2003/07/30 by Kevin A. Pimbblet, Pimbblet, Kevin A.
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · Social Sciences · #FOS: Physical sciences #Language and cultural evolution #Philosophy and History of Science #Physics and Society (physics.soc-ph) #physics.soc-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.physics/0307146
3 pages. Accepted for publication in The Observatory
arxiv created 2003/07/30 · openalex publication_date 2003/07/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We utilize anthropic reasoning to demonstrate that we are typical observers of our reference class under a self-sampling assumption by investigating the definition of what a civilization is. With reference to the conflict between such reasoning and the observational lack of extra-terrestrial intelligent life, we conclude that a part of our theoretical understanding of the Universe will be at fault.