8 Awesome Ways Life Could Be Forming In The Universe

2. Digital Minds

A member of the media experiences the Ascend The Wall, a virtual reality journey at the Game of Thrones Exhibition at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, June 10, 2014. The Game of Thrones Exhibition, on the smash hit TV series, is a
Peter Morrison/AP

Sort of like the opposite of AI, there are some who think that one of the reasons we haven't made contact with aliens yet is that they're all plugged into a simulated reality. So rather than artificial minds living in a real universe, they could be real minds living in an artificial universe.

If we consider that an advanced civilisation would probably be more able to create a complete, immersive simulated universe before developing the technology to meaningfully explore the real one, then it could be that they decide to live in that one instead. Perhaps our ideas about climbing into spaceships and "conquering" alien worlds would have us laughed out of the room as woefully primitive.

Some thinkers are so wedded to the idea that they've even come up with a name for it: The Matrioshka Brain.

This is a great central computer, powered by a Dyson Sphere, that an entire race can plug their brains into a live out their lives - perhaps even multiple times - without having to mess about with building things like spaceships or schools or McDonalds.

Whether or not this is the exact set up, we could really be missing out on first contact, because the aliens are all too busy playing video games.

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