmos primeval.

Links The Zoo Hypothesis by John Ball (PDF)

The Wilderness Hypothesis post at the Grand Strategy Annex

Another Astrobiological Thought Experiment and a Comment Response

If the Universe is Teeming with Aliens, Where is Everybody?

Observational Signatures of Self Destructive Civilizations

The Cosmos Primeval

Credits Writer and Presenter: Nick Nielsen

Producer: Paul Carr

Music: Jason Robinson