Why Does David Deutsch Dismiss the Fermi Problem?

David Deutsch says the Fermi problem is not the kind of problem he likes. We do not know whether we are alone in the universe. We might be or we might not be. It is easy to come up with explanations for why the aliens or their robots are not here yet, so the Fermi problem is a collision between one fantasy and another fantasy.

Chris Williamson asks what David Deutsch has come to believe about the Fermi problem. Deutsch says we do not know the answer. He also calls it the Fermi mystery, but it is not unusual, because we do not know most things. Problems he enjoys look as though something must be so and yet also look as though it cannot be so. Two claims appear to be in collision. Quantum gravity is his example: no matter how you think about it, and from whatever angle, it still seems like a collision. The Fermi problem is not really a collision of that kind.

Deutsch lands on a short conclusion. We just do not know. Get over it.