Aliens have Elon Musk running scared, but NOT because of what you think

In a recent interview, Elon Musk explained his opinions about aliens and why he thinks we are in big trouble whether they exist or not.

Elon Musk is terrified of the idea that aliens exist. He is also terrified if they do not exist. (Pixabay)

Do you believe aliens exist or do you think we are all alone in the universe? No matter which side of this ages-old debate you fall on, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk thinks both options are equally terrifying. In a recent interview, the SpaceX CEO opened up about his views on aliens and explained that neither scenarios appeal to him much. So, why is the richest person in the world afraid of aliens? Read on to find out.

Elon Musk is scared of aliens, whether they exist or not

Musk's fears are not irrational, however. Explaining the basis of his fears, he highlighted the cons in each scenario. The fear behind aliens existing is easier to understand. He said that if aliens end up on our planet, then it is clear that technologically they are much more advanced than us. And if that is the case, then “we are at their mercy”. He added, “If they got spaceships that can get from other star systems to here, we don't have anything like that. Basically, we're hopeless. We'd just be like children or something”.

Why aliens not existing is a terrifying thought is a little more complex to understand. The Tesla CEO referred to the Fermi Paradox, named after Nobel laureate Physicist Enrico Fermi to explain it. In simple terms, the paradox tries to find the answer to the question “where are all the aliens?”. And the answer basically contains a series of reasoning that reaches the conclusion that the probability of life existing is quite high and there should be civilizations that are more advanced than us.

This follows the logic that there are billions of stars in just the Milky Way galaxy and the universe is filled with such galaxies. So there must be some planets with Earth-like circumstances. Given that many stars are older than the Sun, some of these planets have harbored life much longer than Earth. So, our galaxy should have been filled with interstellar travel capable civilizations by now, yet we have zero evidence of that. This means that either life has to be much rarer than we realize or that all civilizations eventually reach a limit to technological advancement and die out before ever establishing interstellar travel.

And the thought that progress is not linear and eventually humanity will find an obstacle too big to solve, terrifies Musk.