> The main scenario it rules out is one where intelligent ET life is common and we are late to the party. I feel like both those things can’t be true or we would see evidence.
There are a thousand scenarios where those things are true, e.g. the Zoo/Planetarium Hypothesis, but they tend to result in the conclusion that we're being somehow manipulated and can't trust our observations, so they're strongly disfavored on scientific grounds... Which does not rule them out.
There are a thousand scenarios where those things are true, e.g. the Zoo/Planetarium Hypothesis, but they tend to result in the conclusion that we're being somehow manipulated and can't trust our observations, so they're strongly disfavored on scientific grounds... Which does not rule them out.